paper update #2

I finished writing my paper, I believ on Monday. I proofread and rewrote it I also added the works cited page, because i had not done that on the rough draft. Then I sent it in. I believe that i did a good job on the paper.

Paper update

I have finished writing my paper today. I now have to print it out and profread it, then I have to make my works cited page, and I will be able to e-mail it in, becuase it will be finished. I believe that I will be able to get it completely finished tonight sometime. Overall, the paper went quite well, the writing of it. I made an outline and I took notes before I actually wrote it. I believe that I did a good job.

Inquiry: PG. 800 #7

I believe that online-gaming has an effect on genders and how people perceive the ways that they should act. I work with Children from the Olivets and the girls tend to play dress up games, or games where they are taking care of pets, the games are not very action based, while the boys are all for the action, their not playing dress up or taking care of things, they are more like destroying things and fighting with light sabers or ever doing face paced racing games. These pieces are something of what is incorporated within boy hood or even girl hood, certain standards are pushed onto children by the media as to how they should act, by what they like or what they see others kids playing of the same sex. Selfe, at some point in her essay mentions that kids should have gender-neutered play space, and I agree with that, they should have a place free from gender stereotypes where both sexes can interact with each other and be able to be free from stereotypes to just do what they feel like doing, whether it be house or construction, both sexes can do either of those activities, they don't have to be restricted to only one group due to media standards.

Inquiry: PG. 752 #2

Johnson explains the sleeper curve as the upward trend of when we are learning without realizing it as we are playing video games, it sharpens the mind while you are having fun. That we are unable to perceive that we are learning because the brain has a hard time realizing it while doing video games.

Some examples that he uses are of Woody Allen's mock sci-fi film where people are questioning why society within the 20th century failed to understand what nutritional values cream pies and hot fudge had.

Inquiry: pg. 729 # 2 & 6

#2:

Well beginning with what Jenkins overall argument is, is that he believes that play spaces are becoming nonexistent for children now-a-days and that it does not affect girls as much as boys, she girls mostly spend their time with mom doing household chores, while boys do more adventure and exploration things away from mom. He also, believes they need to make video games that not only boys can enjoy but that girls can too. Also, that girls need to be able to play like boys so that they can become more open and self confident.

A Tale of Childhoods:
Primarily is saying that girls have totally different structured childhoods than boys do. Boys like to have their own freedom that is structured away from the house and has to do with adventure and exploring physical limitations, while girls enjoy doing house keeping games and playing games that have to do with life skills.

Moving Beyond Home Base: Why Physical Space Matters:
He describes that open play space is needed for a child to explore the depths of their imagination and to gain skills that they will need to apply when in other situations. They also need unstructured where they can play that does not include being in the home or a room, because adults are still around, which leaves for limitations as to what the child can do, while if the child is outside away from the house they can explore things how they want to and physically change their environment to the way that they wish too. However there is much physical free space for children to play in and explore anymore.

Putting Boy Culture Back In The Home:
Boy culture is being ale to get out of the house and away from parental figures especially mothers.

Adventure Island: Boy Space:
Adventure island was made for boys, it includes allot of things that boys find interesting, a lot of stuff that holds their attention, like fighting, adventure, exploring, amongst other things. This makes boys wanting to find out what happens next and keeps them interested.

Secret Garden:Girl Space:
While Secret Garden is slow paced and you doing tender things like searching and exploring your environment around you, becoming one, in a way with nature and building relations with other humans and animals alike. Your taking care of people and animals, not destroying them, which how girls are believes to be and how they should be.

Conclusion: Toward A Gender-Neutral Play Space:
He believes that their should be play areas or even virtual play areas that are a bit girly and a bit boy culture so that both girls and boys alike can be entertained by the sames things and so that both sexes get exposed to what the other sex would only get exposed to.

#6:

I don't know that video games or even movies are very gender specific, because even if they are targeted at one sex, that does not mean that a girl is going to like the notebook for instance and the boy will absolutely love the Matrix or Transformers, it could be the other way completely. But as children I could understand how movies are centered towards a sex by the content, and that content draws in certain sexes, but I believe that as the child grows up they tend to stray away from the whole restricted sex liking thing that occurs as a child. You just understand that it doesn't matter anymore, things that you watch don't have to be specific to your gender or well you may not even notice it anymore. The Barbie movies and even some movies with talking animals may relate to girls more because their bright colors and the use of pinks and purple, they are related to nature in concept and they have to do with fairies and princess and they also have animals as a companion. While in boy movies like Cars and others, it has to do with speed, and adventure, it's fast paced and something that a boy I would believe would just love.

TSIS pg. 32 #2

For the first part of the assignments an essay was never assigned.

Second half:
Starting with the title of my essay and looking for metacommentary within it, I can say that the title of Essay number two which comparing Gladwell's concepts to Diamonds does not have any metacommentary directly in it, or I at least do not believe that it does. My text is also long enough without any metacommentary and if I was to add any, it would lengthen my paper, but the length would be unnecessary and then my paper would just be too wordy. I also do not believe that metacommentary would fit in with what I am trying to get across within my essay, I' not trying to state my own opinion against someone else's, I'm just comparing and contrasting the concepts and examples from Diamond and Gladwell.

TSIS: PG. 114 #2

In my essay outlining the concepts that connect Diamond and Gladwell's theories together, I use mostly the common types of transitional phrases to go from paragraph to paragraph at the most. I use the terms, first, second, etc.. along with However and other phrases just like that. I do use repetition in my essay. Repetition is primarily used to state the ways in which their theories relate and what those theories are in actuality.

TSIS PG. 87 #2 (Use Your Own Essay)

no, in my own essay, I did not incorporate the opinions of anyone else on the subject matter, since I was not really debating anything. I was only to show how the Tipping point was intertwined with landscape amnesia and creeping normalcy and then provide examples. I did use Diamond and Gladwell's examples within my paper since that was the main point of writing the paper in the first place. Also, I do feel that by adding their quotes it strengthened the point that I was trying to make as to how their concepts were all related. Lastly, I did not use any of the templates in my writing from the TSIS book.

From Inquiry PG. 208 # 1 (drafting introductions)

Diamond’s concept of ‘creeping normalcy’ and Landscape Amnesia both tie into Gladwell’s theory of a tipping point. Diamond’s theory of ‘creeping normalcy’ is when something slowly becomes normal in a region over time, due to slow change. While his landscape amnesia theory is about when an area that is inhabited by or frequently visited by people changes slowly over time and the changes that have occurred go unnoticed by the frequent visitors or locals of that region. Lastly, Gladwell’s ideal of a tipping the reasoning behind the start of a phenomenon, or a trend. Gladwell uses the example that trends spread like viruses and the rise of the trend is to be considered the tipping point; the time in which the fad or phenomenon became popular or even dominating. Gladwell’s example that are used in the excerpt about possibilities on why some societies make the disastrous decisions that they do even though they may be potentially hurting themselves and making it harder to live in the long run, tie into Diamond’s main points that are stressed throughout his article titled “Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference.”

• To what extent did the strategy compel you to want to read further?
• To what extent is my thesis clear?
• How effectively do I draw a distinction between what I say and what I believe others assume to be true and own approach?
• Is there another way that I might have made my introduction more compelling?

TSIS: Pg. 72-73 #2

My responce to Gladwell's exceprt:

1. How Many perspectives do you engage in?
I used one other perspective which was Gladwell's.

2. What other perspectives might you include?
I do not believe that I could use any other perspectives since I was writing an essay in which I was responding and using examples of Gladwells.

3. How might you distinguish your ideas from the other views you summarize?
A person could simply use first person, quotations, a summary, an introduction of the person they are summarizing before hand, use their name..

4. Do you use clear phrases?
I believe that I do.

5. What options are available to you to clarify who is saying what?
I could use the name of the individual who's idea i am summarizing or quoting, if it is myself, I could use 'I'.

6. Which if these options are best suited for this particular text?
I believe that within my own writing either of the options I expressed above would be appropriate.

Gladwell's essay:

1. How Many perspectives do you engage in?
Gladwell uses about 10-15 perspectives other than his own within his writing.

2. What other perspectives might you include?
I believe that he could have used the perspective of those people against his idea of a tipping point and used some examples from those people, because his whole excerpt is about how the tipping point is true and a bunch of examples that back up his theory, but I'm sure that somewhere there are people who feel differently from him.

3. How might you distinguish your ideas from the other views you summarize?
A person could simply use first person, quotations, a summary, an introduction of the person they are summarizing before hand, use their name..

4. Do you use clear phrases?
Yes, I think that Gladwell expresses who's perspective he is using quite clearly.

5. What options are available to you to clarify who is saying what?
He could use the name of the individual who's idea he is summarizing or quoting, he could also use 'I' when referring to his own idea.

6. Which if these options are best suited for this particular text?
I believe that he could use in h is writing a variety of first person and of summarizing other people and just including the name of person who's idea it was originally either before or after the text. Since the text is very scholarly, he should try to stray away from too many quotations, but he should still use a variety of them, because other wise the readers will get bored and uninterested with reading the same words over and over.

TSIS pg. 62 #2

In Malcolm Gladwell's excerpt which explains the concept of a 'Tipping Point" from the book The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. In this excerpt it is explained to the reader what a tipping point is and some examples are expressed whether it from the Hush Puppy craze or the crime rate in New York, he came up with a way to realate it all as a tipping point. A tipping point Gladwell describes as a point in an epidemic whre things can all of a sudden have a dramatic rise. In other words it is the climax of a trend. I can agree with Gladwell's theory on a tipping for his exaples and how they do fit in and can be considered a tipping point, excpt for one of them. I do not see the resemblence the New York Crime rate dropping has as a tipping point, since a tipping point primarily has someone who sets it off, as with his example of teen smoking, although you can understand what the tipping point is there, if you look deep into it. His hush puppy example fits in well with the tipping point idea because as he mentions, in his excerpt, the kids in the New York were wearing them and a fashion designer or someone of importance noticed them and wanted them to be in their fashion. After that fiasco, the Hush Puppies became a fad again, and now there are people still wearing them, or atleast there were in 1995. But I have seen Hush Puppies being sold in stores still. However, with the New York crime rate going down I do not agree with the tipping point, because he states at the end of his talk on the crime rate that "...the changes in the drug trade, the population, and the economy are all long term trends, happening all over the country." So, if the drug trade, population and economical changes are occurring all over the country, then what makes the one on New York a tipping point, why is it considered a trend started by one person? I doubt that one person had the power to enforce a big number of individuals to stop drug trafficing in New Your City or to stop killing eachother, and people do not just wake up and decide that, maybe something major happened in all of those drug abusers and killers lives that made them decide they wanted a change, but that I think is unquestionably odd. Another example that he gives us is about teen smoking. He says that more teens are smoking now and that the government has tried to make smoking campaigns that tell of the dangers of cigerettes, but the teens don't care. Then, price of ciggarettes were raised to try and help prohibit teen smoking so that they couldn't afford them, but none of that worked so it must deeper than what the governament is getting at. He states that "Smokers aren't even smokers becuase they understimate the risks of smoking." which he backs with evidence froma harvard study where the students surveyed believed that they were cutting off nine years of their life by smoking while in actuality it was only six. Most of these teens do it, they saw an older person do it and it made that person seem cool or sophisticated, so they wanted to do it, to be like that, in which there is your tipping point.
In conclusion, I do agree with Gladweel on his theory of a tipping point, and that one person can be the reason why a trend or epidemic is started throughout a community or country, but some of his arguments as to show what a tipping point is i do not agree with.

Pg. 156 #2; Responce to Diamond Essay; Using Quotations.

In Diamond's excerpt "Why Do Some Societies Make Disastrous Decisions" Diamond introduces his audience to many possible ways that societies may have collapsed due to mistakes, misconceptions, horrible decisions, and ignorance. I agree with Diamond's responce that societies may have never thought the problem to exist until after the problem was already present or had occurred. I agree with this statement because I can see it happening around me, being in the midst of global warming. Many people did not care or believe that in the long run such poor use and abuse of the Earth and enviroment would cause such a massive change in the enviroment to occur. "Diamond explains Global Warming and humanities failure to perceive the dilemma as so in the quotation, " Perhaps the commonest circumstance under which societies fail to perceive a problem is when it takes the form of a slow trend concealed by wide up and down fluctuations." Diamond refers to this as the term "Creeping normalcy." Where he explains that events take place slowly over time and people living in the environment where it is happening grow used to the changes and adapt, without taking notice of the major changes most of the time. Those who have lived in the environment for a long time would be able to see the difference and possibly even somewhere doesn't visit the area all that often but knows what it looked like, say, 20 years ago. Due to what I have been able to witness through at least the last three or four years, I agree with Diamonds theory of "Creeping Normalcy", because most things that happen not within the environment but anywhere within human existence becomes normal to us at some point and then we just tend to brush it off and change something and continue on with our lives.

PG.138 #2: A Practice Sequence:Summarizing

2. The claims in the article by Diamond all have to revolve around why some societies make the decisions that they do even though they can end up having horrible consequences. Jared Diamond, who is the writer of the article, is an evolutionary biologist and is a college professor. Diamond's article "Why Do Some Societies Make Disastrous decisions?" was written for nonprofessionals and professionals alike. He incorporates scholarly terms with ideals from his students which helps to make it more relatable and easy to understand. The article as a whole is a bout the ways that societies end up messing up and destroying what they have or did have at one point that allowed them to be a collective and fully running society. His key claims in he article are that the people on these societies may do disastrous things because they did not anticipate them to happen in the beginning. Then the people in the societal group may not notice there is a problem within their society when there is so they will not take any steps to make it or help it to get better. Also, that the decisions of common folk within a society clash with the higher powers of the society which cause a breakdown and not much communicating to take place.

PG. 137 #1: Practice Sequence:Summarizing

1. www.americanbible.org/brcpages/bearthemarks

The main claims of the article "Critical Perspectives: "'I bear on my body the marks...' What does the Bible say about Body Modification?" the author primarily expresses that the writers in the bible never mentioned body modification in any type of way as a whole as stated in this quotation in the article made by the author about passages in Leviticus and The Old Testament, "...this text does not speak of body modification in general, but of specific mourning rites which were practiced by Israel's neighbors, and that its prohibition of such practices was meant to make Israel's cult life different from that of other people and cultures." In which by the tone of the article I do not believe that the author is against tattoos he's just trying to prove a point on what is real, and he also says about how the writings in bible are up to interpretations depending on who you are and what your culture is and what your perspectives just happen to be. The author is writing for an audience of people who are concerned with the writings in the bible and what they have to say about body modification. This article text appeared on the website link that is posted above. The author of this article happens to be Eric Thurman a PhD Candidate from Drew University in Madison New Jersey.

PG. 121 #1-4

A. After reading the introductory section of the article "Christian Student Perceptions of Body Tattoos: A Qualitative Analysis" I was able to understand that the author was possibly writing this article to allow others to have more open mind to tattoos and religions and to try to believe that not all tattoos are made under rash decisions, but most are actually well thought out and tend have some sort of biblical reference or reference to a higher power of some type. The author, in which is writing this to correct a misconception, or so that's what it appears to be.

B. The keywords that are related to my own research topic in this article (,it does not have an index or a table of context being an Internet source,) are:

• Christian
• Body tattoos
• Bible

The author focuses on how tattooing has been throughout history. A case study is included with the article which talks about the different areas that were focused on and one of them is the biblical understanding of tattoos, some others are the design significance and friend and family influences. The themes are present in this article that I will use in my paper and even to conduct research is primarily the biblical understanding of tattoos, I also may add some points on there significance throughout history, but in a different standing then the author of this article does.

C. The references in this article that are cited at then out of all of them the ones that I believe would be of use to me in my research and that I will consider looking into are:

• Heinrichsm K. (1999, May 24). Tattoos no longer taboo? Christianity Today, 43(6), 17.
• Watkins, T. (2007). Dial-the-Truth Ministries. To tattoo or not to tattoo: A Christian response to the tattoo. from http://www.av1611.org/tattoos/imtro.html

No, certain sources do not appear to be more important than others in the works cited/references on the article.

D. Yes, this article is relevant to my own topic, which is body modification and early religious/christian belief. I however do not if this article goes with my thesis statement considering that I do not have a working thesis thought out yet. Even so, the article does go along with my topic and issue that I will be writing about.

PG. 103 #1-4 A Practice Sequence: Building a Thesis.

1.

To make sure that your issue is current and relevant and should be present in people's minds, you should make the paper interesting and to keep the topic at the top of people's minds you should state facts from other sources along with quotes. Make sure to also include why you believe it is an important and relevant issue.

in order to do the above you may also need to know whether or not your issue is still present in the media and with others.

2.

When writing on a current issue you are expected to have some type of prior knowledge on what you are to be touching on. You should also be able to show that there is an exsisting problem within the subject that you are presenting.

NIAAA Publications stated that Alcohol intake among young adults has risen through out the years and is a leading cause in accidents and death, due to impairment. Also that more men than women in the category od young adults go over the drinking limit, in which this mostly takes place in college camous housing. Heavy drinking in the young adult age group is also considered a high risk in the dealth department becuase at that age risky behaviors while drining are more likely to occur.
NIAAA Publications also includes maps on the ethnicity and drinking rate of young adults.

On Noldus.com with an article called What brings about the alcohol consumption of young adults in peer groups? by Sander Bot and Rutger Engels. Talks about how most drinking with young adults accurs within a social setting. The research results that they had come up with showed that within a social setting the intake of alcohol in males depending on the drinkign status af the whole group while females drank independently without the influence of the group.

3.
I believe that Sander Bot and Rutger Engels should have thought through with their findings, becuase not all females drink for only themselves and are not dependent on the group some females who are possibly shy may drink comtinuosly to keep up and fit in with the group at the party or to just appear as 'cool'.

To learn more on this subject I could contact the authors of the webpage and of the research. If that were to fail I could always just look online for more research that shows both sides of the story.

4.

Misinterpretations Model:
Although many scholars have argued young adult femal drinkers independently drink and only do it for themselves a careful examination suggets that, tha may not be the case but that, many females are heavy social drinkers and will do it to fit in with the crowd.

Gap model:
Although scholars have noted females to be indepent drinkers who only order for themselves, they have missed the importance of females drinkers who overstep their drinking boundaries due to being in social settings that do not enable them to stop since the others in the setting are still drinking and the femal may not want to 'wimp out.'

Modification Model:
Although I agree with females being noted to only order drinkd for themselves and to be independent drinkers ideasof other writers, it is important to refine their ideas with the point that many females that go out drinking in a social setting tend to drink just like the guys, per say.

I believe that the misinterpretation model fits best with this subject.

PG. 81 #1-5 A Practice Sequence:Formulating an Issue Based Question.

1.

I am interested in the consequence of alcohol consummation in the body of the consumers.

2.

I am interested in the topic of alcohol intake on the body of the consumers because other drugs have been legalized due to their affects on the body, while alcohol has not been.

3.

The legalization and consumption of alcohol seems to negate why other drugs are illegal due to the effects of alcohol on the brain, body, and judgemental skills of the consumer.

4.

How is alcohol the better choice of drug to legalize then any other when the effects that alcohol can have on the body, and the type of harm that can come from it, can be just as bad if not worse than that of what other drugs can do?

5.

I am interested in the affects of alcohol on the body compared to that of other drugs because I want to make young adults see that by in taking alcohol it can be fatal to your well-being. To help them be able to avoid the harmful and live a more fulfilling and healthier life. while in order for those young adults to do that, they must be informed as to what alcohol does to their body, and in what way they can go about avoiding that harm.

PG 76 - 77 #4 A Practice Sequence: Identifying Issues.

4.

Although some people wouls argue that homosexuals should not be allowed to marry one another even if they do love eachother, becuase it goes against nature is does not cause for natural effects to happen. I think that, however, homosexuals should be able to marry one another, becuase no matter how you are to look at it, they are still human beings. Unless I am mistaken all human beings are to be treated as equals. Which means that should all be able to lead a happy and fullfilling life no mattter what are sexuality is, we shold not be discriminated against.

PG. 76 - 77 # 2&3 A Practice Sequence:Identifying issues.

2.

The open dispute of gay marriage is whether or not homosexuals should be able to marry one another, or that should just not be able to, which is currently how it is in many states and countries. Most people believe that marriage is only about reproduction, or even that to get married you have to just be a man or a woman, but what these individuals do not understand is this. There are people all over the world who get married and are not fertile who cannot have kids, and no one is stopping them. No, those people are allowed to marry because no matter if reproduction for them has become an issue they love each other. So why can't that be the case or homosexuals, why must they be discriminated against just because what they do is 'outside of the norm' of our culture?
In my opinion I do not believe that they along with anyone else should be discriminated against just because of what sex they are attracted too or who they love. No matter if it is something alien and new to people. We as humans and civil people are brought up with the morale, to treat others the way we would like to be treated. So, really do you want to not be allowed to get married to the one you love, no, you'd hat that, and it would in turn leave you heartbroken you want it to somehow be changed. Just imagine that the roles are reversed and the heterosexuals are the ones not able to marry.. Put yourself in the shoes of others.
Now, there are many people who agree with my words and also many others who disagree with me at all levels and I understand that. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
Some arguments that others have made are that by the legalization of gay marriage, it will be a leading factor in polygamy, homosexuality is a perversion that would have to be taught in public schools, and that it will result in a social security crisis.
While I can understand the last argument on social security, the other two I do not see as much of a threat. Although with social security that problem could most likely be fixed, by only giving the money out to the people who are in desperate need for it, who are unable to work, not just because they don't want to, so they decide to rely on the government for money, then when the people get old enough and actually need it, the money will be there for them to utilize. I believe that the people who are receiving social security currently are doing a greater damage then would that of gay marriage. But with Polygamy, even without homosexual marriage being legal there is still polygamy that occurs within the US and other countries. Also, homosexuality would not necessarily have to be taught in schools, heterosexuality is not, a child could find out on homosexuality just within their daily life.

3.

what opinions do my peers have, so that I can ignore binary thining and see the issue from more than one perspective..

i believe that others may feel that it's wrong since it is unnatural. Or that marriage is about procreation. Gay marriage becoming legal would cause socioeconomical problems throughout the world also.

PG. 76 - 77 #1 A Practice Sequence:Identifying Issues

1.

There has been throughout the years a long debate about whether homosexuals should be allowed to get married or not. I believe, from personal experience that homosexuals should be allowed just as much privilege to be married to one another as do straight people. Many of my friends that are homosexual, have the same amount of love for their partner as do my heterosexual friends. Also, these people may not be able to have children with one another which is what is believed by some to be the point of marriage, but if we only get married to have children then many people are wrong, because when two people decide to get married they do it because they are in love, and then usually later on, comes a family.
On the website Letters2President.org I came across a letter by Donna N. Her whole letter supports my idea that Gay marriage should be accepted and that marriage is not about gender but is indeed about love. "Imagine being told you could not marry the person you love, your soul mate, because it does not follow the values of others. I know that my heart would be crushed..." This strikes a question within me. How can people go about making decisions for other people without putting themselves in the other person's shoes? Since we as humans are always told to accept everything, and to treat others as we would want to be treated. How can people find it in themselves to choose the life of another? Also, We as human beings should not label what is wrong and right in the case of love and marriage, even if it is a religious ceremony in some aspects. However, if the ceremony is so religious then how come Atheists and other religious types in the U.S. are allowed to get married?
I guess that people may make these decisions that impose others lives because they do not tend to think about how it hurts those people who cannot get married, because I bet that the people making the decisions are able to get married. Also, Gay marriage is probably just a really controversial issue for them and they are afraid of what would come out of it in the future if they were to allow for them to get married. As for why are Atheists among other religious groups allowed to perform marriage ceremonies in the U.S, maybe that has to do with the fact that, they are man and woman ceremonies, and that's really what the people care about, they do not care that participants do not partake in reading the Bible or following it even.

Pg. 27 #2

If ever there was an idea custom-made for a Jay Leno monologue this was it: students blaming their teachers for them being unsuccessful they acquired while in school, due to not trying their hardest. Isn't that like an office worker (or any other type of worker) saying it was their bosses fault another coworkers fault as to why they were unable to get their work done? Whatever happened to taking the blame for your own actions?
I happen to sympathize with these students who decide to not live up to their full potential and blame others, though, perhaps this is due to the fact that when I was in the 9th grade in high school I was just like them.

In Barbara Ehrenreich's essay called "Cultural Baggage," I believe that the reason she decided to write the essay was due to the idea of having a cultural background but not doing anything to represent or show what it used to be in the old tradition of cultural background. Also to show that by everyone with whom she grew up around and was raised by, just as the rest of us maybe, we are growing up being told to go out and experience the world, not many of us are reliving what are ancestors did, as stated in this text,

"...I was raised with none, We'd eaten ethnic foods in my childhood home, but these were all borrowed, like the pasties, or Cornish meat pies, my father had picked up from his fellow miners in Butte, Montana. If my mother had one rule, it was militant ecumenism in all manners of food and experience. "Try new things," she would say, meaning anything from sweetbreads to clams, with an emphasis on the 'new.'"

In those couple sentences you can find that Barbara, from an early age, was taught that anything new was virtually good and should be done, in the essay it doesn't seem like there was much emphasis on trying anything custom from her cultural background, instead it was insisted upon her to try things from other cultures and to virtually forget about her own. I believe that the purpose for her writing this essay had to with her children. Because she previously states in the essay that" All this excitement over ethnicity stemmed, I uneasily sensed, from a past in which their ancestors had been trampled upon by my ancestors, or at least by people who looked very much like them." This excerpt shows that she isn't uncomfortable with being proud of who she is in a sense culturally because she really doesn't have anything to be really proud about that her ancestors seemed to have accomplished. She also later on states about her ancestors still being virtually uncivilized while other cultures were settled down and living 'civilized' lives. She is happy or more relieved if anything that her children when they grew up, don't share views that are different from hers or her mothers, or grandparents. I believe that the audience that she is writing for may not be directly stated but I do believe that by what I get from reading the whole essay, that we; the ones reading the essay, are the intended audience. At first reading I thought that it may have been her children, but she had already received their opinions on culture and race as stated in the ending sentences. The audience may even be the people who are so hooked up on their own culture that they won't go out and try new things, and see the broader horizon than just what their used too. Lastly, I believe that her major claim or thesis is,

"The more tradition-minded, the newly enthusiastic celebrants or Purim and Kwanzaa and Solstice, may see little point to survival if the survivors carry no cultural freight -- religion, for example, or ethnic tradition. To which I would say that skepticism, curiosity and wide-eyed ecumenical tolerance are also worthy elements of the human tradition and are at least as old as such notions as "Serbian" or "Croatian," "Scottish" or "Jewish""

I believe this quote is the major claim or thesis because in that she states her opinion and that statement supports her motivation to write the essay in my eyes, because she believes that people are better off not being wrapped up in their own culture and should go out and try new things, to be a more rounded individual, While others would disagree her because people should be proud of their heritage and be active in their own culture and not others. In conclusion, I believe that Barbara Ehrenreich's essay, "Cultural Baggage" infers that culture isn't something that we have to lug around and be confined to, we can and should go out and experience new things and not allow who 'we are' to hold us back.

TSIS Pg: 14 #2

In the Introduction to "They Say/I Say": The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing, Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein provide templates designed to kick start the writing process when writing a paper and the templates also allow the writer tweak and master the template to their own writing style, liking, and creativity level. Specifically, Graff and Birkenstein argue that the types of templates they offer give a format for writing that allows you to get your point across. As the authors themselves put it, "...these templates do not dictate the content of what you say, which can be as original as you can make it. In addition, once you begin to feel comfortable with the templates in this book, you will be able to improvise creatively on them and invent new ones to fit new situations and purposes." Although some people believe that the templates will in fact take away from their creativity, Graff and Birkenstein insist that creativity depends on a set form, once the format is mastered then creativity can be added and the format changed to fit your creativity. In sum, then, their view is that the templates will not stifle the creativity of the writer but will be helpful to them.
I agree with Graf and Birkenstein. In my view, the types of templates that the authors recommend and provide in the book are to be used as help and are not meant to stifle the imagination of the writer. For instance, in the opening to the essay "Don't Blame the Eater," by David Zinczenko, the essay uses a similar template to that of what the authors provided and the writing is still interesting, fresh and imaginative. In addition, this shows that templates can be used as a helpful guide in writing and are not intended to stifle the imagination of the writer. Whilst, some may argue that the templates may not be as helpful as they meant to be for some writers. Overall, then, I believe those who have a hard time using templates should try, at least, to incorporate the templates ideas with their own, so that it works and is helpful for them. In Conclusion, I believe that everyone has the possibility to use templates to their advantage without stifling their imagination.

Note:
I decided to change the ending of the template that was provided for us to work with because I was not able to come up with enough information to fill in all the blanks, and I felt like I had already repeated myself enough.

PG. 20 #1

My first choice:

I sympathize more with the argument made my Patterson that states ..."increasing voter apathy is a danger to democracy." By having a democracy as the way of government you have to be an active member of it, so that nobody comes around and tries to abuse it. By the public making the impression that they don't care or do not have time to vote just puts our legal system at risk for no longer existing some day in the future. Also, other countries that may be looking at the U.s. to see how well a democracy really does work, if thy notice that we aren't very enthusiastic about it as we were when we first came across, they may be decide that the democracy type government is just not what they are looking for or maybe they will decide to use it and just tweak it a bit to make sure that their people vote and are active with in it.
Others may disagree with me by saying that the people don't necessarily have to be active in it, because we don't really make the decisions, the Electoral College does. They may also say that even if other countries look into democracy and notice that ours may not be 'important' to us anymore, they may find a way to keep their people interested and involved with more other than just voting.

Second half(the other side):

I agree with and sympathize more with Patterson's idea of voting strengthening a persons citizenship. By being active in voting you understand and know what is going on in the world around you. You know what you want out of the next president, governor, etc. You also know what you expect that person to be able to offer and to do for the community, state, or country. I do, also, agree that voting ties us together as a community better. Since voting stations are set up in set places within the community, I know in my community they are run through schools and have the neighbors and other people form the community helping out to run the polls and just direct and help the voters if they have problems. Voting allows people to get a sense of closeness and pride with one another even if it is maybe just for a day.
A person who disagrees with my pinion could say that some people only vote to vote and don't care about what is going on in the world around or don't care about what the next official could do for the country or state, because it's all just suck ups and lies. They may also say that voting doesn't necessarily mean you have a god understanding of what you want because over time your ideas tend to change and you see the error of your way, and once you vote it's too late to go back and change it.

Pg. 17 #3

I do believe that the voucher program is a good idea for students because it enables them to experience something and to get more out of life than what are already getting. It always them to have a chance to possibly get a better education. Although along with any good idea comes that dark sides that could cause the program to fall through if not looked at and responded to or helped immediately. The dark sides being not only the public schools not having enough funding do to kids leaving, having an excessive amount of staff and administrators that would no longer be needed possibly, commuting problems for the parents and students alike, along with the possible social problems that it could have on the children. I believe that to not worry about running into these problems, the states who offer these types of programs, and vouchers should make sure that they are able to keep track of where the students are going and how well they are doing in the facility that they chose. If the children isn't doing well I believe that should just take them out of the program and allow them to go back to Public school. Also, along with that, they shouldn't just allow any student who wants to participate in it and who knows about the program to participate in it, they have to have some type of boundary and regulations, so that not everyone is going into these special programs, because some of the kids that take part in the program, most likely don't even care about it.

The administration and faculty(including teachers) of the public schools may argue that the public schools that students are not attending anymore are loosing their luster as an educational facility. Since not many students would be attending them any longer. In which the public schools would either end up being shut down due to lack of funding, which would result in major job cuts and a higher unemployment rate, since those schools would no longer need as much administration to run the schools and keep control. They also wouldn't need as many teachers on duty, because the classrooms wouldn't be as full. While I believe that at the other end of this situation is the charter, online, boarding, or private school faculty and administration that would also have a negative response to the vouchers being given from the state to lower income children. The educational facilities that the students decide to engage in would end up at some point becoming overcrowded and they would need more teachers and faculty which would enable the faculty that was already there for years to get their pays lowered so that those facilities could be able to handle hiring more people and still being able to keep the facility running.

I believe that the lower income parents may find the voucher idea a good idea because their child is receiving a better education, which is something that every child believe their child deserves and since their parents can't give that to their child at least the child can receive it somehow. but some parents, do not like to accept help from anyone so it may anger those parents who feel that way. While for other parents they may like the idea but it could cause an uproar in commuting schedules, between work and having to take your child to the school they decide on. Also, some of the options for schooling the parents may not feel comfortable with like for example, A boarding school, where the children live in the educational facility, these are only kids and not many parents enjoy being away form children. So it could be hard for them. Another example is an online school, it's possible that some parents may not feel completely comfortable allowing there child to stay at home and trust that they are getting their work done for their courses. The parents of the students who are already in those educational facilities may be enraged my the fact that they pay for their child to attend an on line school, boarding school, private school, etc. Which may make the parents complain to someone of a higher status whether it be in the school or the government which could result in a termination of the program all together.

Whilst, the students opinions may differ from that of the parents and administrators/staff. The children may be worried about what school to pick based on it's reputation or what their friends are deciding, or whether they think they will be able to handle the change, although most children believe that they are invincible and can take on anything. The child may be disappointed if he or she and their friends were to get separated because they both decided on different educational options for schooling, which could make them change their mind in the long run. due to not having the comfort zone that they are so used to always having and not wanting to have to start all over and make new friends. Also, the children that are already in the schools may not feel welcoming towards the students who are knew and from the lower income families that went to public school.

Page 14: #3

By Students being offered choice programs in school it may offer them a broader and 'better' education in the long run. By allowing those lower income families a chance to allow their children to get a private school education could help the child out tremendously in their future. Better education may let those children want to go on and receive higher education which will lead them to have a better paying job, health care and a more comfortable life.
I believe that the program is a good idea and disagree with the author of the passage. They stated that boy states allowing parents to choose which schools they want to send their kids it will cause segregation. I do not believe that the system will cause this, because, it is possible that once the parents and children find out about the program they will inform others within their community and beyond, who will then also know about the program, therefore not just one area of students will be going to a school. Along with it will not only be one social class anymore.
Lastly, by having the program it will allow more views to be expressed in one setting, so children will be exposed to the unknown. Since usually only the high-income children go to private schools. With the voucher being offered to allow parents within the low-income group send their children to provate school there will be a variety of opinions on topics in the classroom. Since not all of the children would be coming from the same social class or background. I believe the state program allows for more diversity within the private school setting.

Questions I came across while reading:

• Why do some states fund lower-income kids to go to private schools when most public schools do not have enough funding?
• The states could (instead of using the money on vouchers for private schools) use the money they are spending to fix and maintain public or state run school.
• If the students are failing in public schools why not just offer a tutoring program, or extra help of some form, or even make sure that the teachers are teaching a way that is easily understandable for the children?
• If the students are failing in public schools what proves to the states that the kids are not going to flunk out in a private school and waste their oppurtunity for the education someone else could have received?