I'm Black, You're White, Who's Innocent

I really enjoyed reading Shelby Steele's essay "I'm Black You're White, Who's Innocent," because of his assertion that the issue of race needs to be better dealt with in our scoiety. Race is a serious issue and should be treated as such which is why I appreciacted how Steele used such a strong, clear voice to state his opinions.

He sees all races as being responsible for the current state of affairs. People are making excuses for why things are not ideal. In the anecdote at the beginning of the essay the engineer makes the remark that he does not like his daughter going to a school where she is a minority, I ask why not? His daughter is in an environment where she can be different. I grew up not seeing people as anything more as people. Perhaps it is because of my multiracial background but even today I do not fully understand the conflict of race.

His point that minorities are running away from opportunity was quite compelling. The people who profess to want more out of life are doing stupid thing like dropping out of school then blaming it on race. Honestly they need to hold themselves accountable for their actions, because lable only hold us back.

Grammar Post

The Bracket [ ]

We have all seen the brackets before in writing, but what are they used for?
They can be used to include explanatory words or phrases into quotes such as:
He [James] had stepped off the curb and broke his ankle.

Her is a site that I found useful.
http://www.ehow.com/how_2104888_use-brackets.html

Two Ways aA Woman Can Get Hurt

"Two Ways A Woman Can Get Hurt,' by Jean Kilbourne provides an in depth look into how sex is used in advertisement and the potential ramifications of it on the perception and safety of women in society.

I can really see how the objectification of women in these kinds of ads could lead to problems,but the fact of the matter is that sex sells. Here they are represented not as people but as things to be coveted like the products they are selling. These women are nonsensically paired with items that have little to do with them, obviously in the hopes that their sexuality will increase sales. As a result of this dehumanization violence is against women in general is becoming more prevalent because as Kilbourne puts it "the person becomes an object and violence is inevitable...the violence, the abuse, is partly the chilling but logical result of the objectification." (429)

Children have also been also been subject to problems presented by these ads. Children are meant to be pure, free of all of the crap of the world, but here they are being exploited in a sexual manner. It seems that every day there is a new story about a child that was kidnapped, raped or worse and on can't help but think that the objectification presented in these ads have something to do with it.

Like Killbourne I see this representation of women in ads to be rather disconcerting, I mean people being viewed as less than what they are is bound to cause problems. These companies are more focused on their short term profits than the effects that could come about as a result of their actions. The best way to deal with it, ignore it. If a public battle is fought over this they will only temporarily pull such ads and use the free publicity caused by the struggle to boost sales. Ignore it completely and they will just disappear.

Killer Culture

Have you ever felt that society is going from bad to worse? Well that is the topic that author David Kupelian investigates in his essay "Killer Culture." We look at kids as a beacon of hope for our society, hoping that one day they will grow up and be intelligent reasonable people, well as time goes on that is happening less and less,

One day you watch as a child recites the Boy Scout values, and the next they are piercing, tattooing and otherwise mutilating any and every body part you can think of; some of them even suspending themselves in the air via hooks embedded in their backs or even purposefully contracting HIV for that "ultimate" sexual high. What can cause such a dramatic change in a person's behavior? Well some might blame it all on the ad companies or the poor role models in the media, or even peer pressure, but the bottom line is that these people are not being made to to these things, they are choosing to do these outlandish and ultimately self destructive things.

How do we prevent this from happening? As the author so fervently suggests we must start with the children. If we can expose them to positive groups and other time tested influences now while thay are most impressionable, they sand a better chance of not becoming a part of this self destructive Killer Culture.

It's and Its

The proper use of it's and its seems to be a common problem for people of all ages, myself included. I'm sure that at some point we were all taught the proper usage but for those like myself who have forgotten here is the rule:
It's is a contration of the two words it and is, while Its is a possesive pronoun.
The website I found for this answer suggested that in times of uncertainty all we have to do is replace the word in question with it is, and if that does not sound right then it probably is not.

http://www.copyblogger.com/5-common-mistakes-that-make-you-look-dumb/

From Seven Floors Up

In her poem "From Seven floors Up," Sharon old uses dramatic contrast to show how different her life is from that of a homeless man that she observes on the street which just from the title one can surmise is some distance away. This woman is watching this man from afar in relative comfort and though she tries to understand his situation, for her that is an impossible task.

The experience to which she can best relate to that homeless man's situation is coming home from a camping trip and being able to use a clean restroom. This man is pushing around a shopping cart filled with"in the world all he has here" and all this woman can do is watch from afar and try to picture herself living such a life.

The overall feel of this poem is that of the harshness presented by a life of homelessness. Having no place to call your own, constantly moving your worldly possessions must feel like a hopeless situation. I found this poem to be rather enlightening in that even though we may not have much, we need to appreciate what we do have because there are those out there with a lot less.

Framing Class

In "Framing Class, Vicarious Living, and Conspicuous Consumption" author Diana Kendall blames the medial for the unbalanced view of the social classes. Her assertion is that this misrepresentation presented by the media convinced people to forgo simple living in favor of mirroring the lives of the rich and famous.

After having seen so many commercials for horrible shows such as "The Simple Life," I found Kendall's words to be a breath of fresh air, finally someone else has noticed that the media is trying to force this nonsensical crap down our throats. Buying clothes and other products just because a celebrity endorses it is absurd; I remember when I was in middle school many of my fellow students wore the popular fashions, watched the latest shows and I just did not understand why. However now that I am older I understand those things better, all these celebrities are doing is "encouraging unnecessary consumerism."(336)

Ultimately the media is just concerned with money, and what better way to get it than to show people what they want to see. Just looking at the portrayals of the social classes one can see the unbalanced nature of its representation, but all it is is just another way to give the people what they want, which is to look at these people and live vicariously through their experiences in the hopes that it will give their own lives meaning. The decision is left to us the viewer, on how to perceive the media we are shown, should we take it at face value, or look beneath the surface?