Reality TV

I am getting really tired of all the reality shows on TV. I use to like watching shows like the hills and the bachelor and so on, but now it seems like none of these shows are real and that people go on them just to make money and be famous. It is all drama and people acting stupid, so they get attention. It is like a 2 year old trying to get attention. Also, there seems to be a lot of people who exploit their children such as John and Kate and there is another family who had sextuplets that are also getting a reality show. It is amazing that John and Kate are getting a divorce and John is going to be with his new girlfriend, but they are still going to have a show. It is bad enough to have your parents go through a divorce, but to drag your kids (who are the only reason they are famous) through it on TV, shows that money is more important to them than family. You can argue that their reality TV show is a cause to their divorce.

Thanks

I just want to say thank you to everyboby in my class before this blog is closed.
This class is my frist English writing class in my college course.
before I take this class, I took some ESL writing class which were totally different from this class.
I learned many things from this class.
Espacially, peer reviewing is very helphul for me.
I learned how to organize paragraphs from my peers' paper.
I am glad to to have you.

anyway, thanks again and have a nice summer.

"They just don't know any better"

I read an article today about children themselves talking about their lives and families and, of course, they did not have anything bad to say. As I thought about it, I thought of all of the other things I had read talking about the adverse affects that gay parenting has on kids. Usually these negative articles/books/etc. come from people who are A) not gay B) do not know anyone who is gay and/or C) have not been raised in a home headed by a homosexual couple. It made me realize that no matter how hard someone tries to fight for/against an issue, he or she really doesn't have a strong point unless they have experience and ethos to back it up.

So, my question is: Is it the children of gay parents who simply "don't know anything better," or is it the people who don't understand who have something more to learn? This same question can be applied to pretty much any of our topics. There's always a different perspective that we can't understand unless we try to experience it ourselves and see things their way by jumping in head first.

is college a waste?

im sure all you at one time or another have thought about what am i doing in college? is this gonna get me anywhere, i think most people go to college to get a good job but that doesnt always happen. Some people say college is a great thing, the higher education you have the higher salary you will earn if you get a job it will also protect you financially and ensure that you keep the job. But i know others say college is a waste of time, not only that but its cost riduculous amounts of money, not only that but if you do graduate you'll end up paying the loans back for the rest of your life and earning probably a low wage, but think about it in the end college vs no college, the goal is to get a good job right? Now days its about the people you know, how motivated and determined you are and how goal oriented you are as an individual. But you can never say if college is a waste of time or money its what you do with your education and the knowledge you learn.

capital punishment

I am writing about capital punishment for my classical argument.
I think it is a really controversal issue, and I always believed it should be abolished for some reasons.
However, while I was researching about why people support capital punishment and why capital punishment should be abolished, to be honest, I was confused which side I should be on for a moment because I thought about the victims and their families' and friends' suffering. Who will compensate for their suffering? They can never forget the incident that happened to them. When I imagined how hard it will be for them, I asked myself a question, "Am I wrong? and is capital punishment only way to punish murderers for victims?"
But later I made the decision that capital punishment still needs to be stopped. I thought that even though the murderer kills someone, it seems like a contradiction to kill the murderer for killing. Does anyone understand what I'm saying? I think its kind of hypocritical.

A little off topic, but I think this is ridiculous

This has nothing to do with English or probably any of our papers, but I just thought this is ridiculous. I am working on my paper or I would properly express my hatred for PETA but take a look and give some comments.

"Where'd all the good people go?"

I was able to attend several journalism conferences within the last couple years and we talked a lot about how today the news is not so noble as it once was. The days of great reporters unearthing crime are over. Today news reporters have a bad rep. because they are usually biased and sometimes they get a little too nosy. Even news sources that claim to be unbiased still are put on by a certain group of people which makes it biased in the end anyway.

I've been thinking a lot about this as I have written my article on gay marriage and how it affects children. Every source I go to is, of course, bias. I find myself wondering how am I to pick out the real from the exaggerated, or the things that were hand selected out of a pool of information. For instance, one pro-same sex marriage book says that children of lesbians do just as well as they do in a single parent home, others simply say they do just as well as children with "heterosexual parents." Does that mean single heterosexual parents? Why can't they just come out and say it? Needless to say, that's been a source of frustration for me as I've written my paper.

Even MORE questions (answer any you choose):
Isn't honesty supposed to build your side up? That's why people loved the reporters of long ago- they were honest. How are you supposed to distinguish fact from fiction when it is so hard to find a piece of solid, unbiased information? Each piece of "information" is incomplete because it only shows one "angle." More importantly, how are you supposed to write an honest essay with the biased facts you do find? Are you being just as bad as the lying reporters by using information that might be corrupted (it's not your fault, you got the information from somewhere else, right?) or does using "facts" or "statistics" from each extreme strengthen your paper?

Lastly, is it really possible to have unbiased, written info considering everyone (the people who come up with the information) has his or her own personal convictions?

Just something to chew on... meanwhile, I challenge our class to write the most honest papers we possibly can given the most biased information in the world yet.

Children During Divorce

I have found that a great deal of study has been given to knowing more about the impact of divorce on children, while researching for my paper, is divorce always detrimental to children? While there is growing agreement among researchers and practitioners about the effects of divorce, there is still a lot we don't know and can never be 100 percent sure of. We have not reached a point that we know the exact impact of divorce on a specific child. What we do know is that the impact will vary with each child depending the child's age, gender, maturity, psychological health and whether or not other supportive adults are able to be a regular part of their lives. Divorce continues to waiver between 50 and 60% of all marriages. Unfortunately, many divorces also involve children and i want to know what the outcome come from the children. And what i seem to find the most about divorce is the biggest problems that divorce imposes on children is the decision of whom to live with. Usually parents divorce when children are small and the children have no say in where they go, so how does which parent living with effect the child growing up. Since the child cannot choose, this leads to custody battles that end in split custody or joint custody. Whatever the choice may be between the two types of custody, either will prove detrimental to the child. However, there are some generalizations that apply in nearly every situation. and i was wondering if anyone as had any experiences being involved or knowledge in divorce and what effects on the children growing up has done.

For Monday

For Monday, please make sure you have all of your research done, or at least that you have five sources. I would like you to bring a Works Cited page to class with you. Please format it correctly and include all five sources (or more, if you have more). You should also begin to write your paper over the weekend if you have not done so already. On Monday I will be going over MLA issues, and I will teach you some things about incorporating research into your paper. It is an important day, so don't miss. Please keep up with all the readings on the syllabus, but as far as the Short Assignments are concerned, just work on getting that Works Cited page done.

Have a great weekend.

Short Assignment

A lot of you left class on Wednesday before I had a chance to explain the assignments on the syllabus. There are two assignments listed for tomorrow. The first is to write a page of your paper and incorporate a block quote, and the second is to begin a Works Cited page. Don't worry about doing the first assignment, but I do want you to begin a Works Cited page. I asked for three sources by tomorrow, and this should not be difficult since you found two of them on Wednesday. Again, I want this to be a proper Works Cited page, formatted correctly. I am not going to collect them, but I am going to come around and check them. Please refer to your syllabus and DK Handbook for further details. And please remember that we are back in the library tomorrow, not in the classroom.

Thanks,
Daniel

Roe V. Wade

So to try to get some interesting going again I want to hear the class's opinions on Roe v. Wade. I am not going to write a long post explaining my views because I want to see how many people ge into this before I commit. Consider that a challenge. Back to the question, what boundries should the govt. have in regulating abortion? Where do you draw the line on abortions? Are late-term or partial birth abortions alright? Should abortions be able to be used as a source of birth control? What rights should the father have in abortion? If you do not agree with late term abortions, where do you consider the fetus a form of human life capable of being murdered? I believe those questions should generate some good responses and I promise I will write a lengthy response if I see some posts to keep the fire under the debate, but why should I push if no one pushes back? Also and I know this will be hard for me, please try to keep religion out of this and if you must use morals keep it to secular morals if possible. Religion can not be used to make policies or people cry seperation of church and state (even though that is no where in the constitution, look it up it's only implied). So there you go, let's get more than two people to do the bulk of this, I double dare you.

Legalizing Drugs...

Why is there this "War on Drugs?" What exactly is it, and who is involved in this 'war?' Now, I am not promoting the use of public drug use or anything, I promise. But the author of the opinion piece I chose had some very strong and agreeable points.

I was lured to this topic because I have dealt with the pain of close loved ones abusing alcohol. I have always wondered why it is so available when it is basically poison and has no positive effects on the body. This also goes for Tobacco. Infact, the top three leading causes of death in the United States last year were: 1) Tobacco 2) Poor diet and inactivity and 3) Alcohol. Lung cancer and DUI's have become so common that it doesn't even surprise anyone anymore.

Marijuana, for example, has never been the cause of any disease or illness. I have never heard of anyone being killed from it. It is actually used for medical purposes perscribed by doctors themselves. So why are we at war with it??

Addiction is all relative anyway. People are addicted to coffee, gum, gambling, chocolate, sex, food...and the list goes on. So why aren't any of these things "illegal?" The primary reason that people die from illicit drugs is because they use too much of it, and abuse it. Oh yeah, isn't that the exact same story of tobacco and alchohol? Hmmm.

I will also mention that it is costing our country billions of dollars trying to keep illegal drugs out of the public's hands. But for some reason after your twenty-first birthday, in which you suddenly become mature, you can go purchase some of your very own posion all for yourself...no quesions asked.

So what is harmful and what is not? Legislation has yet to successfully explain this even. But they still make substances illiegal without any scientific or medical proof. Drugs are shunned by everyone simply because they are illegal. If you really took a good look at all drugs/substances, and compared their chemistry...what would you consider illegal?

Will Torcher ever be consider Humane?

Torture is a subject that I only heard in war stories and though to be surreal. that only happens to war captives and cannibals. we are working on our papers for class and i chose this topic. you may think i'm morbid or weird but its fasinating to me. i like learning about WWII becuase the history shoes you the effect of torture and inequality.

Im a forensic science major, and alot of the things i will be dealing with arent pleasent, fluffy things. the criminal justice classes teach on the laws that prohibit U.S. citizens from being tortured in interegation rooms. there are many forms of interigation techniques. physical violence, emiotional, mental. also the good cop bad cop rutine is a form of interigation. in many parts of the world torture is the price prisonors of war face and have faced in previous wars.

Im not much of a TV watcher but there are some showes that i rather enjoy. one of these showes is NCIS. In season 7 there is an episode were a women of the muslum faith attachs Ducky ( the Cheif Medical Examiner on the show). through out the episode ducky is reminded of a Afgani refugee that he frequently gave medical attention to while he was in the Royal Army Medical Corps on the borders of Pakistan- Afgani boarder, in the lated 1980's. Ducky talkes about an officer called 'Mr. Pain'. he would beat and torture the afgani men to get information, but this one that Ducky took care of Mr. Pain would practicly kill him so ducky could watch him vertually die while trying to save him. even though its a TV show it has truths to it. I know were i stand on torture. Its wrong and its not humane!

my question is this... does using torture as an interigation technique; 1st diminish the reliability of the informaiton extracted from the 'prisoner'? and 2nd do these intence interegation techniques corrod the people and the country that allows such inhumane things to happen?

This english class is teaching me to be open-minded

Sometime in the past week I was watching this ridiculous show called 'Swap Spouses' or 'Trading Spouses,' something like that. This particular episode there was two couples who decided to switch places- keep in mind they have no idea what kind of family they are switching with. Well the first mother Susan(Just made up names) that switched places seemed to be very closed minded at first and when she met the 'father' at the airport she learned that the couple were homosexual so she had to live with a women instead, she was shocked. As Susan was living with Diane (homosexual), all she did was turn her away and put down all of Diane's beliefs. Susan said that being homosexual was a birth defect, and offended two of Diane's friends by saying to her hispanic friend that this specific race needs to go back to Mexico, etc. Susan also explained that if she found out that she were having a down syndrome child or one with a birth effect she would abort it. I am not saying that we are not able to have opinions for ourself; but we need to know why we believe certain things and be open minded to others, listen and empathize and towards others. We should be able to argue both sides first before we make up our mind.

"What I like about experience is that it is such an honest thing. You may take any number of wrong turnings; but keep your eyes open and you will not be allowed to go very far before the warning signs appear. You may have deceived yourself, but experience is not trying to deceive you. The universe rings true wherever you fairly test it. "
-C.S. Lewis

Can I be friends with a Democrat and Republican? Would it bother me to see the same gender kissing? Would I secretly judge a friend that STD? Do I try exotic food even if it were very strange? I don't think less of someone who is on welfare? Am I offended of public nudity? Am I ready to debate my beliefs with anyone at anytime? Would I welcome someone into my home that was from a different religion walking door to door? If I had someone cheat on me, would I listen to their explanation before breaking the whole thing off? Do I have friends that are rich and poor? The list can go on. Anyway, this made me think on how we are raised, are we brain washed with our parents to think the way they think? Are we just as open minded as our parents or more open minded? Are all of our opinions based off what our parents believe? Do we know for ourselves or do we just believe it to believe it? These questions made me think how open minded am I?

Obnoxious Commercials sell?

I'm one of those people that absolutely hates TV commercial breaks. Not only do i think that they are unnecessary, but I also think it's quite annoying. 

Sure, I could simply just turn to an another channel, but what if all your other desired channels are on a commercial break, too(this happens way too often for me)? 

Well in those cases, I just have to leave it on the same channel and brace through commercials. 

I've noticed that in some of the commercials where they are trying to sell a product, the advertisers can get really obnoxiously loud. 

Ads like the Billy Mays commercials usually focuses on one advertiser that explains what the product is for and how effective it is. They talk pretty loud and makes sure that they are ear-catching. Sure, by the end of the commercial, they are able to get their message across to the viewers.  But what is so appealing about one person talking in a monotone voice by himself the whole time? And the need for it to be any more than 30 seconds long? 

There are plenty of ways to get a message across and successfully advertise your product  in a short, simple way. 

sexuality in ALL advertising!!

In class we've been discussing a lot of ads for clothing companies. I've noticed that all the ads have nude men or women in them and aren't really showing any clothing what so ever in the ads.

It is amazing to me how in todays world how sex sells. why? I mean I understand sex appeal.. that is something I think all man or woman want to have and I'm guilty of it too. why is it in this day-in-age we tolerate a group of men, for example, pinning down a women by a pool appealing to wear clothing. Why are these clothing companies able to sell clothing that has ads that look like the women are going to be raped. What about women and men looking stoned of their rocker because they are addicted to 'fashion' when clearly the ad shows them sniffing a dress with cocaine next to it.

Aren't we all trying to keep drugs out of our home and rape and murder off our streets. What are we telling our children about fashion if they are seeing these images in the magazines and billboards.

Don't get me wrong, sex sell. but is it worth our standards and morals. I have to say I'm not offended by these images, I'm appalled. Should I be offended or have we become so desensitized to this kind of thing it doesn't matter any more?
Just some thought, take them as you will.

What is considered humorous?

The other day in class we looked at different advertisements and broke them down to what message they were trying to communicate and how they conveyed that message. I was cited for finding a majorly considered humorous ad unamusing and a majorly considered unamusing ad humorous. I wasn't going to dwell on the discord between my peers and I until I read a response to Daniel's Gender Roles post. Why is the scene in the Jungle Book, "terribly hilarious" when it is "brainwashing" women to be and aspire to be what the world tells us we should be?
I've been baffled since that class why something so seemingly trivial and insignificant with serious implications was found to be humorous compared to something serious and taboo with minor implications. Why is if funny that the portrayal of a sexy, lingerie clad girl is capable of being controlled like an Xbox character? Yes, the image is funny. But what does this say about women? And what is it reinforcing in men? The answers are all negative.
How come no one saw the cleverness in taking something that was so blatently taboo, something that would stir strong emotion in all who saw it, and use it to sell a silly product? The end thought/outcome is positive: buy this small canister of bug spray and it will solve a very serious matter plaguing society.
Both ads were ridiculous and absurd; one called for objectifying women and a positive view on a toy that is so often detrimental to relationships and distracting from life, and the other reinforced an already negative view on a negative subject. So why do more people find humorous the suggestions with serious consequences and not the suggestions will foolish consequences?

Gender Roles: "I'll Be Cooking in the Home"

Your comments about gender roles have had me thinking this week. Some of what we are willing to accept, and not accept, is definitely generational. That doesn't mean that gender stereotypes were any better in our parents' and grandparents' generations, but it does mean that they were more accepted (certainly there have always been people who will not accept them, which is why we have grown in many ways).

Here's one example: my daughter loves to watch movie clips on YouTube, and one of her favorites is from Disney's The Jungle Book (as opposed to the collection of stories by Rudyard Kipling, published in 1894, which the movie is very loosely based on). At the end of the film, Mowgli returns to the man village, where he sees, for the first time in his life, a woman (she is a girl, but if you watch the clip, she is obviously old enough to be very aware of the way her sexuality can entrance and manipulate Mowgli). I showed this clip to my daughter becaue she was learning how to splash, and there is a part where Mowgli falls out of the tree and lands in the water before splashing his way back to the bank. (I hadn't remembered that the reason he falls is because the girl bats her big eyes at him and distracts him into dumb male mode). I also hadn't remembered all the lyrics to the song she sings. Whenever I watch this clip with my daughter, I cringe: "Father's hunting in the forest. Mother's cooking in the home. I must go to fetch the water until the day that I am grown." And later on: "I will have a handsome husband, and a daughter of my own. I'll send her to fetch the water. I'll be cooking in the home." I usually change the lyrics as I sing along to be "Mother's hunting in the forest, father's cooking in the home" in an attempt to reverse the stereotypes, but I've considered not letting my daughter even watch it anymore even though she loves it. So here is my question: Am I going to far? Is the movie harmless? Am I being silly for thinking maybe I shouldn't let her watch it? It's just a movie, right? Or is it? You can watch the scene here.

This got me thinking of another generational shift I've experienced in my life, also regarding gender. I remember singing a song in church when I was a boy. It was for the girls, really, but we all sang it. It was about wanting to be a mother. Here are some of the lyrics:

When I grow up, I want to be a mother,
And have a family, one little, two little, three little babies of my own.
Of all the jobs, for me I'll choose no other!
I'll have a family,
Four little, five little, six little babies in my home.

We thought nothing of this at the time, singing it at the top of our lungs. (If you want to sing it at the top of your lungs, you can download it here. It's called "I Want to be a Mother.") But now that I'm older, I see a real danger in the song. Let me be clear that I am not saying that there is a danger in wanting to have children or be a mother. I think I made it clear last week that I value motherhood a great deal. But I have friends who grew up singing this song and talking about being a mommy their whole lives, only to discover that they wanted to have a career, or that they didn't want to have babies, or that they wanted to have babies but couldn't because of medical reasons, etc. They grew up singing about having six little babies and not going to work, and then they felt guilty because they wanted to work or couldn't have six babies, or because for sone other reason they were not capable of living up to what they were taught was the ideal. I am not taking shots at my church here. This, too, was a generational thing, and there have been a lot of changes since then. I can rest easy that my daughter will never have to sing this song in church, and that Disney will never put out another film with a female character singing about cooking in the home while her handsome husband is out hunting. And this is ultimately my point. We have come a long way in only a few generations.

Thoughts?

Learning to wallow in confusion

In class last Wendesday we had a good discussion on some ways to make our papers a lot better and some things that we should avoid.  After that and reading chapter 3 I pretty much wished I could do it all over again.  Not that I would want more homework... But I really feel like I am finally learning how to write well.  I think that maybe my papers aren't really well written, but that they are good starts to help me open my mind for example.  

When I was writing my paper on believing and doubting I found it a little harder than I expected to write about something that I didn't believe in.  But I decided to talk to a friend about it, and it was nice to get her opinion and I could understand a little more.  I hope that I will be able to 'wallow in confusion' a little more to make my writing a lot more interesting.

When I grow up...I want to be 'just' a Mom.

So I was trying something new. I just kept on writing this with run on sentences and comma splits just to spill what I was thinking as fast as I could...

At the beginning of class today we talked about the importance of having a college education and how some people just want to be a mom. There are many arguements for getting an education, for example: having a piece of paper that proves you can do the job, learning how to think for yourself, and to explore. However, this certain girl who just wanted to be mom seems to be thinking that the world is perfect. It seems like in her eye nothing ever goes wrong and it is a sugar-coated world even though it isn't. Yes, all those reasons we talked about in class were decent arguements, but what about wanting a education for yourself because you don't want to be considered a 'dumbo?' Wouldn't people like to have intellectual conversations with their spouses instead of talking only about the kids- even though this is good too.

My Grandmother didn't go to college and she grew up to be a lovely mother, this is not at all a bad thing, it is admirable, but she has said that she wished she went to college so she would more adequete compared to her husband. This certain girl who sugar-coats everything needs to wake up and realize that she needs to prepare in everyway possibe like if her husband died, suddenly got a disability, or if the couple got divorced, and these are only a few examples. Don't get me wrong being a mother is a great thing and it needs to be done, kids need to be taken care of, it just depends on what your intentions are- they need to ask themself: Am I looking for an easy way out on not having to support myself and this is why I want to get married, or do I not want to go to college for other reasons or if you can't afford it-this you need to admit.

-Heather B.

Sarcasm in Writing

So just a disclaimer on my blogging skills... they don't really exist to forgive me if I violate any major codes or rules.

I'm continuing our discussion from the articles in class. I had a question that I think is interesting to bring up? (Mainly because I want to know others opinions.) I'm generally a sarcastic person, I think I use it as a safe guard. I find when I'm reading a piece that is riddled with sarcasm I tend to read the paper/book all the way through, laughing the entire time. I'm the type of person that likes to laugh and have grown up with a very sarcastic family.

But is sarcasm really something that should be used in writing? Or is there some types of writing that sarcasm is appropriate?

I believe it is health to have a good happy grasp on life to were not everything is serious all the time. I think if you take most things with a grain of sand you will enjoy people, books, and opinions alot more than thinking everything is attacking you personally or your personal values or opinions. I've been on boths sides of the spectrum and prefer the lighter side. It keeps me healthier and happier.

I also believe in some cases where offece is likely no matter how you write your opinions or the facts, sarcasm may not be the best emotion to instill in the reader. Topics like rape or religion even can cause lots of offence and can turn anyone off. I know its a touchy way of writing, but its really fun to read!

Michelle O.

In light of our recent discussion on manipulation, I share the following:
Every now and then my girlfriends and I indulge ourselves in a bit of mindless TV smut. I tune into E! News on the Entertainment channel the other night and they are showing interviews and snapshots of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People 2009 Dinner held this past Tuesday. The host asks one of the celebrity guests who they are most excited to see and her answer: Michelle Obama. Then flash to the next scene of a smartly dressed, well polished first lady walking up to the podium and across the bottom of the screen reads "Michelle O."
Talk about throwback to Jackie O. Lots of ties are being made and can be made between the two. Obviously our thinking fondly of Jackie O. should influence our image of Michelle O. What a great avenue to help the American public love their first lady as they did before.
I'm convinced that I, being a fashion minded, family oriented, and learned American woman can proudly look up to and support my first lady.

Adding

Because there were so many of you trying to add yesterday, I checked on the policy for adding during the summer. You can read the policy here. I'm not able to add anyone this week, so the best thing to do is check online and hope to find an opening. I apologize for any inconvenience. I wish I had room for everyone.

Welcome

Welcome to our class blog. In order to register, you will need to have a gmail account. If you don't have a gmail account, you can create one here. Once you have set up that account (or if you have an existing gmail account), send your gmail address to me at dwestover@uvu.edu. In return, I will send you an invitation to the blog. As soon as you accept that invitation by following the appropriate links, you will be able to begin blogging. Blogging is a required component of this course, so make sure you register right away.