In his statement on Television taken from, “The Argument Against Television” Trueby takes a negative but questioning tone. He does express his distaste for television, but also leads his reader to ask themselves the question of whether the television has as strong a hold on their life and the statement suggests it does. After evaluating this my self I have formes my opinion on his statement.
The statement by Trueby is mostly true. Some people today spend too much time watching TV. In the sentence he uses the word omnipotent. This means ever-present, in some ways televisions are always there. They are found in our bedrooms in our dr. offices, in our cars and in our gyms.
But what the author forgets is the is peoples right to turn off the TV. Adults are informed enough to know what they are watching and how much is too much. If they pass a healthy limit it is their choice to do so. Children on the other hand are not as qualified to make their own decisions. This is why parents should monitor and guide their children through what are appropriate watching habits. If children are not taught this they can grow up in a world revolving around television, much as what we are experiencing today.
What Trueby also fails to realize is the value of the TV media. Television is a huge industry creating thousands of jobs for Americans. This does not excuse the violence and other inappropriate subjects found on television but it does help the economy. The amount money made through television is staggering.
I agree with the tone Trubey takes in his quote. That television is something Americans should be skeptical of. Although we all enjoy turning off our brains for and hour of so after a hard days work, the question is how could our time be better spent.
This first peice is an example of the medium of source siting. From the way it is written the reader is aware that the author talked to people at fashion week and was htere themself but he dosent site specific people while he instead sites different shows for examples. I got it from Slate.com
What’s Everybody Scribbling About in Their Notebooks?
Posted Friday, Feb. 8, 2008, at 6:41 PM ET
Maybe you’ve seen them on TV: the fashion people taking notes. As the lights dim and the music rises, men in suits and women dressed to the hilt grab their Smythson notebooks and start scribbling. What, exactly, are they writing down?
Fashion is big business, and the income generated by magazine publishers and retailers begins in those scribbles. In the midst of the free promotions, the film crews, The Donald and The Melania, the furs, and the attitude at New York Fashion Week, hundreds of professionals are getting down to the business of logging their first impressions. The rapid-fire notes fashion people make often include adjectives describing mood or attitude, notes on colors or fabrics appearing repeatedly from show to show, and emerging silhouettes and proportions. These trends—pattern-mixing, for example, or metallics—will be discussed in fashion meetings at magazines, buying offices, advertising agencies, and cosmetic empires. Who is the woman of fall 2008? And how do we sell her?
But the clothes aren’t the only things being studied. Everything at a show is a signal, and everything gets written down. Even the music, which is carefully selected to help convey the season’s mood and attitude, gets noted. At Michael Kors’ Mad Men-in-Camelot show, Kennedy-era styles paraded in front of a huge projection screen with live video feed of the 200 photographers flashing away at them. The message was: Big Time Glamour. Zac Posen stacked gilt ballroom chairs from floor to ceiling at the entrance to his runway. The message: Big Time Skirts. (In a ballroom with gilt chairs, women wear big ball skirts.) If the New York collections—and the notes fashion people were making on them—are any indication, both will be big-time trends this season.
This next piece on government programs is a more formal peiece. The author includes more statistics and numbers in the article. It cam from the news tribune.
Government benefit programs in trouble
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER ; AP Economics Writer
Published: March 25th, 2008 08:06 PM | Updated: March 25th, 2008 08:10 PM
WASHINGTON — Trustees for the government’s two biggest benefit programs warned that Social Security and Medicare are facing “enormous challenges” with the threat to Medicare’s solvency far more severe.The trustees, issuing their once-a-year analysis, said the resources in the Social Security trust fund will be depleted by 2041. The reserves in the Medicare trust fund that pays hospital benefits were projected to be wiped out by 2019.
Both those dates were the same as in last year’s report. But the trustees warned that financial pressures will begin much sooner when the programs begin paying out more in benefits each year than they collect in payroll taxes. For Medicare, that threshold is projected to be reached this year and for Social Security it is projected to occur in 2017.
Both programs are expected to come under increasing pressure as 78 million baby boomers start retiring and drawing benefits.
“The financial difficulties facing Social Security and Medicare pose enormous challenges,” the trustees said in their report. “The sooner these challenges are addressed, the more varied and less disruptive their solutions can be.”
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, one of the trustees, warned of a fiscal train wreck unless something is done.
“Without change, rising costs will drive government spending to unprecedented levels, consume nearly all projected federal revenues and threaten America’s future prosperity,” Paulson told a news conference where he and the other trustees released the report.
President Bush, who wanted to make overhauling Social Security a top priority in his second term, tapped Paulson to lead that effort. However, Paulson has been unable to forge a consensus with Democrats, who took control of Congress in 2006. He has complained that he is getting tired of playing “solitaire.”
Democrats contend that Bush lost valuable time after his 2004 re-election pushing a plan to allow younger workers to direct their payroll tax contributions into private accounts, an idea that went nowhere in Congress.
Reaction in Congress divided along party lines with Republicans saying the new report was an urgent call for action while Democrats accused Republicans of using the report as an excuse for making Draconian cuts in benefits.
For the second year, the report contained a Medicare funding warning that will require the next president to submit soon after he sends his first budget to Congress next year recommendations for dealing with a shortfall in Medicare taxes and projected benefits.
Bush submitted the first of these required responses in February. He recommended among other things that wealthier Medicare beneficiaries pay higher monthly premiums for prescription drug coverage. Under the 2003 law that provided for drug benefits under Medicare, the president is required to submit cost-saving proposals to Congress if the trustees project Medicare will need to rely on general revenue for more than 45 percent of its funding in any future year.
Administration officials said Tuesday that Bush’s recommendations, along with proposals to slow Medicare’s growth included in the budget, would make a significant dent in the program’s shortfalls. However, Democrats have attacked the proposals, making the prospect for legislation this year unlikely.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel said Congress “will do what we have to in order to restore long-term financial stability to these programs.”
But many analysts think the whole debate will be left for the next president to take up with Congress, given the difficulty of making changes in such politically sensitive programs as Social Security and Medicare during an election year.
While the Social Security trust fund will have resources until 2041, the more critical date in terms of government revenues will occur in 2017. In that year, Social Security, which has been providing billions of dollars in surpluses to the government for over two decades, will start having to pay out more in benefits than it will receive that year in payroll taxes.
At that point, the government will have to start replacing the money it has borrowed from the Social Security trust fund. It can do that only by increasing borrowing from the public, raising taxes or cutting other government programs. The elimination of the Social Security surplus is a key reason that experts are projecting sizable budget deficits in future years.
In 2041 when the Social Security trust fund is exhausted, the program will be collecting enough in payroll taxes to pay 78 percent of current benefits. That is up from an estimate of 75 percent last year. The improvement came in part from an increase the report made in the number and type of immigrants, both legal and illegal, who will be arriving in the country in future years. The higher number boosts the number of people paying into Social Security.
This piece is interesting in the way it parallels the story of Harry Potter. I am mostly confused about why the author wrote it. It seems that the author is trying to give the story and animalistic feel, that she is connecting the story to nature. After her opening about elephants in the savanah, Giovanni broke into another section. After reading this section it made me think of helping someone in need. She listed tragedies and then immediatley told of Harry’s own tragedy and need for help. This was interesting because of how it contrasted with the first section. Then finally in the third section she gives a Harry a happy ever after. She shows him sitting with a muggle woman, his wife maybe as he talks about his past. Having read the series I did not think this was how it would end and imagined it more as the book told it, but I appreciated her side of it also.
6. Implicitly, Denby uses the characters’ in the movies ethos to help establish his point. He points out their supposed, point of view and their personalities to make a statement. However Denby calls out explicitly many teen film makers in paragraph 10, he says that, “the entire genre…might be called ‘Portrait if the Filmmaker as a Young Nerd”.
7. Denby’s argument is to show how shallow and critical the teen film genre is. He also states that the subgenre of teen horror is just as menacing. Finally he argues that the genre is a revenge for former nerds on their high school tormenters. He brings all three arguments together through multiple movie examples and a strong opening.
10. He backs this argument up with his claim that all popular students will end up in dead end jobs and all nerds will be making large salaries at developing careers. This is a huge generalization, plenty of popular people are smart and are not necessarily heading into less than fabulous life.
11. These last two genres discussed show a contrast in how all teen films are portrayed. This bolsters his argument in that his research of more movies makes him more believeable. It also shows that no matter how you twist someone can’t win, whether nerd or popular girl. Someone always loses.
12. The likely audience for this magazine would be other educated film critics and persons with artistic knowledge.
Though thinking is an unconscious and continuous activity it is not a subject often considered, by thinkers. While analyzing William Golding’s three grades of I came to the realization that many different levels of thinking exist and are affected by many different elements. However I do believe that Golding’s grades, with some tweaking, are a good base to start at. This base coupled with discussion of many elemental levels can make for a very confusing and complex subject.
Just a short time ago I was talking with a friend about a particular stage that all people, primarily teens, go through. I call it the stupid stage. It is when the persons conscious and ability to decide what a smart decision is ceases to affect there decision making. We speculated, with our minimal hindsight, what we believed our stupid stages were. I decided that mine was last summer; some choices I made and my attitude were not exactly smart. This friend of mine thought of a recent relationship that was a major cause of conflict between her and other friends. The boy in the relationship was not the most mature and made it to be a learning experience for her. After we gone through ourselves we moved on to other people we knew. We talked about how some people never grow out of this grade two stage. Grade two is the thinkers that are pessimistic and point out faults of others. They are very much the grade of thinking that people going through stupid stage are at. Although I like to believe my grade two stage is over for good, however I sometimes worry about a relapse.
When this stage occurred I realized that I was not happy with who I was, most of my life I have led a very sheltered life. My parents are still together, we were never terribly poor, and we have always been a normal family. When this period set in I started to do things that where not in my personality I had a horrible attitude and constantly snapped at family members and friends. What made me change was when I realized that I didn’t want to be a grade two thinker for the rest of my life.
I like to believe that most of the time I am a grade 1.5 thinker. I possess the pessimistic view that most teenagers hold but I believe I possess a slightly more realistic view of things. This view has shaped my life in many ways. It involves how I deal with pressure, stress, intellect and problems.
When presented with a problem I often leave it to rest for a while. I am not the kind of person that is constantly worrying about what I have to do. In a sense I like to sleep on it. I decide better when I am able to think about something for a while. This allows me to process all aspects of a problem and be completely educated on it before making a decision. This however sometimes allows me to procrastinate a decisions and other tasks I have been given. This is not always a good thing and something that I have been trying to get better at.
One thing that brings out the worst in me is stress. The kind of stress that is the worst for me is the kind I can’t do anything about. I am constantly trying to force my mind to think about other things but it never works. My mind constantly wanders back to what is stressing me out. What is interesting about being stressed out is that is always seems to build all at once. After one thing happens another and another happen until I reach a breaking point. This breaking point is always a time of thinking for me. It seems that when life is its hardest I learn the most.
One aspect of my thinking that I am very scatter brained at is when I write. I am always constantly starting over and trying to make something start better. Also, I am horrible at grammar so I don’t notice things that other people do. When I sit down to write, I usually list the main points I want to talk about and then, once I get on a roll I just go with it and try to make some sense out of what I am saying. There is definitely room for improvement in the way I process my writing.
Finally I believe the way I think is affected by the elements around me. Some day if it is sunny might be more likely be in a better mood and not be as critical. Other days when school is getting tough I might be less likely to give someone a break. This can for definite changes in my attitude and mood. I believe my thinking is fairly complex and shoes my personality more than I would like it to. I admit that I am not always the most significant thinker but I think I have some time to improve on that.
I believe this statement to be completely false and likely something that would come out of a High School football coach’s mouth (plus 100 I.Q. or so). By taking merit and achievement out of the academic classroom would be like taking varsity and MVP out of sports. Students need to strive for something no matter what they are good at. Students who are good at sports strive for MVP or most improved, people with weird talents look to Guinness world records, and academic students strive for valedictorian and top 10%. I believe that competition can teach you a lot about yourself and other people. You can learn how to lose gracefully as well as win gracefully. Also, others reactions to competitive pressure can teach you about their character. I believe that academic competition is healthy and important to people. Heck what would it be like if their was no Nobel Peace Prize?
I believe this statement to be completely false and likely something that would come out of a High School football coach’s mouth (plus 100 I.Q. or so). By taking merit and achievement out of the academic classroom would be like taking varsity and MVP out of sports. Students need to strive for something no matter what they are good at. Students who are good at sports strive for MVP or most improved, people with weird talents look to Guinness world records, and academic students strive for valedictorian and top 10%. I believe that competition can teach you a lot about yourself and other people. You can learn how to lose gracefully as well as win gracefully. Also, others reactions to competitive pressure can teach you about their character. I believe that academic competition is healthy and important to people. Heck what would it be like if their was no Nobel Peace Prize?
1. I believe her point in spending so much time on Sarasota was to establish logos. By providing a good example her point came across strongly and made for a good argument using the many quotes and opinions given by people involved.
2. By involving her own experience Talbot made a personal connection and showed how education is growing and changing in a new era. She explained how there are more A.P. and I.B. classes offered which can make for even more problems and discrepancy in grading and awarding students.
3. The four perspectives mentioned in the article include: the principal at Sarasota and his avoid at all cost attitude, as well as Denny Davies Belief that Valedictorian be awarded to the best no matter how they got it, also there are the schools that give it to the top ten percent, and finally the people who believe it is a nice honor when dealt with fairly.
4. I believe her audience is probably primarily students and the parents of students. Therefore her purpose in using these interviews is to have the reader put themselves in the shoes of the speaker and imagine how they felt. I personally would feel as if someone where trying to take something I had earned.
5. I believe if she had opened the article with information she would have lost much of her audience. It was more effective and emotional for here to start out with a dramatic story that reached the reader and kept them interested in what she was saying.
6. I believe Karen Arnold has a good point in saying that valedictorians where important but I believe that the stakes are placed way too high for a high school honor. I believe when it gets to the point when law suits are used and the honor is tarnished then the point becomes invalid and it is simply fighting a war to just fight.
7. I believe it relies equally on both pathos and ethos. She expresses her ethos throught the arguments and research she has gathered. On the other hand, her use of pathos are expressed through the opinions and the lengths people go to attain these awards.
8. Talbot’s sympathies lie with the students who are hurt by these decisions as well as the administrators who work so hard to make everyone satisfied. Although she does not say it out rightly I believe she disagrees with the use of valedictorians and that there are better options out there.
1. This sentence is an example of an asyndeton. It gives the effect of explaining a complicated matter in a short list form to create irony.
2. Sherman Alexie paints his father as an educated knowledge hungry man. The typical stereotype of an Indian is a person who is lazy and helplessly dumb; this is the opposite of his father and paints him as a role model for Alexie.
3. This analogy shows his very keen intellect at such a young age. I cannot recall learning what a paragraph was till at least 2nd grade. The fact that he was able to pick up on this gives the reader insight into what a smart child he was.
4. It shows the reader what a hard childhood he had. It couldn’t have been easy to be an Indian, and poor, and smart in a world that told him to be stupid.
5. He is making his life sound matter of fact and not an amazing tale. As if it was just something that happened to him.
6. This essay is divided into two parts to give the reader a chance to understand his situation more fully. He tells the circumstances then his story. By understanding the circumstances a reader is better able to understand his story.
7. He is giving the reader information so that they can understand where he is coming from. Both paragraphs use short choppy sentences to get their points across.
8. I believe the audience is different groups. Fist it is directed towards white people, by reading this they are able to understand where he is coming from and also understand the ways they suppressed Indians. I also believe it for children, and not just Indian children. It inspires them that no matter their situation they came make something of themselves and get out of the poverty hole they are in.
Hosted by 