Puyush's argument

In Puyush’s argument regarding computers I found it a little difficult throughout the paper to tell if the topic was in fact in support of computers. Not until the conclusion did I totally feel that was made clear. In response to the argument I believe books are important for primary education. While computers are the way of the future and allow for more space as books are consolidated on one device the merits of written text cannot be forgot. I feel that in the argument the author in fact argues more convincingly in the favor of books. Books are important for the primary education of youth. Children need to be experienced in how to navigate written texts as well as reading on a paper source. Just because we are moving into the new digital world doesn’t mean that paper sources will be all but eliminated. Students need to be prepared for reading and study from all elements and computers cannot simulate an actual source. Books provide a physical presence but along with that a student having books in school teaches responsibility. This lesson could not be taught with a digital device that will most likely be a fixed or personal possession. School supplied books teach students how to care for and keep track of important items, and while this results in lost books I believe it is a valuable lesson for our schools to teach young people.

In the argument Puyush goes into great detail regarding the cons of Word processing. To respond to this I would say he is completely correct, word processing leaves students without education on spelling and proper sentence structure. Word processing programs today are very complex and even automatically fix problems. The program itself allows laziness and apathy to creep in. Imagine a world where we don’t learn proper spelling and grammar n school. This could happen if we allow the majority of writing in school to take place on computers. Hand writing is a skill and with it so is proper grammar and spelling. If we do switch to a largely digital computerized schooling environment these skills may be lost and at a crucial time in development. Development is the whole purpose of our schooling system and if we don’t have a diversified environment and diverse tools for that development we will be hindering schools ability to develop young people for the world. While I agree that computers are a critical thing and developing skills in regards to this are important as well we need to remember we don’t use computers all the time. In our world we won’t always have that digital device and if we don’t learn how to write, read, and communicate effectively without them than we are losing a crucial skill.

In conclusion I do partial agree with Puyush’s argument however there are some adjustments that need to be made. First off there are quite a bit of grammatical errors and spelling issues. Beyond that thought there are some changes that need to be made to the argument itself. I feel that he focuses to much on the arguments against computers to the point that I forgot what his stance was. The paper needs to focus much more on why computers are a good idea and less the cons. 

Argument Outline

For my argument I am diving into the field of education. I want to argue that our education system needs overhauls specifically in High School education. These changes would be to curriculum and to culture of the learning area. To argue this point of view I’m going to use personal narrative along with some logic.

Intro:

Here I want to start with a story, something that happened to me either in High School or afterwards in college. Thinking back there are several situations that I experienced or saw firsthand that my “education” truly was not the best or it was lacking. I also need to express the main points in the argument in this paragraph.

Body:

Some main points for my argument include issues with curriculum. This I believe is the largest issue with our education. Our course load often has nothing to do with what we need in life or in what we want to do especially in the junior and senior year.

The next topic will focus on the culture that high school creates. As I went through school there was a feeling of stress as well as sheer disinterest in classes. Some classes were so scary and difficult many did not want to take part and some we were forced to do even though we wanted nothing to do with that career field. Other classes were seemed as so trivial and simple that many took them just to blow them off after the start of school. And all this created a culture of doing the bare minimum.

The last topic of my paper will regard education fr our future. As we go through school we learn many things sure, but how much do we eventually use? Our education in this country shouldn’t just be general. Our education here should prepare us for life as an adult. There should be classes on taxes, personal finance, and other important aspects. Our diploma shouldn’t just be in general math science and English but should be one for being a full and educated citizen.

Rebuttals:

I certainly expect some rebuttals and I have prepared to address a few. First being that changing our system would be too difficult. To this I would agree that it would be difficult however this is necessary. The longer we leave things the way they are the worse they will get, making things only harder. The second being that a system like I propose would not work in the United States. I personally believe that ridiculous. Students want change, and no one is going to hold them back from trying to do what they want to do. We simply need to make education more targeted and use it to train the next generation of workers and college students for the different lives ahead of them. 

Why Our Schools Must Change

For my paper I’m looking into the issue of education, specifically in High School. Now that I’m in college I often find myself looking back at my past education. I often think about my times in High School and what I did there. What I participated in and most importantly what I learned there. However when I think about the education aspect I find myself thinking about how often I use it now. This has led me to try and argue the point that our Education system needs to change. Change into a form where students will learn specific knowledge relevant to the student’s future.

Education has evolved into a general unloading of knowledge upon student in the US. Where student are crammed with lots of knowledge however few will actually use most of it or any of it. Education is very important and as the US falls even further behind other nations in primary education now is the time to act, and create a better more organized high school education for Americans.

To support my arguments I will use a variety of methods however I believe personal narrative will be my most used. My own personal story I believe is similar to many other college students in the US where we come here and realize we know truly nothing. We wasted hours of our time in AP Chem and Honors Math to never use it again after we graduate High School. I know I can certainly share some stories regarding this. Along with firsthand accounts of other countries systems I believe I can formulate an argument that would cause many to think.

Ultimately this topic is worth talking about. Many may argue that it will be too hard to change, or that a more European system would never be accepted here. However I disagree and believe that if we don’t have this conversation then things may never get better. And if the education system doesn’t try to learn itself then how can we ever truly learn as students. 

America

In America: The Multinational Society Reed describes a battle occurring in the United States. A battle being waged over what it means to be American. A fight over what our culture is and where it is heading. Reed describes an America rich in different cultures. A place where a Spanish speaking family has a kosher hot dog next to Afro-American man, in a city with a large Muslim population. America is certainly an amazing place. A land were many can come together and be one, all at the same time as retaining their ethnic identity and culture. But this was written a long time ago, does it still hold up in 2015?

As someone who has had the opportunity to live in over 4 different countries I can attest there is nothing quite like the United States. A place made by immigrants, a land so vast it spans two oceans, a place where many become one. I absolutely believe America is still this land, but with this it still has the same problems. Just as Reed explains America still struggles with its acceptance of others, in fact I know I do. A land with so many outsiders yet we reject anything that is seen as foreign. Which is rather comical given the fact that our culture and society is built from things not originating here. Cultures that are found across oceans and spanning languages. This culture which truly is a melting pot somehow likes to reject the new. We see ourselves needing isolation which is ridiculous considering we are one of the least isolated places in the world. We fight and struggle with things deemed “un-American”. However what is un-American? Is it anti-religious, not white, I don’t seem to get it? If people here were so content to shut the door now that they are here they might as well leave. Do what so many others have done and go to your land of promise. And when they go they should feel free to take their closed-mindedness and racism with them. Because if there is one thing that is truly anti-American, its monoculturism. 

The Seven not so Deadly Sins

In The Seven Deadly Sins of Students it seems we get to see the frustration of a begrudged professor manifest itself into print. As I read the article I could see how some of my less disciplined compatriots and fellow undergrads could take offense. I however agree with the authors conclusions. I do believe that my fellow students suffer from these flaws and I myself struggle with some. However these are not entirely of our making. Unfortunately many of these issues brought to light by Pannapacker are created by our culture and modern American society. A society were success is measured in gold and the only sign of success is the dollar sign.

Although I agree with the author in essence I feel that I need to make a rebuttal (entirely of my free will wink wink). To start off let’s think about what this looks like, a stuffy old liberal arts professor that KNOWS he is better than you. Yes sure, he is better educated, old, wiser, but still. As many of my friends in New Jersey would say “YOU THINK YOU'RE BETTA THEN ME?!” followed up with copious hand gestures of various meanings. Just the way the author goes about this seems insensitive and even shut off from the rest of the world. So with a little insight this is what I have to say.

Sloth: Yeah I don’t want to get up and read, so what? Even if I do read none of this stuff will be on the test that will conveniently end up being way more difficult than it needs to be. Oh and as for coming to class some days that would be more wasteful than staring at a wall for an hour.

Greed: Society created this monster don’t look at me.

Anger: Ok, maybe I’m a bit stressed out but I wouldn’t be that way if I didn’t have 7 classes that all assign copious readings, papers due every night, pop quizzes that could ruin my grade, GPA being crucial to getting a job, professors having way to high of standards, Fuuuuuuu…

Lust: Hey man just sit back and enjoy, you are getting paid for this.

Gluttony: yeah I can’t really defend this but at least the food here is good.

Envy: Ok, if that ass-hat sitting next to me gets an A then I deserve 5 A’s. I swear if this college thing was based on effort as opposed to meeting some old guys standards we would learn way more. Fix that and you fix envy.

Pride: Look that’s just a society thing, put less stress on us to perform and maybe we could be more humble. Low key though I am awesome, just look at my GPA. Some old people with masters and doctorates basically said I am.

Against Work-ing on This

In Against Work the author speaks about the culture of work in the US. An apparent need to work and make money even if it is at our expense. The author believes that this sense of having to work is actually damaging to us. This I would have to agree with. The entire premise of his article is true, the way he goes about proving it is interesting though. In the article there are several things that work and some that don’t, as well as some things that I believe are unnecessary.

In Against Work Christopher Clausen discusses the culture of work and labor in the US. In an overwhelmingly negative review he points out Workaholic-ism as a problem with our society. So much that a word meaning an addiction and non-human behavior has been so accepted that it is now considered a positive trait in a person. To describe this Clausen uses personal narrative to get to the point of his argument. While I think this was a good idea so that he may connect with the audience I feel it made him wander. At times I felt he got distracted in telling his story and wandered away from the topic. Ultimately though I felt that I connected with the author more than I would have and in relation the writing itself. However parts of the author’s personality showed through too much at times, like the comment on soldiers. That was just a bit to revealing, as well as unnecessary. There were other aspects though that I found to be a bit much. The author used many quotations. While it was nice to see that he had some backing it became too much. I found myself asking “Why should I care what old dead white guys said?” ultimately I just skipped over the last three, feeling that at this point it was just filler. But along with the quotations being a bit copious I found that it fit with an air of self-indulgence in the article. A feeling of loftiness that was just unnecessary. This stuffiness eventually made me feel bored and maybe even a bit offended if you can understand that.

Meatless but not Humorless

              In “Meatless Like Me” the author creates an unlikely argument. The subject itself, Vegetarian omnivore relations” is interesting enough. However, what is truly unlikely is the way he forms his argument. The writing itself starts like any essay with a story working as a hook but how the author uses this funny but sad story is what sets the tone for the rest of the piece. Taylor Clark, the author, creates an argument that most “normal” people would roll their eyes at and simply ignore. But with his humor and zaniness it seems exciting and fun to read. He creates a new spin to an old argument and natural conflict. Clark appeals to our sense of humanity by showing his. As you read his argument you don’t see a vegetarian blabbing on about how we should all get along but instead we get a view into a man’s mind. A mind that is not only clever but funny. But normally the use of humor in an argument might be considered a crutch or some sort of distraction. In this argument though I would consider it to be crucial for Clark’s point to get across. Instead of simply dismissing complaints or critical views we find ourselves listening and laughing.

                The authors writing style is what makes this a good argument. The use of absurdity and situations help attract attention and utilize it. With arguments the audience’s attention is crucial. The article needs to promote thought, without it the argument cannot be successful. The second half, utilization, is found in situations. In the article the author uses multiple situations to further his arguments and while he incorporates humor into these argument he also uses the opportunity to teach and open up to the audience. But theses theoretical situations aren’t all that helps him utilize attention, Clark also uses appeals. These appeals range from basic decency to appeals our softer side. These appeals make an effort to drive home the argument, but Clark gives them a spin. He makes is appeals almost sad-fully funny, asking so little in a humorous manner. This strategy at appeals helps to make his arguments all the more effective.

Peer Review

After going through my groups rough drafts there were several things that stood out. Of course this was a rough draft and several things will be expected. Some standard stuff I noticed while I read were grammatical errors, wording, and generally rough prose. As I went through my groups drafts I made corrections and offered advice for possible changes. After this there was a commonality I noticed with 2 out of 3, lack of meeting the 4 page limit. This ultimately can be chalked up to lack of content or just not thinking about the topic enough. I personally suggested to these partners maybe writing a paragraph about how you would change the ad to make it more effective. Another common issue was repeating information several times. I feel that this might be tied in with lack of content but it’s an easy fix. I tried to point this out when I saw it.

There were also several things the drafts did well. All of the drafts broke down the ads pretty well, Monica did an excellent job. I feel like in all the drafts after the first 2 paragraphs the writers really opened up and provided better and more genuine thought. I feel that all the drafts are pretty good in essence however with some small tweaks they can truly be great!

Raunch Culture in Advertisment

After reading this article it became clear to me how true the author was. As a man I often don’t think about what it means to be sexually objectified or being seen in that context. Honestly I love the fact that a raunchier and less conservative society prevails but I never think about what it really means. After reading the article it became clear just how much things have changed over the past several decades. Feminist movements have died down and the world has changed significantly. Even with America’s political back to basics it seems that things are only becoming more relaxed or maybe they are just staying the same.  But one thing is certain however Advertisement certainly utilizes sexism and sexual objectification.

I selected an ad from Bud Light for my paper, in this ad there is certainly use of objectification. As I did researched the ad I looked at several different options all from the alcohol and beer industries. It seemed to me that these ads used sexual undertones the most. One Manufacturer Heineken seemed to use these tactics the most. However after research I choose a Bud Light ad. At first in this ad doesn’t seem to be exactly sexually charged. However if you take a step back and really look you can see it, staring you in the face.

At first glance at the Ad you would only notice the large slogan but that is only the surface of this ad. Emblazoned on the front is the slogan “Are we having (Bud light Bottle) yet?” An obvious quip to liken bud light to fun. However what we don’t see is what is behind this slogan. Sitting right behind is 5 20 something’s laughing and having a good time. Sure looks innocent enough but if we look closer we can see it. The group of young particularly beautiful people are made up of one man surrounded by 4 women. Some of these women appear to be sitting in his lap or fawning over him and his bud light. There right there, we can see how far this goes. We can see that even in subtle jests how deep sexualization of women and products runs.