The protean N word

I think this essay is a very serious topic and im glad it is being brought up in a safe format. I cant really tell if the author is racist or not. Sometimes it seemed like he was using the n word just to offend people. But at the same time, the author used lots of quotes and examples from the past to convey his point. The author is very smart for bringing up this topic. I believe it was a long time coming to bring this up and not leave anything out. I like the story about President Johnson how he got his point across. johnson said that when he was given the optiojn to appoint a white man or a black man to the supreme court, it was an easy choice. It was comical that he said that the only person who has heard of the white candidate was his own mother. But sime he appointed the black man, it was memorable and everybody was talking about it. I believe it was a smart move. Its true that once a black person was appointed to the Supreme Court, everyone would know. I somewhat believe racism is a part of the past, but peoples ideas are still out there. Even though there are no protests and riots in the street like we all learn from the textbooks, I can definitely sense racial tension in todays' society. For example, I brought my black friend tara to a frat party this summer, along with some of the black guys on the football team. she was so stand offish that she didnt even talk to the frat guys who were all white, she only talked to the guys from the football team. Later when i confronted her about it, she said that she felt uncomfortable because she doesnt know those guys. But at the same time i had to meet them once too, its not so bad, haha. This essay really intregued me because its hard to talk about race without taking offence, but this essay did that successfully.

fast food nation.

I liked the story we read about fast food ruling americans lives. Its true that in every corner there is a different place to eat. Mc donalds could take over the world soon. Also i like the point the author made by saying that the slaughter houses and the potato farms are where all the real food comes from. I grew up partly in Missouri and our family was friends with a couple who owned about 2,000 acres of farmland. They grew corn, soybeans, and some wheat. We would go there during harvesting season and Walter would let my sister and i drive the huge combines down the rows of corn and into a large bin in the back. Though these people were the humblest you would meet and were never boastful about their money, they had ALOT of it. They lived in a modest home and lived simply, but they had lots of money. This just reminded me of the fact that at the beginning of the food process is where the money is made, and slowly thereafter is declines, until the chain hits the last person, the minimum wage worker at Mc Donalds. Its an interesting concept and it somewhat reminds me of the food chain. After my sister and i harvested the corn, it would be sent to barges and shipped in bulk to different companies off the cob, so that they could make food how they want. At this point it is processed and frozen and chemically altered. I think that this is an important essay to read because the fast food addiction is a real epidemic in America. This essay helps bring light to a topic that could be considered taboo to some people. I think its interesting how much companies like Mc Donalds spend on advertising while the workers dont get paid very much. In my opinion, people already know what Mc Donalds sells, they dont need to be reminded.

Margot Tanenbaum

I believe that Margot Tannenbaum is the most interesting character in the movie. When they showed her as a child she had the most depth...she was adopted, and her father never let her forget that. She had talent writing plays, yet the lack of support from her family discouraged her. Margot is a very secretive character all the way up until she becomes an adult. She hides that she smokes from her family when she was little. When she is older she hides in the bathroom and covers up the smoky smell with perfume so that her husband doesn't know. Margot has a fear of showing who she really is. But i believe that Margot starts to change when she expresses to her husband that she doesn't know if she loves him anymore and moves back into her parents house. I believe that she is especially revealed to the audience when the file is shown about all the love affairs she has had with different men. The first time i really saw Margot show emotion was when she cried to her brother after he tried to commit suicide. It showed how she feels on the inside, which is sad, hurt and depressed. The most interesting part of the movie was seeing Royal and Margot at the ice cream parlor somewhat making up for lost time. It shows growth in the character and the ability to forgive. At the end of the movie, Margot has no more secrets to hide, her family knows she smokes but support her trying to quit. She begins to write again, and the fact that she creates a play about her own life is brave. Margot shows the most growth in the movie in my opinion.

What we did and why we did it

I like this story more than i thought i would. When i read the first sentence about being feminist, i wasn't interested in hearing one more thing about that. its not that im anti feminist, i just am okay with the idea that women belong in the home if they choose to. i would much rather take care of a family than have a busy career. However, the ideas discussed caught my attention. When the author started talking about how women make less money than men, used to not be able to teach at mens universities, etc. it caught my attention that the author began to influence her collegues and students to stand up for themselves and fight for what they want. Those are good ideas for anyone to have, feminist or not.

puzzling

I started working when I was sixteen and i soon after began paying for all of my personal belongings, including a new car. I actually had been paying for myself for a long time. Now i work at Kroger and i work with people who are much older than i am. These older people are mostly mothers who are raising kids, paying for houses, cars, groceries, everything. And i wonder how they can support all of that with a minimum wage salary or slightly above. Its hard for me to even control all of my finances and i have a lot less stuff to pay for. Its sad sometimes and i wonder why these people go to college or find something better. College was always in my future no matter what because of my parents, but i wonder about the parents of these people and how they were raised.

on being a cripple

I think that the story is coming from an interesting perspective. Because the author is a cripple herself, she gives a good insight into the life of a cripple. I like how the author says that she doesn't want to be called handicapped or disabled. Those terms to me seem more and i can understand where the author is coming from. I also think its interesting how if the author could get rid of her disease, she wouldn't because she knows that God gave it to her for a reason. i think thats an interesting outlook on life and suprisingly positive. 

An American Childhood

The story "An American Childhood" is about a young girl struggling to make it through her adolescence. Obviously, teenage years are a time of change for young people, and emotions run wild. It is normal for annie to blame her parents for how her life is changing. Annie has lots of anger built up inside and it seems like a self vs. society situation. It is interesting to me that she takes out alot of her frustrations on music. Even though she is basically destroying the instruments, she now has an outlet for her emotions. There seems to be alot of self reflection happening even without the character knowing about it. She starts to figure out and adress her inner anger and isolate it in a healthier manner.

Sonja interview

Sonja is the type of person who is very goal oriented. Leaving her hometown and getting a higher education is something that is important to her. I know that another one of Sonja’s goals is to meet new people in the dorms and to become more social. I believe that Sonja is accepting of change because she wants to talk to a wider range of people and be less awkward around them. Sonja is a theatre major and her favorite actress in Hayden Paniettere. Sonja likes her because even though she is famous, she is laid back and she doesn’t have a big head. One thing about Sonja that is interesting is that she would rather be behind the scenes than on a stage. I think that’s interesting because that shows that she doesn’t always want the attention focused on her. Sometimes it’s better to help out with something and be a part of it than be leading something. But one thing that Sonja does lead is her goal oriented life.

Interview

I think that it is really hard to describe myself to another person in only a few words. If I tell my interviewer one thing, that may stick out over other things that people hear about me. I don't want to be misrepresented or misunderstood. Ever.
I also think that the questions I asked my partner work well for this exercise. I interviewed Sonja, and I definitely understand her better now. I thought that we wouldn't have anything in common, but i realized that we both prefer to be behind the scenes rather than on a stage. There is a shy element to her that is similar to me. I definitely understand that her hopes for college were to meet new people and to become more social, and I think that everyone is in the same boat.