Freshman Composition
Critical and Argumentative Writing
Blogging in the Blogosphere
English 100 and 103
FORMAT:
When you blog, in the Title, write your first and last name as you would as if you are turning in a paper to me. Then you do not have to write my name because I know you are in my class. Write what English class you are in whether it is English 52, 60, 100 and what College.
For example, one would write:
Yue Hayes
English 103
Cerritos College
Post #1
Homelessness
Font size
In addition, for the title, pick the topic of discussion, grammar/organization, content, current events, pop culture or literature as a TITLE that we have discussed in class. Write the posts like this: write #1 Post or #2 Post or Post #50, so I can easily keep track of them and how many you write.
Of course, you are welcome to write more than several posts, and in doing so is another form of participation and does count in the participation grade. Perhaps, in class, you may not participate all that much but in the realm of the blogosphere, you can from the comfort of your own home,
* reflect on the day's class discussion or offer up an insight that you found particularly interesting, etc., etc.
*
* How does it change the way you think or thought before on the subject?
*
* What actions might you take in the future? Anything is open to interpretation.
Of course, I need not go on and on about being respectful towards your peers' opinions and beliefs. If you disagree with another student's views be discreet about it: Do not say so and so is completely wrong because of this and that. Instead, say, I disagree with so and so and here are the reasons why I do. Go after their evidence and support and do not, I repeat do not attack someone else personally. This is supposed to be a forum for everyone to share their ideas and views.
*I will enforce the blogosphere by either deleting your hard work, making an example out of you here in the realm of the blogosphere or in class* . . .
3,403 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 2601 – 2800 of 3403 Newer› Newest»Ricky Castellanos
Eng 110
G-Dub
Happy Endings-
This reading stirred many emotions inside. It is true though, right? We all end up dead one way or another. Death is something all humanity shares in common. That is about the only thing I agree with Ms. Atwood’s writings. I wont say Mrs. because I am pretty sure no one in this world would marry such a sour and pessimistic character. If there is no reason for a plot, then what is the reason for having a story at all? I believe that this is the way many people live their lives. They give up because they feel as if they have no purpose. I believe that some are more fortunate than others and are in a better position to succeed. I also believe that some are at the opposite end of the spectrum and everything that can possibly go wrong, probably will. I believe both, but more so, I am a firm believer that one can control their journey through life (their plot) and overcome any obstacle that obstructs it. If you don’t try, you will always have the same ending. One has the power to create their own happy ending.
The Story of An Hour-
This story should have been on Happy Endings. I wonder if Mr. Mallard was able to set himself free, as did Mrs. Mallard. Assuming that losing your wife/husband is probably one of the worst possible things that can happen in ones lifetime, Mrs. Mallard took it pretty well. It only took her an hour to get over it! I cannot even imagine what the death of a life-long partner must feel like. There is a lesson to be learned here, If you ever hear of someone you know dying, confirm that they are dead before running your big mouth.
Brett Hoxie
English 110
GWC
Post #3
Bliss
I did not understand Bliss the first time i read the story so i went back and skimmed the story for some lines that struck me. Although i feel i got the literal plot of the story, that of Bertha finding out about the infidelities of her husband, i felt like Katherine Mansfield wrote a little bit like Dickens. One thing i could mot stand of Dickens was his endless drawl on description. I remember reading Great Expectations and on the 26th page devoted to the description of Pip's meager house wanting to close the book and hit myself int he face. Repeatedly. But please do not get me wrong, I love Dickens, especially Tale of Two cities which remains a favorite of mine today. The first half at Least. Bliss I feel had the same long devoted descriptions which i felt could be condensed especially since it was a short story. I'm running on tangents. Ill stop. The best part of Bliss to me was while the descriptions of her queer like euphoria, I thought she was going to murder Harry.
Katherine Nguyen
English 110
GWC
Post # ?
Bliss by Katherine Mansfield
I actually enjoyed reading this short story. The title bliss means extreme happiness, and the main character, Bertha, who is thirty years old, believes that she is very happy and is in a happy marriage with her husband and enjoys having her baby, Little B. She believes she lives a perfect life with a nice home and a very lovely pear tree. She’s arranging for dinner with her friends and brings out wonderful fruits. It’s nice how she loves everything around her, her husband, her house, her pear tree, her fruits. She even comments on her baby, saying that she loves her baby’s toes, lips and hands. In this story, Bertha thinks of Chekhov, which is very cool because I am learning about that play writer in my Theatre Arts class. Everything seems like its perfect, but it’s really not. Her husband is having an affair with this lady named Pearl. From this affair, you can tell that Harry isn’t so happy with the love in his marriage, which is different of how Bertha describes being with him. We see that “ignorance is bliss” and it is our choice if we want to live in ignorance or not. I feel really sorry for Bertha because she doesn’t really know what’s going on and being really naïve. But then again, if she knew about the affair, then she wouldn’t be as blissful as she was throughout the story.
Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin
This story was very interesting. It only takes place within one hour and there were so much going on! The main character, Mrs. Millard has a poor heart condition. When her sister in law, Josephine finds out that Mrs. Millard’s husband died from a train accident, no one knew how to tell her the news. They were scared she might have a heart attack or something since she has a poor heart condition. Nonetheless, they told Mrs. Millard the news. This is the worst type of news you can tell anyone! I find it sad that Mrs. Millard had to go through with this. Some people are depressed throughout her life, but Mrs. Millard finally realizes she is free. Free from sadness, free from everything. She probably didn’t live a great life with her husband. Her husband could have been demanding or not a great husband. I don’t think it’s wrong for her to be happy like that. I don’t feel that a person should be in depression throughout their life because of the loss of a loved one. I was actually glad she is free. But then in the end of the story, there was a twist, Mr. Millard wasn’t actually dead! I was so surprised when he showed up, but not as surprised as Mrs. Millard. She ended up dying from “joy that kills”.
Brett Hoxie
English 110
GWC
Post #4
Happy Endings
I love Happy Endings by Margaret Atwood. As a screenwriting student, Ive already take a couple classes that teach on story plot and Happy Endings was the best story about story itself. Even though some plots were more tragic then others, i found myself laughing at Margaret's very cynical way of looking into relationships. Her use of stories and plots as a comparison to life was genius because that's exactly what everyone's life is; its a story. Her cynical idea goes on to say that we are all born together, go through our separate and individual comedic or tragic plots, and then we all meet again and die. I thought the story was simply brilliant.
Katherine Nguyen
English 110
GWC
Happy Ending by Margaret Atwood
This short story is very different from the others that I have read. It was weird at first and then I started to like it because it gave me a choice on where I would start reading. There were six different endings in total and the first one, A, was the happy ending. After all the other endings, it seemed to go back to ending A. This would mean that everything has the same ending, with a different journey in the middle. The author proves a point in a way. Everyone lives their life and in the end, they will die at some age. But what is different is how you live your life. Nevertheless, the ending would still be the same because you would die eventually. Most of the versions aren’t so outrageous, in fact, they happen in most people. Like in option B, John has an affair with Mary but they are still together. Mary even seems to cook him food and have sex with him even though she doesn’t really enjoy it. I didn’t really like how there was an idea of how men are overpowering women in this part of the story. There was an idea of how women were supposed to cook and clean for the men even though men don’t appreciate it. Very sad for Mary, but for sure not happening in my marriage! This story was a bit random with the tidal wave and all but I guess that’s the point, anything could happen during your life, its just the ending that’s always the same.
Jenny Guzman
English 100
Cerritos College
Post Caked LA!!!
So I have a friend that started her own business. It is called Caked LA!!
What is Caked LA you may ask??
Well Caked LA makes Cake Pops!!
Now you may ask what is a cake pops?
Cake pops are cake on a stick. I think they are heaven on a stick. I feel it is a good size piece of cake, so if you eat one you will not feel guilty.
They are new so they only have a few choices like Sock it to me, Red velvet, Chocolate, Marble, lemon and My favorite is Cookie and cream. They are growing so new flavors are coming.
They are a cute and new way to celebrate at parties. Here is their website.
cakedla.com
You can also find them on facebook, myspace and twitter.
I sent this before, Just reminding you guys.
Jenny Guzman
English 100
Cerritos College
Post Caked LA!!!
Well guys the first ever CAKED LA event was such a success, that they are going to do it again.
They are going to have a sample event on November 7TH at 7:30pm if people 21 and over want to come. It will be at Shipmates in Cerritos.
It’s on Gridley and South in the same parking lot as Carls Jr
Just let me know if you need the address.
I had family over from Mexico two weeks ago, and last week my dad took his sister to memphis to be with more of our family. My dad found out the reason why my aunt came in the first place. M aunt, who is in her 60s and a grandmother, got beat and kicked by her husband over money that she doesn't have. I was shocked to hear the news, but then my parents informed me that about 10 yrs ago that the reason my aunt had a tumor removed because it was a direct result of him throwing her up against the wall. It just makes me so sad to know that a person I love so much has gone through this type of abuse, and probably throughout her marriage. No one understands why she defends him so much, even when he hits and kicks their two sons in their late 20s (something I didn't know). When I go to Mexico, I usually stay over their house, and now that I go I will look at my uncle with a different outlook. I feel powerless for knowing this and not being able to do anything about it, not even their 6 adult sons and daughters have been able to get through to him. I'm just speechless and saddened, and it comes at the eve of writing my research paper on domestic abuse. Mr. Hsiao, why do all the subjects I write about surface again?! Part of the learning process, perhaps?
SORRY GUYS THE DAY FOR THE CAKE POP EVENT IS TODAY!!
I BEEN SUCH BLONDE LATELY!!
OH MONIQUE,
I HAVE BEEN DOING SOME RESEARCH, I WILL SEND IT TO THE TEAM LATER.
Jenny, when I have my baby shower most likely I will order some cake pops, they sound so good! and very different :)
Jasmyne Young
English 110
GWC
Post #17?18?
Perfectionism
Ms. Lamott is big advocate for writing. This piece made me want to write, which is weird cause like most other people, I hate writing. I love the whole segment on psychic mucle cramps and if one has the fallacy of perfection, those cramps are not going away anytime soon. Sadly enough, I do tend to have that fallacy, I am glad I got to read this cause it made me aware of my cramps and how I can fix them. My question is, is writing really liberating when you write about random subjects or something that pertains to you, something you are passionate about? i have written a lotin school and I never really feel liberated in anyway. I guess one has to find their passion to feel liberated. I mean, I understand the concept of writing to free your mind of your thoughts, just to get them out of your head. I just feel it depends on who you are and what you love to do, because I do not like to write, therefore, I feel no freedom in that. I do love to help others though, and I feel freed when I make others happy. One has to find their own niche. Then again, Anne does state how people do not like to write because people do not want to deal with their wounds. That may be the reason why some people do not like to write because most people do not like to dwel one their faults, most people like to dwell on what makes them great. I do like this piece though. There is a feeling of liberation, accomplishment, healing,and teaching. Her main focus is through writing one is free, which is what many people hope for. One is at peace.
Belinda Reed
English 100
Cerritos College
White Guilt
In respose to the reading of White Guilt. I can relate to the essay somewhat. I don't view life as some of these writter do. But that is what us all uniquie and different. I felt a little sad while I was reading White guilt, Even the title makes me a little sad. It just sounds so raciest. If we were all alike, with the same color of skin, and everything that goes with it. Then the world would be a pretty boring place to live. But becaues we are all different. Well thats what makes life interesting to say the least. We are created as equals in the long run. It just takes some people a litter longer to see that. I'm white and proud of it. I have never wished to be anyone other than who I am.
Samantha,
Congrats, what are you having?? When are you due. Sorry I am very nosey!! You will love the cake pops, if you want to try them you should go to the event.
Anybody can go, well just asl long as your 21 and over.
Kyle Umbarger
English 110
Goldenwest College
Post #6
Flannery O' Connor shows the distinct differences between two seperate views on life in his short story, Everything Rises Must Converge. He talks about a mother and son who have two different takes on life. Julian, the son, is in his early twenties and right out of college. His mother on the other hand is in her mid-late ages and can't get her head out of the past. Julian's mother is so caught up with the past that she doesn't know the difference between the past and reality. She use's examples of her ancestors who made something out of theirselves. She behaves as if times were 40 years earlier. Julian resents his mother for her irrational understanding of societies different races and classes. Julian feels as if he owes his mother servitude because she raised him. Rather than getting along with eachother, Julian tries to teach his mother lessons, and his mother lacks the mindset to understand why Julian behaves as he does. I believe that Julian thought more like his mother before he went to college. Once he went to school, Julian became more open to outside thinking.
Celina Rivera
Cerritos College
English 100
Post 69
Yi-Hui
I hope that you did good on your math exam.
Yue...
Thanks for the advice. I am trying, but I do not have the time rest. I can not think about my health with all the school work I have. How are you?
Jenny...
I hope you have fun at Shipmates. I have been there for you before. The people there are always friendly. Like Jessica said we need to try these pops.
Celina Rivera
Cerritos College
English 100
Post#70
White Guilt by Shelby/Cause and Effect Analysis
I read this story about two times. I could not concentrate the first time I read it. I loved the way the story was written. The story made you feel as though you were there. I could feel the emotion in this story. It really made me think. I knew that with everything that is done in life has a following action whether positive or negative. I can not imagine living in that time period. I think the best part was that things started looking up for blacks all over the world. I like how the eyes of people are still open and yet so closed. People do not like what they are not use to. Why is that? Is it comfort? I would have to say some of it is comfort and what you are exposed to. In this story people will still rude to the minority because the felt a sense a guilt. I think that sense of guilt came from within because they could not stand up or suggest their opinions. People just like anyone were asked to leave restaurants because of the color of their skin. Their were people who did not agree and just followed not be an outcast. It is amazing that till this day we still have people who follow instead of stating what they really believe in.
The man in the restroom still had a sense of humbleness. He was humble because he was working in any way possible. When the boy made the man exiting feel bad about what he gave to the attendant it was ironic. He had expressed to the man all that his father had been through but in a way of anger. Anger never really solves anything. The boy made the man feel a sense of guilt because he knew he would not do the job of the attendant. In life their is someone who is always willing to the jobs that others will not do. The boy could not help himself until the attendant received more. The negative part was that the attendant did not feel a sense of humbleness once he left. The man did not want to receive money out of guilt. He was already enduring enough daily from other who were not excepting. Feel that pity and guilt was not what he wanted at the end of the day. The boy did not intend for that either. People sometimes do not watch what they say before they say it and it the other person. I feel that this story is an eye opener and has many life lesson.
Monique Gutierrez
English 100
Cerritos College
Post #65
Jenny!
I have some research too, but I still want to add more things to it. I will email you and our teammates before class on Monday and I will bring each of you a copy of my notes. I have my blonde moments too. My dad thinks I should be on Jay walk lol! No offense to blondes out there.
Celina Rivera
English 100
Cerritos College
Post# 71
I know that the three body paragraphs are due Monday. The only problem is I do not know if I want to keep the same the topic. I have many topics that are going through my mind. All these topics can make a good paper, but I want all possible research.
Celina Rivera
Cerritos College
English 100
Post #72
I finally found the topic that I will be writing about. It is very similar to my first topic. I will need to start all over with the paper writing because of the change. I am starting now with my outline and obtain accurate research. I know it will sound good once all together. Overwhelmed!!!
Archie Kaaua
Professor Hsiao
English 110
Golden West College
November 5, 2009
Post32
Cancer Journals by Audre Lorde
One can only try to imagine what it must be like to have to face loosing part of ones body. How do we cope with the loss? Audre Lorde tells us how she began with a self examination and then verified the news she dreaded. She goes into denial as she tells us of the conspiracy she is told about other women who have had this breast removal procedure. They tell her that she is “no different” than the other women who have had a breast removed. She reflects on the main age groups form 40-55 who seem to be the majority of those affected. She sees the media as desexualizing women who have gone through this procedure. She sees her survival as lessons that her procedure has taught her. To avoid being judged, she sees nothing wrong with Prosthetic devices other than their discomfort. Another alternative would be a loose fitting blouse. Even though the device may give back a look the end result could be destructive because they do not have to deal with morality or the fact that they are now different. She finds something wrong with the attitudes of people of our society; she thinks society looks at women as decorative machines. She wants her readers to fight this depersonalization. She first must consider what her body means to her. After the surgery she finds that if was more traumatic before the surgery than after when she finally finds acceptance. She is an example of existentialism in the end and tells us finally that she is glad with who she is.
Penelope Bwalya
Prof.H
English 110
GWC
This class is hard. I plan on giving this class my best. Thanks to the people who are taking time to review my paper.
Adrian Moreira
Cerritos College
English 100
Post# 29
White Guilt - Shelby Steele
I think the title should be changed to just Guilt. I do not know when this was written but it had to be before the latest election. I feel that with the election of a black president, there is no longer that "white guilt" talked about in this essay. What more guilt can there be? Blacks have reached to top of the totem pole. This is my own personal opinion.
As far as the guilt part goes, as described by Steele in paragraph 11, it reminded me of the many times in my life I have felt guilty about something and instead of dealing with the real problem, I searched for my "own need for innocence above [the] concern for the problem that made [me] feel guilt in the first place". (11) Feeling guilt is a funny thing. And trying to get rid of that feeling is even funnier when you put it in to perspective like Steele has. I can completely see myself trying to "escape the guilt-inducing situation". When one feels guilty about doing something, it is easier to look for a way out instead of facing the problem head on. Classic stuff. Steele put it best when she wrote, "We only want the look of redemption, the gesture of concern that will give us the appearance of innocence and escape from the situation." (11) One will mask his/her fault to be free.
Beatrice Fisher
English 110
GWC
Post 21
CANCER JOURNALS
While there are many out there that have dealt with breast cancer or know someone has, I have not. But it wasn’t hard to be able to sympathize with the author. The interesting thing was that I didn’t sympathize with her for the obvious, having had to have her breast removed. I sympathized with her for the things I had never taken into consideration. I never thought about the false breast given to the woman immediately after a mastectomy. I never thought about the way society has not allowed this woman proper time to grieve the loss of her breast. The fact that she mentions attitudes toward the need for a falsie as a reflection for the way women are objectified as sexual conveniences is unfortunately many times true. It is sad that many women, me included, have been taught from a very young age that normal exists, that there is a right size and shape. I can remember having gained a few pounds a few years back and my mom looking at me and saying, “It’s okay Bee, you’d be a pretty fat girl.” I felt fine with myself at that weight. It was everyone else who was concerned with where it might end up. Living in Holland really helped me learn to accept myself. If you go to a beach in Holland you will see that there is no such thing as a one piece swimsuit. No matter what your size, everyone where bikinis and feels good in it. It’s just the way it is. It is too bad that we all couldn’t try to adapt to this sort of mind set. Let the woman who has had her breast remove deal with the loss without having to be concerned about what everyone else is thinking. I think it is safe to say that women are thinkers and go through much of life thinking of others. It is only too bad that in this type of circumstance she still has to think of others rather than deal with the emotional loss and mental state of herself. This leads me to write about depression. I have never felt depressed. Do you believe me, you wouldn’t be the first who has questioned my honesty, but it is true. I do not know the feeling. Sad, yes, I have felt sadness in my life, but never depression. Audre Lorde writes, “…I do have to be careful that my urgencies reflect my priorities.” This pretty much sums it up. I think depression would be almost non-existent if we all had this attitude. We would all realize how much we do have and life would be better. I went to visit my husband grandfather in the hospital last week and in the bed next to him was a guy who had just found out that he broke his neck. I could tell from the tone in his voice he was discouraged and worried. He didn’t know how he broke it and what he was going to do. I don’t know what he had in mind. I could only guess he might be worried about finances or how long he would be there, the inconvenience. I went over to his side and just reminded him that he was HERE. “Don’t worry,” I said, “you are here, and you’ll be okay.” He complained about how he was going to sleep with the contraption they had around his neck. Again I reassured him, “Well, you’re in the hospital, what better place to ask for something to knock you out so you can sleep.” He thanked me for giving him a good laugh. I explained to him how many nights I had spent sleeping in a chair while my mom was in the hospital and that at the end she didn’t make it, but that he could be thankful that he would be okay. I told him I would pray for him and he was happy. I think I haven’t gotten well off topic at this point. :P All I was trying to say was that no matter what happens in life, as long as we are still alive and have love, that is what matters. I know, most definitely, that if my mom had the chance to live in the last stages of her cancer for years just to be around to watch her children, me included, get married, have children, grow to be adults…she would have rather had that, than have her life ended as short as it did.
Monique Gutierrez
English 100
Cerritos College
Post #66
White Guilt
We have all had experiences in our lives where we did something kind in order to redeem ourselves. In White Guilt, the “race experiment” proved a point. The white businessman listened to everything the black man told him. He poured his heart out into this conversation with the businessman and in return the businessman gave the black attendant a $20 dollar tip. Did giving the black attendant a tip make the other black man’s pain go away? It did seem like an easy way out of the conversation. I took it as insulting gesture. It was basically a slap in the face for the black man. This experiment showed that even the least bit racist person can still make a colored person feel inadequate. The businessman showed fear, he showed it by quickly agreeing with the black man and tipping the attendee. But, he also could have been focusing on making himself feel better rather than just addressing the issue. He took the easy way out and ignored the rest of the conversation. In the end of the essay, Steele compares the giving black students a separate lounge in the universities with the twenty dollar incident. “There is no difference between giving black students…”(15). What Shelby addressed is that today Blacks are still left feeling inadequate. That no matter what, their race is being abused by White Guilt. They have to live in a racist world where people either hate them or feel sorry for them. Which is messed up, but it is reality.
Penelope Bwalya
Prof. Hsiao
English 110
GWC
Everything Rises Must Converge
As much as I enjoyed reading this story it also pinched a nerve. I am black and I go through the "invincible" treatment almost all the time. Here is a typical scenario. I am standing between two kids, outside the classroom, and a teacher comes by. I say hello to the teacher, and instead the teacher responding directly to me, she looks at me but does not answer, and instead says hello to the kids. In other instances, sometimes my colleagues will be taking and when I join the discussion I get the "who asked you?" attitude and I am ignored. This treatment makes me angry, and as a result, I have opted not to speak first unless I am spoken to. Most of the young people today have embraced change, and have a better understanding that black people are not monsters, as they are often perceived to be. The older generation has not really accepted this change of black people being free from slavery. In the story the mother is "stuck" in the plantation era. She is still racist towards black people and always telling her son not to associate with black people in whatever he chooses to do or how he dresses. She wants "them" to go back to where they came from. "They should rise, yes, but on their own side of the fence"(5). When the mother took out the penny, she was demonstrating to her son that "she" was still in charge. Unfortunately this is no longer the case. She should have listened to her son who has had a different experience and a better understanding of "them".
Veronica Vasquez
English 103
Cerritos College
Post #31
White Guilt
Shelby Steele
If there is any topic that gets me rattled up it's Affirmative Action. This analysis talks about "white guilt" that has caused people to accommodate black people in different ways to make up for racial injustices in the past. This doesn't fix the problem, though, and is used instead as an escape route from the guilt.
In the experiment the author and his friend were involved in, his friend made a white stranger in a public restroom feel guilty just for being white. The white man knew all the past incidents with racial discrimination were wrong, and even though he might not have been involved, he was surged with guilt simply because he was white. The redemption here was $5, but as the author's friend continued to bring in his own father, this showed human life proof of racial injustice in front of the stranger's face. Not only was he presented with stories of the past, but now an even greater guilt to be white and in front of a black man whose father was racially discriminated. Of course, both the author and his friend saw how distraught the white man had become, and very sympathetic. The cop-out here was $20. Both these black men felt ashamed after the stranger had left. This is indeed what our government policies have become. They are nothing but cop-outs that attempt to veil past mistakes.
These raises and preferences mirror how ineffective Affirmative Action is. Instead of pushing all races equally to reach high GPA's, Blacks are treated like a completely separate species. They are not pushed probably because of fear and guilt, and do not want to be compared to whites or other races. To accommodate college students with "black 'theme' dorms" is not sending out a message of equality, but a clear message that they are very different. This is what white guilt drives people to do; redundant policies that do nothing but make legislatures feel better about themselves by creating the illusion of human good. Human good is not to give someone a handicap because of a human feature no one has control over, and has no true physical disadvantage.
Andy Murphy
Eng103
CC
Post #23 or 24 you pick
White Guilt
This is probably my favorite or one of my favorite readings this year for class. White Guilt can be looked on as Pure Guilt. As in the story when the author's friend confronted the white man in the hotel mensroom for an "experiment", trying to use racial history to have him anty up more money to the restroom attendent. The man (as said didn't seem like someone who would say "nugger at the dinner table - refers to him being an honest, non-racist) The friend keeps egging on until he is finally confronted by the white man. This challenges the friend's newly acquired black power. He then brings up his father to bring unrequited guilt to the man. Guilt that he has no reason to feel. This is prime example of how 45 years after the Civil Rights Movement ended there is still "racial inequality" today. It is like how parents have told us to never pick at open wounds. Whats happens? It just opens up again, hurts, and scars for life. Exactly how it is today. I have not lived through the 50's, 60's, & 70's where all this was so evident. Not even whoever is readins this lived through these times or was way to young to remember. But how ,all these years later, we still haven't progressed? Using this "black power" to renew "white guilt". I shudder when I hear how bad it was back then. I even get the feeling when all those historical video footages are being played of horrible treatment towards other races by whites, people's eyes fall onto me, judging me, blaming me. I know it is mostly not true, but there are some deeply scarred people who believe I am a white, racist, nazi, goose stepping, aryan supporting, cross buring, anti-semitic prick whose favorite movie is "Birth of a Nation". It is certainly not true. My whole family is neither that way too. But yet in today's society, even from me being born 25 years after the Civil Rights Bill passed, still feel what Shelby Steele calls White/Pure guilt. I know my family were never those (or related) to those types of racists yet our Society has influenced me to think it somewhat was my fault and I (white/caucasian/crackaz/whatever you name me) still oppress anyone different. There is one grand connection I make with this in which I forgot which prior reading also mentions something along these lines - throughout history groups that are oppressed by another superior group later find the roles reversed. However, instead of the group being oppressed that is now "on top" to heal these wounds and join together in unity with the other group, feel the need to use that power to strike the group that hurt them for so long. It is a vicious cycle of pain and oppression that in strewn across the pages of mankind's history.
"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."
-M.Ghandi-
Belinda Avila
English 110
Goldenwest College
Post#6
The Lottery
The Lottery strikes up so many thoughts I hardly know where to begin. It is definitely a story with a twist. It is clear throughout the story that there is much more going on than a normal "lottery". In this lottery, one does not want to be the winner. My take on the story is that it is a twisted look into the future. This could be the future of civilization, lotteries specifically to keep populations down. I will admit that the ending was actually a bit disturbing to me, "A stone hit her on the side of the head" (79). Keep in mind, I can sit through "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and not even flinch. I think I was disturbed mainly because of how much these characters were not even disturbed in what they were doing. Lottery day is basically like a holiday. The adults even gave the children rocks to throw at lottery winner, Mrs. Hutchinson. And I definitely love how ironic it was that Mrs. Hutchinson wanted a redo to save her husband's life and in the end she got picked. It is not until one is actually chosen that one sees the realization of what is going on. Bottom line is that I think think this reading was fascinating and it terrified me because it can really end up our future. If overpopulation becomes so severe we can just do what China does and control how many kids each family has. I think it is much better than winning Shirley Jackson's idea of a lottery.
Jaime Valadez
English 100
CC
Post#25
White Guilt by Shelby Steele
This story talks about how white people felt towards blacks. The best part of the story takes place in a public restroom. Here stands a black man and white business man and in the background a black bathroom attendant. He talks to the white man into giving the black attendant twenty dollars instead of one dollar. He plays the race card to do so. But it back fires and here he ends up talking about his life and putting all his emotions out. At the end of everything the white man did give the twenty dollars but at what cost. Was the twenty dollars that worth it. And by the white man giving the twenty dollars just went to show that he might have been racist because a non racist person would have just gave what they wanted and would not have been pulled into the little game.
Macey Lindsay-Clinton
English 110
Golden West College
... all the sudden I have written 7 pages for my research paper and I am still not done with the "effects" portion..... how did this happen?? Better question... why am I still awake when I have all day tomorrow to finish? hmmmmmm
Andy Tran
English 100
Cerritos
Post #
White Guilt
The story is basically pointing out the issue on how the black race are seen as separate. Back in the days, racial discrimination segregated blacks from white owned businesses such as restaurants and clubs. The blacks had it tough but now it is totally flipped. We now have a black president which is huge considering that not to long ago there was strong racial discrimination between blacks and whites. In the story, Steele talks about how others felt guilt towards the blacks. At the hotel, a white business man is caught in a conversation with Steele's friend. The friend is an attendant in the mens bathroom and plays a game to convince the white man to place a bigger tip. He quickly points out that because he is white, he has it easier. The white man agrees and feels guilt towards the black attendant. The white man then gives him $20 bucks as a sign of goodwill. However in the eyes of the black man, it is not a sign of goodwill but a sign of indifference. It's quite the same as when you see a homeless dirty bum out on the streets. You see how filthy that person is and you feel guilt. To make yourself feel better, you take out a couple of bucks and some loose change to give to the person.
Archie Kaaua
Professor Hsiao
English 110
Golden West College
November 6, 2009
post32
check this out:
FBI HEADQUARTERS, J. EDGAR HOOVER BUILDING
935 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, NW
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20535-0001
ATTENTION FUND BENEFICIARY.
THIS IS AN OFFICIAL ADVICE FROM THE FBI FOREIGN REMITTANCE / TELEGRAPHIC DEPT, IT HAS COME TO OUR NOTICE THAT THE C.B.N BANK NIGERIA DISTRICT HAS RELEASED 10,500,000.00 US DOLLARS INTO BANK OF AMERICA IN YOUR NAME AS THE BENEFICIARY, BY INHERITANCE MEANS.
THE CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA KNOWING FULLY WELL THAT THEY DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH FACILITIES TO EFFECT THIS PAYMENT FROM THE UNITED KINGDOM TO YOUR ACCOUNT, USED WHAT WE KNOW AS A SECRET DIPLOMATIC TRANSIT PAYMENT (S.T.D.P) TO PAY THIS FUND THROUGH WIRE TRANSFER, THEY USED THIS MEANS TO COMPLETE THE PAYMENT.
Are you kidding?
WE HAVE DECIDED TO CONTACT YOU DIRECTLY TO ACQUIRE THE PROPER VERIFICATIONS AND PROOF FROM YOU TO SHOW THAT YOU ARE THE RIGHTFUL PERSON TO RECEIVE THIS FUND, BECAUSE OF THE AMOUNT INVOLVE, WE WANT TO MAKE SURE IS A CLEAN AND LEGAL MONEY YOU ARE ABOUT TO RECEIVE. BE INFORMED THAT THE FUND ARE NOW IN UNITED STATE IN YOUR NAME, BUT RIGHT NOW WE HAVE ASK THE BANK NOT TO RELEASE THE FUND TO ANYBODY THAT COMES TO THEM, UNLESS WE ASK THEM TO DO SO, BECAUSE WE HAVE TO CARRY OUT OUR INVESTIGATIONS FIRST BEFORE RELEASING THE FUND TO YOU. NOTE THAT THE FUND IS IN THE BANK OF AMERICA RIGHT NOW, BUT WE HAVE ASK THEM NOT TO CREDIT THE FUND TO YOU YET, BECAUSE WE NEED A SOLID PROOF AND VERIFICATIONS FROM YOU BEFORE RELEASING THE FUNDS. SO TO THIS REGARDS YOU ARE TO RE-ASSURE AND PROOF TO US THAT WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO RECEIVE IS A CLEAN MONEY BY SENDING TO US. FBI IDENTIFICATION RECORD AND ALSO DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY SEAL OF TRANSFER (DIST) TO SATISFY TO US THAT THE MONEY YOUR ABOUT TO RECEIVE IS LEGITIMATE AND REAL MONEY. YOU
AN FBI IDENTIFICATION RECORD AND DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY SEAL OF TRANSFER (DIST) OFTEN REFERRED TO AS A CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD OR RAP SHEET IS A LISTING OF CERTAIN INFORMATION TAKEN FROM FINGERPRINT SUBMISSIONS RETAINED BY THE FBI IN CONNECTION WITH ARRESTS AND, IN SOME INSTANCES, FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT, NATURALIZATION, OR MILITARY SERVICE. THESE CONDITION IS VALID UNTIL 20TH OF NOV, 2009 AFTER WE SHALL TAKE ACTIONS ON CANCELING THE PAYMENT AND THEN CHARGE YOU FOR ILLEGALLY MOVING FUNDS OUT OF NIGERIA.
GUARANTEE: FUNDS WILL BE RELEASED ON CONFIRMATION OF THE DOCUMENT.
FINAL INSTRUCTION:
1. CREDIT PAYMENT INSTRUCTION: IRREVOCABLE CREDIT GUARANTEE.
2. BENEFICIARY HAS FULL POWER WHEN VALIDATION IS CLEARED.
3. BENEFICIARIES BANK IN U.S.A., CAN ONLY RELEASE FUNDS.
4. UPON CONFIRMATION FROM THE WORLD BANK / UNITED NATIONS.
5. BEARERS MUST CLEAR BANK PROTOCOL AND VALIDATION REQUEST.
WE AWAIT FOR YOUR PROMPT RESPONSE.
REGARDS,
ROBERT MUELLER, III
FBI DIRECTOR
Classic lol
Priscilla Daza
Cerritos College
English 100
post #26
white guilt by shelby steele
In the very beginning of this story, the writer is describing her past experience as a child raised the in the 1950s. she expresses how white people had white guilt in the sense of having to ask the black people out of the restaurant or whatever business...in this case she makes an example of a fellow who worked at a white country club. steele and her brother wanted work but the caddyamster denied their opposition and asked "put yourself in my shoes" the caddymaster claims he was doing them a favor yet steele smiled and judged the caddy master as a coward. the writer mentions in the 1960s era was when the blacks gained powered the fact that the whites lost their position of power. steele writes in the second paragraph "one cannot feel guitly without anyone giving away power to them" it was then when black power came into play.
to be ocntinued...(i have to go to my 9am class)
Esmeralda Orozco
english100
cc
post???
SO MARITZA MY FRIEND IS GOING BAK HOME (SOOO SAD) A WEEK WAS NOT ENOUGH TO CATCH UP WE HAVE SOO MANY THINGS TO TALK ABOUT BT THERE WILL E A NEXT TIME LOL
Jessica Atthowe
Eng 110
GWC
Perfectionism
From this story I got the impression that the author looked at perfection as something that holds people back. I am far from a perfectionist, but I can see how it would be hard to write care free if I were a perfectionist. When writing, about personal experience especially, the writer needs to be able to make their story unique and not perfectly outlined. If a writer were to focus only on how everything in the paper had to be perfect, he or she would lose the personality in their paper.
For some people writing may not be their favorite thing to do, or even something they are good at, so they shy away. Just putting thoughts onto paper is a way to free your mind and collect your inner thoughts. Also, as a writer one is in complete control. There are no guidelines, one is given the opportunity to open, and in some cases can be therapeutic.
Janice Silva
English 103
Cerritos College
Post#22?
White Guilt
Guilt is a feeling that comes when one feels truley sorry for what they done. In the beginning of the story it talked about how in the 50's that the whites did not feel any guilt towards blacks because it was not so, but when it got the the 60's, there was an oppening of vulnurability. Through this opening, blacks tried to get there power from whites guilt, taking advantage for the whites to feel sorry. In the story the authors friend "experimented" with that theory of sorrow, for the sake of his power. The experiment went to far when the man asked about his father; and the sorrow from others became his testimony that brought tears to the white man's eyes. From this true sorrow came the whites man plea for innocense. There is a seperation between those guilts, feeling sorrow for others and the need to clean ones own conciouss for their own need. This reminds me of when i was in high school, there were blacks that walked in the hallways that talked loud and thinking that it was okay. What made me angry and sad is that nobody stood up to them and even when they did they were called racist because they targeted blacks, and not because they were loud in general. I felt sad because i did not say anything, fear from embarassment. There was a seperation of guilt i felt because there were programs such black scholars club that i felt that gave them more of a seperation. How come they needed their own programs? they just pointed them out saying they could not mix with the other students making them more noticible.
We do feel guilt, but the guilt that stays with us is the sake of our innocense. for ourselves not to become dirty, but trying to be clean again.
Veronica Vasquez
English 103
Cerritos College
Post #32
Archie:
I get the same things but with Toyota $10,000,000 winner garbage, also asking for CC/Bank account numbers, etc. You'd be surprised how many people fall for these though, and not because of stupidity, or gullibility, but simply because of lack of experience.
I remember when I first saw the Internet, and I had that YOU ARE A $10,000 WINNER pop up. I was ready to call mom with the good news! Just hope everyone knows as well as you do that you should never give any type of personal information via Email/Instant Messaging.
Also, FBI agent via email? That -is- Classic lol. Good read!
Christina Arredondo
English 103
C.C
Post: ??
Percectionism by Anne Lamott is a very interesting passage. It is the first that I hear or read that somebody says to not be perfect. Lamott states that being perfect or trying to follow that criteria is not good. It is simply boring because a person has reached like the farthest one can get to. Therefore, it is like there is nothing more to it. She points out how being tidy and perfect is basically negative because the process of making something better and clean is impossible. In addition, she explains that when a person is going through a rough time, he or she wants to turn to writing, and they should. Therefore, she encourages people to write about it instead of feeling sorry for oneself. I agree with her on this because back when I was in high school, whenever I had problems N was stressing it, I would write about it on paper. I would take out all my anger, sadness, etc on my writing. After, I was done I would feel a whole lot better. Then, I would just rip or burn the paper & throw it away.
Priscilla Daza
Cerritos College
English 100
post still post #26
...steele describes another moment where her friend puts the black power into play with onw of his "race experiments" that got out of hand i guess you can say. steele's friend had a white guy tip a restroom attendant $20 by making his point that a white man would take a restroom attendants job. he went as far as schooling the white business man that white people have an automatic advantage because of their race. steele's friend convinced the white business man by making the mistake of dicussing his own burden that he has dealt with (second tactic) in paragraph 10 it states "the pain of one man evidenced the knowledge of the other[...] all ill-gotten advantage is not hard to bear...until it touches the genuine human pain it has brought into the world" it took steele's friend to rage on his personal life to affect the white business man in understading the point.
steele also talks about redemption. that once the guilt is taking effect one will feel fear. it mentions on paragraph 12 that once we feel fear it cause pressure for one to "escape" the white guilt. what i understood from it was that the reason we escape from our guilt is because we are selfish...now once all these emotions i guess you can say is in effect it leads us to forget about redemption.
this story was somewhat of a reminder for me...an alarm just warning me to continue to be open minded with people around me because there are times when im at work and im just like "man why are they so rude off the bat? what the hck have i done?" i still try mybest to serve them to their needs but not at the gold standard service that my managers are advertising. i dont put myself in the guest's shoes. i dont know if they got laid off or if the missed the birth of their child or whatever the case may be...
Christina Arredondo
English 103
C.C
Post: ?
White Guilt falls into a couple categories. It is about discrimination, guilt, civil rights, superiority, the unclosed wounds. and sorta racist. The author explains that when he was younger, his race was mainly seperated among the other ethnics. Including, when it came to outdoor places such as clubs and restaurants, the people working there would personally kick them out. They were not necessarily rude about it, but they would tell him that it was basically for his own good. However, in their faces he was able to tell that the person/s would have some sort of guilt on their face... In one incident, the author and his friend were in a restroom where there was a black man working there and they encountered a business white man. The white man did not seem racist nor a bad person and he was goin to tip the man working there but a low price. When the author's friend experimented on the white man trying to make him feel guilty he accomplished that task. In that scene, is seemed as if the roles were in a swiching on who had the upper hand. He like manipulated him into tipping the guy $20 by telling him how his race was discriminated. After, the task came out to be, both the friend and the author felt bad about it...
To be continued.. I have class in about 30 minutes...
Angel Togafau
English 110
GWC
Post #?
Perfectionism
The first time I read this story, I was completely lost, and I still do not have a complete understanding of this story. What I did get out of this was the author stressing the importance of writing. I felt like I could relate to the author because I always turn to writing when time's get hard. I have recently found out that I write my best when I just sit down during a stuggle and write about it. When I look back on it later on, I always think, "Wow I wrote that?" When one is going through a diffecult time, well for me at least, writing seems like a way of escape. A way to reall express myself and wirte about the truth of the situation. It is a way to express your true emotions without being too hard on yourself.
The author also talks about how we will appreciate writing more, and appreciate those who make writing look easy even more. Writing is a true talent and I look up to all great writers. Writing takes a special skill and anyone lucky enough with to have that skill is truly blessed.
Ana Cervantes
English 100
Cerritos College
Post #??
White Guilt
I really enjoyed reading this story and it edcuated me more on what i thought i knew. Before i did not take time to think about how hard it would have been for those africans americans to go on life like nothing happened. What i mean by this is after the whites admited that what they were doing was wrong, it still not change things. Is like they did not learn the lesson , they just came up with something new. Yes i do agree that for some whites it would been hard to tell african americans you "know what you can't sit here" or "eat here", beacuse they did not belive like others did. However they did nothing to change things, I guess that saying of majority rules can be applied here. Going back to the story more i liked how the story was structure and the good example he used of his friend. That example really sealed the ending making it more emotional and eye opening.
(Andy) Nam Pham
English 110
GWC
Post #25
Cancer Journals
Vanity runs wild in today's society. The victims, in most cases, are women. The pictures of beautiful, gorgeous women in magazines, TV, movies, media in general, all promote the idea of being beautiful is being above norm. Plastic surgery is very popular choice that extremely vain and shallow women choose to make themselves appear better looking. But when plastic surgery is chosen because of an accident to restore disfigurement, people tend to think of it as a morality booster. Instead of accepting the pains and change, the person willingly turns back time and avoids the deep thoughts and accepts that everything is okay. In Cancer Journals, by Audre Lorde, she explains that the prosthetic device, used to restore the figure in breasts from cancer, is merely for appearance and self confidence. When people learn to accept facts and realize what truly is important in all life, worrying about appearances seems so little. Individuality is not solely defined on appearance. Lorde states "I am personally affronted by the message that I am only acceptable if I look 'right' or 'normal,' where those norms have nothing to do with my own perceptions of who I am." If everyone looked 'right' or 'normal,' we would be nothing more then mannequins. Instead, when we speak, we move. When we listen, we see. That is how life truly is as people.
Maria Ascencio
English 100
Cerritos Collge
Post #24?
SO, I was talking to my best friend yesterday and somehow the topic of being romaintic came up. He was making fun of saying since I am somewhat boyish and aggrassive, he pictured this scenario where a guy was trying to be romantic with me and I would tell him, "What the hell are you doing?" or "Stop being stupid". It made me laugh, but I realized, it is true. I do no know how to be romantic lol. I mean, I treat a guy the same way they treat me, maybe just a lilttle better, but I asked myself, "What is being romantic." I have been hanging out with nothing but guys for so long, I have lost my girly girl characteristics. My friends make fun of me telling me that I am the man in the relationship, I am probably the one who fight for my boyfriend rather than him fight his own fight. Meh, guess I just have to work on that, but hanging out with nothing but guys will not help lol.
janelle rodriguez
english 100
cerritos college
post #??
white guilt
after reading this story i could still not get what it was all about. i had to read this story over again once more and i realized that some people get a sens of guilt due to thier color of skin. it kind of reminded me about MLK and the holocaosut how some people were singled out and how just becasue of who they are and the color of thier skin they were limited in many things and places. the thing that i like about this story the most was the emotion that was being expressed. reading through the stiory there was an enormouse amount of great detail and becasue of that i was able to picture the story in my head. i love reading stories that make my m ind start creating pictures and invisoning the whole s tory in my head. to me that is a great story.
Gabriela Tovar
English 103
Cerritos College
Post #29
White Guilt by Shelby Steele
This story is so sad when one thinks about how black people were treated in the 60's, 70's, and even now, that, to me, it is fact that the majority of "white" people have no guilt whatsoever for all the damages done to black people. It is true that i do not really enjoy being close to any black person, but that does not mean that i cannot feel their pain. As a Mexican, we too have suffered from racist, humorous, rejected, and everything, (except slavery). When you realized how much other ethnicities have in common, that is when we shoud re-unite and show the whole world that we have been hurt and at the end of the day, we can act like adults and surpass that. Everyone knows, wether they want to realize it or not, white people are in control of everything, following Chineese and other types (no offense to anyone). TO me, i see the world as a human power pyramid.
Gabriela Tovar
English 103
How was everybody's weekend? I saw two movies this weekend. Friday i saw SAW IV and it was awesomeness... So much blood, and broken bones, ewwwww but unstopable to watch... Then on Saturday i saw ASTRO BOY... I thought it was going to be another kids lame movie, but it was actually funny, cool, and heroic... I liked it... Sunday, my mom mad sopme food and invited closest friends and family to celebrate my dad's birthday on the 4rth, my brother's birthday on the 5th, and my parents 21st anniversity on the 5th also... It was nice... I invited my closest friends and they were able to go... This weekend was too short and needed another two days...
Arturo Lopez
English 103
CC
Post idk
White Guilt
This essay is about the racial discrimination that still goes on in this country,whether its delibarately or inadvertantly. The author's argument is that as times began to chang and african americans were being accepted into society, or what they thought meant being accepted, was the cause that the whites felt for the treatment of african americans in the past. The whites were creating policies that looked like it helped african americans on paper but in reality did nothing for them. The author uses affirmative action as an example. The author goes on to say that whites are doing this because they feel obligated too instead of doing it because they genuinly want too. Whites feel by giving african americans an edge on things, they feel that the debt has been repayed. Pity solves nothing.
Samantha Shepherd
English 103
CC
Post # fidsocajhklghasjfasnfdjvash
White Guilt
Upon reading this story, it really opened my eyes to both sides of racism. We always hear about how the victim is the one that is being prejudiced against, but we never really heard the story about those Whites who really didn't want to go along with it. This idea then makes racism twice as bad as it is affecting both parties negatively. Granted, not every white person disagreed with racism against blacks, but for the ones that did feel guilty, it made it twice as bad.
On a side note, I am having severe writer's block. I am running on absolutely no sleep and I have brought my boyfriend to school on his vacation day to interview him for my term paper. It has been really hectic to try and schedule a time where we can both talk about my paper with the Marine Corps ball and school and everything. So i better get to it!
Rayray J
English 103
Ccollege
White guilt
Reading this made me realize a paradox that we are facing as a nation. The product of years of injustice and racism has created an underlying class divide. Though we are past the era of the civil rights movements and equality prevails (or so we are taught) we have to realize that it is human condition to always classify things/people.
Case and point affirmitive action and white guilt.
As a means to cope for years of injustice, affirmitive action was created as a form of a coping method. As noble as this idea might seem, it further expands the class divide by quantifying the difference between racial groups. Instead of soliving the problem, we now have put it in a math equation.
This has also bestowed its recepients some sort of aura that automatically makes them better than others in some sort of way.
For example just because one is lazy and not make enough effort, his/her excuse is "cos im black" or cos "im mexican".
It is this sort of mentality that will never, or be incredibly difficult to get rid off.
Ibeth Rodriguez
English 100
Cerritos College
Post #34?
White Guilt by Shelby Steele
I read a couple of blogs about white guilt that others students wrote to have a better understanding of the story. It is not that I did not understood the story, it is just that I have a different view from what everyone else view is. I know that Steele is writing about racism that is going on right now in our society, but in my opinion it seemed that he was making himself a victim because of his race. When Steele's friend started explaining how he was working as a waiter because the skin of his color stopped him from becoming someone important. Steele writes about African Americans like if they have no future or are treated differently because of their color. Of course I am no one to judge because I am not black, but I know many friends that are African American and have done many things with their lives and are now very successful people. Barack Obama is a great example that everyone is capable of achieving anything regardless of age, gender, or race. If one puts their mind and effort in something they want to accomplish they are going to be able to. In America we all have the same equal opportunity, but of course some have to put much more effort in to it than others, yet with determination they are going to be able to achieve it. So being a certain race is no excuse to stop in life. Like I said some of us will have to work harder but it does not mean we are not going to be capable of achieving our goals.
Tess Elizondo
English 100
CC
Post 19
White Guilt
Reading this story made me think of a lot of things like MLK, and also the movie Remember the Titans. In my opinion I do not think the "white" people felt any guilt when they asked the "blacks" to leave. I feel this way because back in the 50's it was out of the norm to have blacks and whites in the same room. The white person asked the black person to leave because to the white people the black people were under them. They were not asked to leave because they felt guilty. The black man who judges the white mna as a coward was a coward. Back them the white man was noble for kicking th black man out. If a person is guilty they should confess and say yes, I am guilty. The white people were never guilty of their doing. They were always right.
Maria Ascencio
English 100
Cerritos College
Post #25
White Guilt
Steele talks about her youth I suppose in the 50s, how white people actually felt guilt for having to treat blacks the way they did. She says how when she went into a restaurant for a burger, the waitress asked her to leave. She even says that she went outside and appologized. This was part of the guilt they felt when they told blacks they were not allowed at a certain place. I never thought that white people atually felt guilt for treating black the way they did. I thought they just hated blacks period. Proved me wrong. In the story, the authors friend experimented with the white bussiness man. The experiment went far when the man asked about his father.
Maria Ascencio
English 100
Cerritos College
THERE IS A CONCER FOR MY CHOIR CLASS TOMORROW IN THE STUDENT CENTER. IT STARTS AT 7:30 BUT WE GO ON LAST SINCE WE ARE THE HOSTS. IT IS FREE, AND IF YOU HAVE A CLASS AT NIGHT OR ARE ON CAMPUS LATE, CHECK IT OUT =]
Alyssa Wall
Cerritos
English 103
Post: ?
White Guilt
This is about the racial issues that still haunt our nation to day. This essay brings to life the issues that are still around, that everyone likes to pretend do not exist. The author says that although things have progressed, and may be better, without knowing it many people do discriminate on a daily basis. I like how real this article is. I like that it says what needs to be said instead of just beating around the bush.
Alright, so i know i have been MIA for about a week...but I swear i will be there next class. A very close family friend passed away last tuesday, and well, it has been a hard week to say the least. She was my moms best friend, and ironically she was also like a mother to me. since my mom and i do not get along very well, she was always the one that i could go to when my mom didnt understand. Her son and I have been friends for as long as we both can remember, and this all happened so fast. It has been crazy, but I am starting to get back to real life now. It sucks that "life" happens at the worst possible time. It seems to all come crashing down at once. It can never just be one issue at a time. We can never seem to just take things slowly, but instead five million things go wrong at once. Okay, rant OVER. sorry, but blogging makes me feel better. haha. Anyways, i want to say sorry to my debate group! I swear i will get it together by the time we have our turn. I will see you guys next class.
Jon Croft
English 110
Golden West College
Post #30
Cancer Journals by Audre Lorde
Commentary on the reverse-personification of women. Plastic women are not beautiful. Accept the person you are. Blah blah blah, motivational quote motivational quote.
Jessica Vasquez
English 100
Cerritos College
Post #: ??
White Guilt
I really enjoyed reading White Guilt by , It was nice to see different points of views of white people towards black people. Not all white people were racist towards blacks, some even felt embarrassed by the rules they had against the blacks. Like when she goes and tries to buy a burger and the poor waitress had to ask them to leave. Many white people felt really guilty for having to treat blacks bad even though they knew deep inside it was wrong. Basically it goes to prove that not all whites were racist, and some actually knew being racist was bad. Its funny how the main character in the story feels bad for the people who forcefully have to turn her down due to the rules against blacks,since she can tell its not what they really believe and they feel horrible doing it.
Cathrina Afusia
Cerritos College
English 100
White Guilt by Shelby Steele
Honestly, this reading was a little confusing. I understand the term “white guilt”, but did not grasp what the writer was trying to get across. I did read the reading about 3 times, and still only understood some parts. I pulled from paragraph 11, which talked about the power of guilt. Guilt is another powerful emotion just as any other. I of course am not a perfect person, and at times I do feel guilty for things I do or do not do. I also do not understand how guilt at times does not overpower the negative actions that people do. For example, when people set out to kill someone, I do not see how the guilt within them does not stop them from doing that particular action. As stated in the reading by Shelby Steele, “Guilt makes us afraid for ourselves, and thus generates as much self preoccupation as concern for others.” Being afraid of oneself has to be scary, but also useful in its own way.
Michael Swisher
English 100
Cerritos College
Post#50
White Guilt
I too have heard of this phenomena called “white guilt” and I am confused by it to be honest. I understand that whites had suppressed black America for so long, and it came to a pivot point of turmoil in the 60’s known as the civil rights movement, but I don’t see how there is “white guilt”. Does it mean that if you are white, then you have to feel obligated to find guilt for the actions of your forefathers? I do not understand. I feel guilty for my own actions, and only those actions alone. I am not speaking to the author’s story, more to society’s interpretation of this “white guilt”. I think the author was trying to implicate white’s in an ever-growing already existent guilt even in the 50’s as far as his experience was concerned. I agree, there is absolutely no way that all white people, or even the majority, did not think of blacks as people, and felt ashamed at the policies they felt compelled to uphold. I still do not see how white people feel guilty for something grand-daddy did. If one is racist, and commits racist acts, then a guilt for these things is well-contrived. White guilt, that is such a funny term to me, considering that it does not apply anymore as far as I am concerned. It may have been applicable to the generation that brought about and perpetuated the circumstances, but I still hear this term today and I do not believe it to be relevant.
Jessica Vasquez
Eng 100
CC
Post #: ??
What a day!!! S
So, I let my bf & his mom use my car to go to West Hollywood to meet with a client (uses less gas), and this morning my car is on E (echale, lol.. for those of you who get it!) and I left my purse at home!! (grr) So I'm thinking no biggie, I'll just use my handy dandy Chevron Gas Card, which is always in my car in case of and emergency, and now that I think about it Its also at home!! Cr@p! wtf!! So now, new rule for the bf, you must fill up Jessica's car if you wanna use it!! If I'm late to class today, its probably because I have to stop at home, pick up my purse, and stop and put gas. Or, I'm probably somewhere pushing my car.. lmao.. Okay nevermind not funny..
Martha Vazquez
English 100
CC
Post 26
White Guilt
This piece was so honest and really spoke about how I feel abt "special treatments" just because of my backround. I am not black, I'm of Mexican descent, but there are still preferential treatments given out. I feel as though we can never be equal if we are treated with kid gloves. That is what he is trying to say; that equality doesn't mean special treatments, it means that everyone gets treated the same. I think that sometimes those "special treatments" cripple people and make them feel entitled. That entitlement doesn't let people go out there and try hard, they feel as though they can sit back and reap the benefits of their race.
Jenny Guzman
English 100
Cerritos College
Post hw
White Guilt by Shelby Steele.
This is a story how people feel when looked down upon, or when we look down on other people. How when in the 50’s black people could not eat a burger because what they looked like. While white people can do or go anywhere they but they are embarrassed to have to deny access to black people. In the 60’s the white guilt was still around but it was in a different sense. Black people had their black power movement, so the white people notice they were up for a battle in the civil rights movement. I bet in the 60’s when people started to protest the unjust actions that were towards black people, it was like slap to they white man face. I really like the part when the friend was having his little game with the white in the bathroom. He was gearing up to make the white feel bad for only leaving a dollar to the bathroom attendant, but after his little game was up he felt cheap. The white understood what white people was doing to black people and felt remorse, but quickly felt better when he gave the attendant the 20 dollar bill. Like 20 dollars were going to set everything right. People have been through white guilt. We have all had it. Like everyone has given white guilt. We have looked down/judge someone for how they looked.
Diana Amezcua
Cerritos College
English 103
Post# ??
WHITE GUILT by Shelby Steele
From my understanding white quilt is the feeling you experience when you know you are doing something worng, but dont care an continue doing it. Indeed, you have been doing wrong for a while, but try to cover it. The problem is still there you just ignore it to avoid dealing with it. You know you are doing harm but try to pretend everything is good. It's like when you do or give someone something in exchange for the wrong you did to them. one may choose using white guilt as a way pf staying in peace with themselves. The author talks about this when he describes the two stories in the reading. the first one was the caddymaster in an all white club trying to convice himself that he was doing the correct thing by "making them a favor" when trowing them out. the second one was the white man feeling bad about the author's friends story and trying to make things better by giving him a larger bill. indeed, he did nothing to help the authors friend, other than making him feel even worse by giving him money. the author talks about true redemption and this is defenitely not it. when you try to avoid an make up your wrongness by using "white guilt". indeed, this is because it is not doing anything to solve the problem but instead adding more.
Edilu Medina
English 100
Cerritos
Post 36
White Guilt
Dictionary defines Guilt as a feeling of responsibility or remorse for some offense, crime, wrong, etc., whether real or imagined. In the 1960's white people had this feeling, even if some did not have control of how the African American community was treated their soul was condemned to endure the surrounding of the racism towards blacks. Also selfishness as Steele describes "But this fear for self does not only inspire selfishness; it also becomes pressure to "escape" the guilt inducing situation" (12). This falls on a daily basis, as a human being ones soul can be selfish when we feel morally we have done wrong, and try to recompense that sense of guilt by doing something "right" but as a way to make oneself feel better rather than the other person they have harmed.We dont acknowledge that we are escaping the guilt trip. Such as relationship when a man has done a mistake he will buy flowers, chocolates or even a new necklace yes it has made his girlfriend happy for that moment, but in that mans guilt lies a hole that needs to be filled of his own "good will." Even some may brag to his friends of how he bought the most expensive earrings just to fill his selfishness that he did the right move. Guilt is not a pretty sense to feel, we just have managed a way to escape it.
Brian Jimenez
English 100
Cerritos College
Nov 9, 2009
Post#45
White Guilt
From the start in seems discrimination is present. It is known because the black boy tries to enter a hamburger place and he is asked to leave. Something that caught my attention was when the caddy master stated, “put yourselves in my shoes” I think I understand why the author called him a coward. It is not that the caddy master wanted to throw them out so it seems but because he was afraid of what the other white people would think of him. Therefore, it was putting unwanted pressures on the white man that lead him to treat the two black boys unfair and different from the rest. Guilt as the author states in the story. There was a statement that was about the Civil Rights Bill. According to White Guilt by Shelby Steele, she states, “had white society not been wrong, there would have been no need for such a bill’. From my understanding I believe she meant that if only the white came out of the closet of guilt and treated the blacks with respect and like people there would have been no need for the Civil Rights bill which gave equality under the law. I think whites just used this excuse of white guilt to keep blacks on the bottom. In other wards the whites were the oppressor and the blacks being the oppressed. The whites were in denial and used guilt as an excuse to show their discrimination. After that could not be used as an excuse anymore, actions and policies were used to bring about redemption to the white community.
eSMERALDA oROZCO
english 100
cc
post???
White Guilt
Shelby Steele
as i was reading the story i thought about the black power movement. in a way its true in a way the african american people have a right to through it in the white persons face the fact that they were treated so poorly. in the other hand when an sfrican american goes as low as shoving it in a persons face then that african american is the same as the white man. i liked the story because its true that the man did not put the money beacuse he felt sorry but rather because it was a vay of saying he was ashamed of wat he had put the african american through. this story opened my eyes to understand that you can make people feel bad to give you more money
Brenda Flores
English100
Cerritos COllege
Post#?
White Guilt
I did not really understand this reading. I'm guessing the most part of it is racism. His idea of white guilt was not clear to me. I really did not get what this guys point was. I am sorry if other people felt it was obvious to them. Shelby Steele goes back and forth with his stories which is what confused me so much.
Sarai Vazquez
English 100
Cerritos College
Post ....
White Guilt by Shelby Steele
When I first started reading this I agreed with him on how he saidhehad never heard the phrase "white guilt". All i could think of was how hard it was for the white people that had nothing against the african americans during those times felt. I do not think that I could have done what they did. I think I probably would have gotten fired for my job because I would not be able to tell them to leave. Nobody ever talks about how those people felt and what they went through. they probaby got plenty of critism from other white for what they thoought was right. no one ever stops to thinkn of what they went through and it was cool to see that someone did take into consideration their feelings.
Antonio Acosta
English 100
Cerritos College
Post #?
White Guilt by Shelby Steele
Like the title of this story, it is about how the author assumed that a white in the 1950’s had guilt for what they did to black. How a white waitress felt guilty for making a black person to leave a restaurant. Also a caddymaster not letting two black people caddy at a white country club. The author thinks that whites are cowards. What I think is white people should feel guilty it is like Allegory of the Cave. Whites were ignorant people judging people just for who they are and how they look like. I think they did not feel guilty they did not what to be seen with black people or even be near black people.
I am so backwards right now!!! I’ve been working on paper for my sociology class all weekend that is due tomorrow. I was in the computer lab and this guy from my sociology class asked if I had the answers to the quiz. It hit me my paper is not due till next week and our exam is tomorrow!!!! I have even opened my book to study, ahhhhhhh!!!!!! I read the White guilt excerpt and tried to digest it. Well it did not sit well and hope that we talk about it in class. What I understood was that Western Cultures have a stigma of being racists, again I hope we discuss this in class
Raul Moreno Jr
English 103
Cerritos College
Post: ???
White Guilt
My goodness, this piece covers a lot of ground fast. The author is speaking of paradigm shifts and role reversals. As history shows and as some might even personally testify, the "whites" were the perpetrators of some awful humnan injustices before the civil rights movement and the "black power" era.
We have discussed role reversals and power shifts several times in class and this is the discussion of one more personal and modern instance. After the civil rights movement, select "blacks" used this power of guilt to get what they thought they deserved, what they thought would bring about equality.
Steele speaks of development trumping reparation. Affirmative action is an example of the silly policies implemented to usher in a new era of equality, noting that it has "tended to give blacks special entitlements that in many cases are of no use because blacks lack the development that would put [them] in a position to take advantage of them." (4)
I have always despised affirmative action being a minority. Surely, I had grandparents and family members who experienced hardship because of their skin color or country of origin, but I have never experienced such treatment. Further, I would be absolutely furious to find out that I received a job not because I was the best candidate, but instead I was merely there to meet the quota.
Today I still here ignorance, mostly from blacks and even those of my own "race". Something goes wrong for them and they play the race card. This is not to say that racism has been erradicated, but if you don't want to be called a n*gger then don't call your homies by that filthy name. It's absolute nonsense. NONSENSE.
This new issue that we face today was not created exclusively by the "whites" nor the "blacks". Rather, ignorance has been the perpetrator on both sides. Whites giving into their "guilt" and the blacks who wrongfully project said guilt onto them are the issue. the whites were selfish, as the author notes, because they wanted to feel good about themselves, while the blacks were selfish in that instead of looking forward to their children and the future, they wanted personal reparation and dividends.
Stephanie Farano
GWC
English 110
Post?
Cancer Journals
In Cancer Journals by Audre Lorde, I felt that the second paragraph was moving. In my mind it portrays the idea of the emotional impact of cancer, on an individual. We tend to think that when a person goes through chemo, and is back to the real world that the disease is no longer with them. When in reality, a person will continually be faced with the aftermath of the disease. The example given in the second paragraph is a woman with cancer, who has had a mastectomy. The cancer may have been removed, but she is constantly reminded because of the scars across her chest. A women who has her most womanly feature removed, may lose her sense of identity. The importance of the recovery period of a cancer patient is, in my mind the most important aspect of the disease. One needs to be given the appropriate time for recovery in order to regain the emotional stability that they lost while sick.
Kim Luong
GWC
english 110
Perfectionism by Anne Lammott
I hate the first statement right after i finished the first paragraph " Perfectionism is .., the enemy of the people". However, i decided to read the essay before i form my thought about this and i still hate it. So, i think the author wants us to ignore perfectionism and to be free from limitation, rules,routines in order to become a better writer. I think her idea is true sometime. However, working toward perfectionism is a bad thing at all. Perfectionism will not drive one mad, instead, it helps us to become better. people often say that " nobody is perfect", so we always try to get better and better everyday because we want to somewhat get "closer" to the state of being perfect. This is also a motivation that pushes us to improve ourselves. So why does the author say that perfectionism is our enemy? Because right at the beginning, There is no way we can reach, see or touch it, then how can we know that we are already perfect. Perfectionism is one way our muscles cramp. Yes it's true but because there is a muscle cramp in the throat, we have to chew and to face with the pain so we can get our throat muscle relaxed. Perfectionism helps us to realize the process of becoming better; it is not a red light to stop us from going further. For example, a person wants to play piano. At first, the person just simply wants to enjoy the music but while playing the piano, he or she might discover a way to make the song sounds more beautiful and to play better.Then he or she keeps practicing and eventually becomes a good piano player.So, if we want to become better, we will never stop. ( perfectionism is "something better")I think the author's idea is a little similar to mine but i just do not like her title. I would suggest her to change to " Disciplinism" instead "perfectionism".lolz, that's not a right word, but whatever.
Thomas Rios
GWC
English 110
Cancer Journals
This was about a woman who got breats cancer, lost her breast, and the struggles and battles she faces in the world and in herself. I do not agree with one particular passage: Paragraph nine about rape victims and women who have been beaten. Maybe it is because this piece was written in a different time, but I believe that no one really believes that a rape victim entices the man that rapes her. I think this is a nasty remark and I believe that it digresses from her point. I know her point, how women should not have to hide certaian things, like a mastectomy. She uses this as an illustration that certain things must be swept under the rug to regain acceptance. She ends on the happy note that she has come to terms with her situation and she realizes that she owns her sorrows AND joys.
Danielle Kennedy
English 110
GWC
post #21
perfectionism
this story was hard to follow but in the end, i believe i got the gist of it. perfectionism is a chemical imbalance that causes one to not like anything that one does because they believe there is always something wrong with it. i am one of the many that suffers from it. in the story, it talks about how when someone wants to write but is a perfectionist, it is near impossoble because their work is never good enough. the story talks about how god is a factor and how he never just gives you the answer but rather in a round about way, lets you see what it is you really desire. life is fuul of very complicated things but also filled with simle things that makes life more enjoyable. the shame is that people do not see these things unless it is already to late. in the story, the authors friend pammy died but before she did, she said that why should i live if i cant even write a check. it wasnt the check that made her mad but the fact that she couldnt express how she felt through writing. writing is a stress reliever for many and a journal might be the only thing someone might trust to share their most deep secrets. writing is one of the simple pleasures one might take for granted and perfectionist will never realize this. even though it isnt a disease that affects your health, it is one that robs you of the very miniscule things in life. happiness is hard to find and when you have to look for it, its never there to be found.
Yi-Hui Chiang
English 103
Cerritos College
Post #25
White Guilt
Unquestionably, racism still exists today. We often feel sorry for blacks when we hear all these stories, but feeling sorry for them is no different as insulting them again. We feel sorry because we still see them differently; we think we are somehow in a superior position. Maybe we have tried to do something to make it up for the mistakes in the past, but sometimes we didn't look at the core of the problem. Instead, what we did is just cover our feeling of guilt and deceive ourselves by solving the problem superficially. Just like the white businessman, what we are seeking for is probably just the redemption of innocence. It is not racism, but it could be worse since it does not help blacks at all. It could generate more injustice on both side, whites and blacks. We would never get rid of this racial inequality if we still consider them as victims. For the need of redemption, we have seen them as a different group treating them with special entitlements. Therefore, that white guilt became the force of black power. It has defeated the purpose of entitlements and has distorted the real equality.
Samantha Navarro
English 103
Cerritos College
Post# A little late, but here it is
White Guilt by Shelby Steele
I have never heard the term “white guilt.” I have noticed, however, that whites are “supposed” to feel sorry towards blacks for what white ancestors did to black ancestors. Like Steele says, “the white need for redemption has contributed to this tragic situation by shaping our policies regarding blacks in ways that may deliver the look of innocence to society and its institutions but that do very little actually to uplift blacks” (4). Whites trying to redeem themselves by treating blacks a certain way (in some ways, the oppoite of what blacks experienced for centuries) only digs the hole a little deeper because this redemption itself is still seeing blacks as blacks only. I agree with most of the people blogging that the best remedy is to just truly see everyone by their content of their character, not the color of their skin. This dream that Dr. King had in the ‘60s has, in my opinion, not been realized. We still judge by physical characteristics that in reality don’t matter. I have a little example of this; recently I told my brother that I wanted to move to Irvine if I get accepted to UCI, and he told me “have you ever been there? You are really going to feel like a minority there.” And I responded, “why? Because I am poor or because I am Mexican?” And he said, “BOTH!” It’s sad to know that even in my own home people don’t think they should be in a certain area because we don’t “belong” there. It is this sort of attitude that keeps us all seperated and with prejudices about each other. Are we really giving each other a chance??
Feross Khouraki
English 110
GWC
Post # 5
Everything Rises Must Converge
In this story, there is a strong, but subtle conflict between Julian and his mother. Julian, a young man out of college, is disillusioned and jaded from his own, unmentioned life experiences. He is someone who was born as one era was ending and a new one was beginning. His mother, on the other hand, is blindly racist. In her sense of mind, she’s not being racist; she actually believes black people are inferior to white people. In a sense, I can’t really blame her. As a child, her mind was an empty vessel, and she was taught that the color of one’s skin matters in society. The difference in the beliefs of Julian and his mother is reminiscent of those presented on the pop culture show All In The Family between Archie and his son-in-law. Archie Bunker and his son-in-law, Michael Stivic, argue frequently on the morality of segregation and racism. Although, like Julian, Michael presents solid facts about how society is changing, Archie refuses to believe any of his logic, not because it doesn’t make sense, but because he was simply raised to believe otherwise. I felt the same satisfaction Julian felt when he saw that his mother was wearing the same ugly hat as the black woman. His mother decides to buy and keep the hat because, she says, “at least I won’t meet myself coming and going,” which means she won’t run into anyone wearing the same hat. The coincidence of that happening was to teach Julian’s mother, in a sense of irony that O’Connor creates, that while she’s trying hard to look sophisticated and high-class, black people are doing the same thing, just like any human with poor fashion taste. He hopes that if she recognizes the woman wearing the same hat, it’ll nudge her just that much closer to realize that there is no difference between white people and black people, or any kind of people for that matter. However, his mother is apparently too dense to follow that logic, let alone follow it. Throughout the story, Julian is trying to push his liberal thoughts on his mother, and her involuntary refusal causes him to resent her, even wish for his mother to be punished. In the end of the story, his mother has a heart attack, which, in another turn of irony, punishes Julian instead for not being able to accept his mother ineptness and for barraging her with what she cannot believe.
Kevin Santamaria
English 110
GWC
Post #19
Perfectionism
What a read it was. Anne Lamott talks about people who are perfectionist. Its basically about her and how perfectionsim had held her back from proper writing. She says that when you try to make writing perfect you miss all the substance and depth. It is true, when you have a goal and you aim for it so hard, you miss the oppurtunties along the way and ignore the help that you needed. Being a perfectionist is like being stubborn. She says writing to be more of a spiritual thing, which it usually is if your not given boder or structure to follow. I really like her comparisons, like with her friend and drinking, and how his emtions are that of her students when writing. I like how she refers to herself as an artist, I never thought of it that way before. It is though, it is an art becuase it is a way to express and change the emotions of others. She ends answering a question from her students in a way that defines writing as an art.
Erica Lloyd
English 110
GWC
Post #25
Cancer Journals
It's a sad truth that women are objectified and sexualized in our society. In our society, breasts have lost their biological purpose and become solely sexual objects. I think as a society we have forgotten what breasts are for and we have ascribed to them a purely sexual role. Many people have a negative view of breastfeeding-a completely natural part of life and the purpose of breasts-and think that it is something that should be done in private. I have met several people who believe that breatfeeding in public is indecent exposure, regardless of it's completely nonsexual purpose. It's depressing to me that women are so concerned with their breast size. Large breasts are portrayed in the media as desirable and small breasts are unapealling. Girls who think their breasts are too small have a negative self image and the desire to get implants. Breasts are a major part of part of a girl's self esteem.
I can definitely understand where Audre Lorde is coming from. I can't imagine how I would react to having breast cancer. It is a terrifying thought, not just to have to battle cancer, but to lose something that has such an impact on how the world views me and how I view myself. I agree with Lorde that women should be allowed to grieve the loss of their old body image and be given time to develop a new sense of self. Throwing on a fake boob and calling it a day doesn't fix the emotion problem. I can only hope that I can be as strong if I ever have to go through the battle of breast cancer. I think it would take me much longer to come to terms with the loss of part of who I am.
Danielle St. Onge
Eng 110
GW
Post #17?
Cancer Journals
Reading Cancer Jounrals by Audre Lorde really opened my eyes to the emotional attack that cancer has on a woman's self-esteem. I knew that when a woman battles breast cancer that it is a rigourous fight and that her views on how she sees herself change has shes fighting for her life. I finally started to get a grasp for the understanding of how a woman feels, especially when she talks about prosthesis and masectomys. It has never really occured to me that once an appendage is gone, you get a prosthesis; however, once a breast is gone after a masectomy, it is gone. There is no prosthesis for breasts, and this plays a vital role in a woman's self-esteem and how she views the world. Even though Lorde is obviously sad that she has cancer, she is a fighter and she is not going to let this get the best of her. She's a true inspiration to all women, whether they ahve gone through this, or not....
Eric Monreal
English 110
GWC
Post #5?
Everything Rises Must Converge
This story reminds me of how certain people are so narrow-minded and unwilling to change their perceptions on others. Julian's mother is stuck on this notion that black people are inferior to her and that they should be treated as such. All the while her son, Julian, is the complete polar opposite of her. He accepts the fact that the "times are a-changin'". He loathes the very thought of taking his mother to her reducing class, but does it anyway "considering all that she did for him". She even has a conversation on the bus with another lady about how "the world is a mess..."
This reminded me of an incident at work where one of my customers had his laundromat vandalized. Someone had tried to break open the coin boxes on his machines to take the coins inside. Well he's explaining to me what happened and this other customer walks up, a young Vietnamese man, and interrupts our conversation and says, "It was a black guy wasn't it?" The customer and I looked at him in utter disbelief of what had just come out of his mouth. We looked at each other as if to say, "he didn't just say that? Did he?" So, according to his "logic", a place is vandalized and automatically it's a black person who did it? The customer struggled to find the words to tell him he had no idea who did it. Goes to show how little some people's minds are.
Penelope Bwalya
Prof.Hsiao
English 110
GWC
Why I Wear A Hijad
As women we are stereotyped everyday. We are judged by a lot of things- our religion, race, skin color, the way we walk, talk, and the list goes on. The media does not help women, but contributes by portraying unrealistic images of how women should look. Most of the time we women get sucked into these false images because we are paying attention to what is being portrayed. The question is: what can women do to avoid having this kind of image being shoved down their throat?
Sultana Yusufali writes in Why Do I Wear The Hijad, “When I cover myself, I make it virtually impossible for people to judge me…..(6)”. A Hijad is a piece of cloth that Muslim women wear to cover their heads, forehead and it flows down to their toes. For women who do not wear the Hijad, we need to love who we are, appreciate the bodies we have. By taking this approach we will not need the Hijad to act as a barrier. I believe true beauty lies within, and I will never let anyone tell me otherwise.
Danielle St. Onge
G DUB (goooo polo!)
English 110
Post 18
Perfectionism
The first words I comprehend off of the essay Perfectionism, was "shitty first draft". I immediately thought of my research paper, and how horribly wrong it has now gone...I think thats why I have such difficulty writing things, I want to be perfect. I want my writing perfect. I want people to look at me through my writing and pretty much assume I'm perfect. I always believe something is wrong with me just like Anne Lamott.
Post #23
Perfectionism by Anne Lamott
This story was pretty interesting and it really made me think about my writing. Anne Lamott talks about how being too perfect can interfere with one’s creativity when writing. Her perfectionism kept her from being able to write great papers. It takes away from what the essay is truly about. This reminds me of the way Professor Hsiao makes us write essays. He likes a lot of detail and creativity, but many of us are not used to that style of writing. Even though it may be challenging in the beginning, I believe it is for a good cause. It allows us to express ourselves through writing which many even be very therapeutic. I believe we should just let out minds flow with thoughts while writing. Trying to be perfect and thinking too technically takes away from the true emotion and substance of the paper.
Amber Decker
Eng 110
GWC
Perfectionism
I can really understand what the author is referring to in terms of writing. I am in no way a 'writer', but I do occasionally enjoy certain aspects of writing, such as being able to clear my head, and get all of my thoughts organized. Lots of times, writing is the only way to do that. My biggest issue when it comes to writing is perfectionism. I find it very restrictive to follow strict guidelines and rules. I'm sorry Mr Hsiao, but I hate MLA format. I know, I know... Its required everywhere. But seriously, I cant stand it. I dont feel like it makes for a good writer just because someone can organize into clear, concise paragraphs and find a way to avoid contractions. I like contractions. I think they bring character to a story, as well as make it more readable, which, in turn, makes it relatable to the reader. None of the best authors in history follow a specific format given to them by a stranger. Writing is all about what feels natural to the individual author. Its very personal, and therefore should be about personal gain, rather than perfection.
I understand that I am taking a very literal stance on this essay, and, by doing so, I am overlooking a good portion of the rest of the story, but looking at perfectionism as being a problem is very apparent to me in terms of writing. Thats what I felt the most comfortable commenting on.
Raufiel Matias
GWC
English 110
Post #22?
Perfectionism
When I read this story I did not quite understand some of the parts of it, but I think I got the main point of the author which is being a perfectionist when writing. I agree with the author when she said that being a perfectionist when writing can take away the creativity and freedom to express your own feelings in writing. I guess it's true because when I usually write my essay I tried to be perfect in each sentences that I wrote and I do not make many rough drafts and express whatever is in my mind. I guess that's why it is hard for me to write my paper sometimes is because I try to be perfect in each sentence and that I take away the critical steps in writing which is making errors in drafts and keep writing some more until I make the best one. Trying to be perfectionist when writing is like writing without your emotions into it because all you think about is writing the perfect paper and you miss the whole point of writing which is digging deep inside and express it through writing. Overall, it was a good reading and I learn something from it which is try not to be a perfectionist when writing.
Eric Monreal
English 110
GWC
Post #6
Why Do I Wear Hijab?
It must be hard being a woman in today's society. Sultana Yusufali brings up a very good point about the women that are used in the media. She points out that "more often than not women will be no older than her early 20s, taller, slimmer and more attractive than average, dressed in skimpy clothing." That's why so many young women have self-esteem issues and end up falling victim to depression. It reminds me of a scene from the movie "White Chicks" where Shawn Wayans is in a dressing room disguised as a girl when one of the girl friends asks how she looks. He says that she looks good and she starts getting hysterical saying that she's fat, pinching her stomach while crying and mocking how "fat" she looks. While the movie does this to get some laughs and puts Shawn in an awkward situation, the fact remains that this is no laughing matter. Yusufali writes, "13-year old girls [are] sticking fingers down their throats and overweight adolescents hanging themselves," because the media portrays women in a unrealistic light for young women to follow. Young women need to be shown that they are beautiful for who and what they are as not to have them fall into these self-esteem "traps".
Kayla Marley
English 110
GWC
Perfectionism
I liked reading this story because I can relate to Anne Lamotte. I think I can mostly relate to her because sometimes I am so focused on writing that perfect paper that the paper ends up being a horrible mess and I start all over again. When I was in the seventh grade my teacher had taught me a really great way to set up my essays and ever since then I have used the set up for all my essays. The set up makes it easier for me to write down all I want to say in my essay then I am able to write better. Although I try to write a perfect essay I don't think I will ever be able to do so because perfect does not exist. Writing is an escape and even though I will never write that perfect essay or research paper I will enjoy doing so because writing is my escape. Even though I am not perfect at writing I enjoy it and I am happy when I'm writing.
Brittany Williams
English 110
GWC
Post 42
Perfectionism
Many aspects of this article hit home with me. When it comes to my work and studying habits I am very much a perfectionist. Clutter is my enemy when progress is desired. The envelopes need to be neatly stacked, the papers crisp and clean, and most of all the environment needs to be free from distractions. However, when it comes to areas other than school and work, clutter and mess seem to joyfully abound. My room is littered with a sock here and a sweater there. My car is a collage of the previous month's events, including a sampling of meal remembrances, of course.
It's interesting though that the areas of my life that are neat and tidy are also the areas that cause me the most internal mess and turmoil. I stress so much about things that appear so clean and sober before my eyes. I am aware of this. And, as they say, "knowing is half the battle". So what's the other half of the battle? Knowing alone will not resolve the issue. Something, or someone needs to step in. Similar to the example in the article, that someone for me is God. The true, personal God, that is constantly seeking ways to pour out His love on me. Each day I am trying to become more and more aware of this unconditional love. I feel that if I let myself fall deeper and deeper into this loving God, I can learn to rely less and less on my feeble attempts at perfection. Sure, I still will, and should, strive for perfection, but in this process I am understanding that my peace does not come from a man made sense of perfection but rather from the very definition of perfection, this God that loves me in and out of all my clutter.
Jessica Lara
English 110
GWC
Everything Rises Must Converge
This reading was very funny to me, mostly because Julian’s mother got punched in the face. It’s usually funny when someone who deserves to get punched in the face actually gets punched in the face. It was also kind of sad because Julian was so disappointed in himself and he had no where to project it to but his mother. He had good reasons for not liking her, but he also chose to be so different because it angered her so much The narrator states that “He was not dominated by his mother”, but everything Julian does throughout the story is to get a negative reaction from her or to make her disappointed in him. He’s really not any different from her because he only talked to black people that looked established or like they were the “better types.” When he did talk to them, he felt let down. She talks a lot about knowing who she is and having pride in that. Julian doesn’t really know who he is though. Maybe he does and he can not stand the similarities he shares with her. It only adds to his misery because he had already convinced himself that he had no future anyway. Most people who hate their parents end up being very similar to them. They also, like Julian, feel enormous guilt when they die. So it was sad and funny at the same time.
Jessica Lara
English 110
GWC
Cancer Journals
I had a co-worker who was diagnosed with breast cancer. She found out after it had already become pretty advanced and had to stop working right away. When she told me, I had never felt so bad for an acquaintance before. That sounds wrong, but I could see the pain she was in, and it made me feel bad like it was someone closer to me. She talked to me about feeling that her husband would stop loving her because she would start to look sick, and how he wouldn’t want to sleep with her after she got her mastectomy. I could not understand at the time how she was more worried about the person she was married to leaving her than she was about her life. Those are the feelings addressed in Cancer Journals. I never really think about breast implants being prosthetics because they are so common, and everyone I know who has breast implant did not get them because they lost heir breasts to cancer. People do act “as if the only real function of women’s breasts are to appear in a certain shape and size and symmetry … or to yield external pressure.” Reading this helped me to understand what she was saying and how she felt a little more.
Katherine Nguyen
Eng 110
GWC
Everything That Rises Must Converge
While reading, “Everything That Rises Must Converge” by Flannery O’ Conner, I enjoyed the whole subject and message of the story. It deals with a mother and son relationship which I thought was cute. From how the author describes the character, we can see how different they are and how they don’t really have the same opinions. Julian’s mother comes off as a mean person who is strongly against the blacks. She things they “were better off when they were slaves”. I would say that her opinion is harsh and cruel, but the reader wants to show us how she feels against them. I loved how the story shows Julian embarrassed of being with his mom because of all her opinions. Its like how I hate being with one of my friends. She’s so rude and it’s embarrassing just to be around her because she makes cruel comments that are not even necessary. Julian seems to get annoyed of his mother but feels like he should be responsible for taking care of her. That’s like how my grandmother is always like. She tells me to come visit her and take care of her because ever since I was a baby, she fed me and took great care of me. I feel as if I owe her a lot and should visit her now and then. That’s kind of how Julian’s mom is with her son, especially because she is widowed and doesn’t have anyone else. I felt the ending of this story was great. The mom did go overboard and offering the son a penny. I thought that was cruel and felt she deserved to get hit by the black woman. I liked the fact that Julian wasn’t influenced by his mom. Usually we have the same family views and have the same opinions as the people we are close to. But I’m glad that Julian was not prejudice like his mom. He had his own view and was opposed of how his mom felt about segregation. He even tried to make her mad by sitting next to the black man on the bus.
Why do I wear Hijab by Sulatna Yusuf Ali
This story was very interesting. It opened my mind up a lot. When I see girls wearing hijabs, I would think that they are insecure. Maybe because most of them are shy. Now I see a view of why one chooses to wear the hijab. It was funny because I always wondered why they wear it. I thought maybe it was a family tradition or something. But I guess some girls feel that they should cover up and not show off too much because society has changed where everything is about self image. In some manner, I do agree with her. I work at a doctors office, and I don’t have to wear scrubs, but I choose to because I don’t want to come to work wearing tank tops Or anything that doesn’t suit the office attire. Also , it is so much easier to get ready in the morning! The narrator does have her point and I loved how she states her opinions of how ladies would shove their fingers down their throat to get skinny. She seems very confident and I admire how she wants to let everyone know that she is happy how she is and does not need to impress anyone.
Belinda Avila
English 110
Goldenwest College
Post #7
Why Do I Wear Hijab?
This reading gave me a different outlook on female Muslims. Honestly I was (until reading this) one of many people that looked at these fully dressed females and either felt bad for them or looked at them curiously. However, after reading Sultana Yusufali's words, I am envious. The fad for young women is to dress in skintight clothes and expose flesh. This reading reminds me of a discussion I had in my communications class about Halloween. Women wear the most revealing costumes they can find. A fellow classmate in my communications class said that if he were to meet a female in a ninja costume that she would be more worth talking to. If one really thinks about it, how much respect can one really give someone that dresses scandalously? I really enjoyed this reading. It gave me a lot to think about and I believe it gave me a little more self respect by showing me a new way to look at things. My favorite and least favorite part of this reading is that Sultana is almost the complete opposite of me. The first indicator was "I have no visible tattoos and minimal piercings" (1). This reading almost made me consider wearing a "hijab" to class, but alas, it might be taken offensively. In that case, I will just dress in extra layers.
Eric Torres
English 110
Golden West College
Post #20
Perfectionism by Anne Lamott
In reading Perfectionism, I have come to understand that being perfect is not always the correct way or the best thing to strive for. In fact, being imperfect makes you even better. In writing, a person does not have to make everything perfect in order to end up with a great paper. It is the clutter and the unorganized flow of thoughts that gets someone to create great ideas and great sentences in their essays. In Anne Lamott's Perfectionism, she writes, "Perfectionism is a mean, frozen form of idealism, while messes are the artist's true friend" (10). After reading this line it made me think of great artists like Picasso who constantly paints to keep things unorganized and not in the right place. His paintings made people think and really appreciate the idea of non-perfection. I have noticed this theme in our own class with John Croft's writings how he can go from one topic and then end up talking about vampires or zombies or whatever it is he suprises everyone with. Its like we do not know what is going to be said in his writings. I guess not knowing makes his writings more exciting and therefore more enjoyable to read.
Dalene Kolb
English 110
Golden West College
Post #50
Perfectionism
Perfection will not let you express the real you, but rather a version you would want to be. I really enjoyed this quote in the story, "Try not to feel sorry for oneself, I say, when one finds the going hard and lonely. One seems to want to write, so write." When things are going bad in my life, which seems more often than I would like, I write. It is a way to get out how I feel. Even if I am the only one reading it, the weight that I was feeling gets lighter. It helps.
~Dalene
Cianna Calandrino
english 110
Golden West
Perfectionism
Wow. I loved this reading.I found myself underlining anything that I resonated with or agreed with.I relateded to the statement"Clutter and mess show us that lif is being lived". I am an extreme perfectionist myself and it has been detrimental to everything I try to do. I paralize myself with the fear of not doing it perfect. That is acctually the case with my research paper. I want so bad to do it perfect in my head before I get it down on paper that I do not do the "shitty first draft". When I do I struggle all the way through. This reading was an eye opener for me =]
Esmeralda Orozco
english 100
cc
post???
SO YESTERDAY WHEN I WAS GETTING OUT OF CLASS I FORGOT WHERE I HAD PARKED OMG IT WAS CRAZY MY CAR IS BLACK AND MY EYES ARE WEAK IN THE DARK IT WAS A MISSION JAAJA I HOPE I DIDNT LOOK S^*$%D LOL SO I LAST NIGHT I JUST KNOCKED OUT I DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO WATCH FRIENDS I LOVE THAT SHOW ITS SOOO FUNNY
I HAVE TO CATCH UP ON SOOOOOO MUCH WORK SO WED IS GONNA BE A LONG DAY FOR ME I HOPE U ALL HAVE A GREAT TIME SEE U MONDAY
Gina Huynh
English 110
Golden West College
Post #6
Everything Rises Must Converge
While reading this story, one cannot help but to sympathesize with Julian and pity his close-minded mother. Julian’s mother seems to be living in a world of denial, refusing to accept the very idea that segregation was now considered illegal. She believes herself to still be superior to her African-American counterparts and associates them with fear and distrust. Julian, who is college educated, is embarrassed and bothered by his mother’s views and desperately wants her to understand that times have changed. He wants her to recognize the fact that he is not like her and that he perceives her actions to be plain wrong and offensive. Of course, his mother’s outward racism is also due to discomfort. She seems unsure of how to act with the changing of times, so she becomes extra dependant on her son and more critical of her new “neighbors.” In fact, we can see the extent of his mother’s stubbornness to accept change by how she appears in public; even though they are now poor, she still wears decorative hats and gloves to go exercise at the Y. Unfortunately, the more Julian’s mother displays disrespect toward others, the more respect she loses from her own son. It is ironic that while she made the necessary sacrifices to send her son to college, he would return home only to recognize how wrong her views were. Julian, then, becomes an indirect lesson that she’s created to educate herself. While she is proud that he has gone to college, she fails to recognize that education is the very source of her shame.
This story gives an honest glimpse into the lives of two people who are the products of two very different times. It is a reminder that we, as human beings, tend to allow laws to define the right way for us to live without questioning those laws that are unjust. This story is a mirror of our own time, where we continue to create laws that do not provide equal opportunities to others whom we deem inferior to us. Specifically speaking, today’s laws forbidding gay marriages are no different than those laws that forbid Blacks from sharing the same buses as Whites. When laws are made to hurt others, then they are to be challenged. A spiritual teacher once said that what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. did was illegal and what Adolf Hitler did was actually legal. Martin Luther King, Jr. was arrested several times for leading peaceful demonstrations against laws that were unjust, and Adolf Hitler was hailed as a great leader who had followers carry out his laws to eliminate the “inferior races.” Why are we, then, in this day and age, not learning from the past and continuing to subject others to these laws that cut short people’s individual rights? It was not too long ago that interracial couples were barred from being married (and some judges still hold on to this view today), so until the day when we have laws that give everyone full equal rights, then we, as a society, have never fully gotten off the racist/discriminatory bus.
Gina Huynh
English 110
Golden West College
Post #7
Why Do I Wear Hijab?
I am very moved by this piece of writing because it allows me to see from a different perspective than what I had always known. I have to admit that out of my own ignorance, I became one of those people who had associated those Muslim women, with their whole bodies completely covered except for their eyes, as being oppressed. I never stopped to realize that perhaps, like Sultana Yusufali emphasizes, these women chose to have their bodies covered in order to make it “impossible for people to judge [them] according to the way [they] look.” I had always assumed that a society that only allows women to walk around with their only eyes showing as being dominated by controlling men who are so power- hungry that they would want to lump all women into one similar category, thus preventing them from expressing their individualities by their very choice in fashion and appearance. I never thought about it from some of these women’s perspectives. It is true that in today’s modern society, there is a large emphasis on superficiality, which explains for the rise in the number of cosmetic surgeries out there. Unlike these conservative societies, our society seems to prioritize sexuality. I have friends who have used up most of their savings to purchase a pair of bigger boobs in order to get the attention of the other half. Getting attention would validate just how desirable they are. I understand if people use a little bit of plastic surgery to increase their self-esteem, but they have to understand that the actual problem lies from within. Women who are obsessed with plastic surgeries deal with the issues of insecurity and fail to realize that we, as humans, can be our very worst critics. We will always find flaws in our appearances that can use a bit of nip and a tuck here and there; it’s by learning to accept these little flaws that truly represents the best solution for our internal issues. Unfortunately, this problem is harder to overcome nowadays with the media so focused on superficial beauty and always pushing us to compare our average selves to the exceptionally beautiful gene pool, which can decrease our self-esteem significantly. That is why some women choose to make a statement by dressing very conservatively. It is by doing so that they send off the message that their bodies are not sexual objects to have men leering at them and that their own bodies are their private possessions, refusing to expose them to outside judgments.
Heather Brown
GWC
Post# I forgot
The Lottery
I would like to start by saying this story was by far one of the craziest things I have ever read. Period.
Shirley Jackson painted the town as perfect with no evident flaws. The town's occupants are happy, each individual knows their role in society and to top it off the majority does not challenge the common practices. Shirley Jackson uses the analogy society is the "black box". The box was was the perfect item to represent their society because no matter how old, decrepit the box became, they refused to change it out or at least make repairs. "There was a story that the present box had been made with some pieces of the box that had preceded it, the one that had been constructed when the first people settled down to make a village here." The actual reason for the Lottery has been lost in translation. People of the town failed to step back and evaluate how much they've changed the rules, the process, and more importantly WHY they continue to do it.
One parallel I thought of between their society and ours, is how we frequently blame others from different races and religions, for our plights. People gather, make rules and false ideas of happiness, and often say the reason the ideas do not exist is because of a certain group. As time passes more people hop on the band-wagon, take part and joy, of hating and persecuting that targeted group. Although so many people get caught up in the thought of being a significant part, and accepted in society, the reason is forgotten as well as why and how it became acceptable to persecute that specific group. Just as in the story, people in society justify hateful, ignorant actions by often declaring "that's the way it's always been". When an insightful soul sees an opportunity to stop such injustice, they are often stoned to death (more ways than one) because they are a risk to society, and to traditions.
Liza Heacox
Eng 110
GWC
Post #5
The Lottery
Mr. Hsiao is quite twisted in his short story selection. Death seems to be a common theme. The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is no exception. On a “clear and sunny morning” a village gathered for their annual lottery drawing. Whispers of excitement seemed to pulse through the town. One by one the patriarch of each family drew a small slip of paper from the black lottery box. Once everyone had drawn their paper, they collectively unfolded them. The Hutchinson family appeared to be the winner as their paper had on it a black dot. More slips of folded paper totaling the number of people in the Hutchinson family, including the one with the black dot, were placed back in the black box. One by one every member of the family drew a piece of paper. This time it was Mrs. Hutchinson who drew the paper with the black dot. As was tradition in this village, the winner of the lottery was stoned by the villagers. Just because a tradition exists does not mean that it is right and good. Mrs. Hutchinson was the only person in this village who seemed to understand that as she yelled, “It isn’t fair, it isn’t right.” Had she not selected the paper which spelled out her doom she most certainly would not have come to that conclusion. The clincher was that her little son took up stones along with the crowd. Children learn what they live.
Markel Hathcock
English 110
GWC
Post #5
Everything Rises Must Converge
As I was reading this story, it weirdly hit home for me and I connected with it. In the story, Julian’s mom is clearly racist. I mean, there is no getting around it. In the olden days, racism was accepted. Now a day, kids that have grown up in a different time know better than to judge a book by its cover. My grandpa, who is about 70 or so, reminds me a lot of Julian’s mother. About a year or so ago I was dating a boy named Austin. Austin was black. I brought him to a family party that we were having at my grandparents’ house. Whoo wee what a mistake that was ha. When I introduced Austin to my grandpa, I thought he was going to have a heart attack right there and drop dead at my feet. His face turned white as if he couldn’t believe I had just brought a black person into his house. He didn’t even say hello! My grandpa simply looked at me and walked away mumbling about how his house was now infected. As if he was so much better than Austin. It made me sick. During the story, when they get on the bus to go to the Y for her blood pressure problems, Julian’s mother looks up and down the bus and realizes that there are only whites on the bus and says, “l see we have the bus to ourselves”. Then another woman compares blacks to fleas. Julian is trying to get a reaction out of his mother. There is something that he dislikes so much in her that it’s almost as if he wants her to die. The reason I say this is because he knows that she is having trouble with her blood pressure, yet he is constantly trying to get a rise out of her.
Why Do I Wear Hijab?
I have many friends who try and find their individuality by dressing, well, the way they dress. Let me just say, I don’t have the classiest of friends at times. As Sultana says in the story, “external appearances are so stressed that the value of the individual counts for almost nothing”. I completely agree. My friends are seen by guys as sluts. Guys don’t see their personalities; they see their long legs and big boobs hanging out of their shirts. They see them as an object, not a person. Sultana wears the Hijab to feel safe from all of that. Also I find myself asking the same question as she does. Why do we allow ourselves to be manipulated like this? We are all falling into the norm and letting this be accepted. It is almost sad because I can see myself doing it as well.
Liza Heacox
Eng 110
GWC
Post #6
Approximately 1.3 million women are diagnosed with breast cancer annually. Both my grandmother and my aunt are survivors of this life threatening disease. One cannot take lightly the emotions a person would feel upon being diagnosed with breast cancer. Betrayed by their own body, a woman could find it difficult to accept their diagnosis. This is not the difficulty discussed by Audre Lorde in Cancer Journals. Audre Lorde described her feeling of loss at the thought of having a mastectomy, and her disgust with the casual way breast prostheses were offered. Her statement that “the necessity for prostheses after breast surgery are merely a reflection” of the attitude held by society concerning what and how a woman should be rang true. The final decision though belongs to the woman alone, and that cannot be put on the shoulders of society. It is possible for a woman to be comfortable in her own skin, and after having a mastectomy, refuse the prosthesis. A documentary aired a few years back that looked at the impact of breast cancer. One of the women it featured had had a double mastectomy. Instead of replacing her old breasts with silicone she opted to get a gorgeous floral tattoo across her chest. A woman can be beautiful without her breasts, but it is up to that woman to embrace it.
Heather Brown
GWC
Post# I-forgot-again
Cancer Journals
Audre Lorde wrote about how difficult it can be for one that feels the need to wear a prosthesis. It is difficult for others to see no prosthesis is needed if one does not wish to use one. Although I am not in need of a prosthesis, I can fully agree with Audre Lorde and her thoughts on how women are trained. Women are conditioned how to think, and view themselves in terms of how society views them. "Women have been programmed to view our bodies only in terms of how they look and feel to others rather than how they feel to ourselves and how we wish to use them." Where to start? For me, this reminds me of not wearing makeup on a daily basis. Now, I'm not one to wear makeup for multiple reasons: money, I want to be me for the world to see (not how the world can make me appear)and lastly, I believe it's "false advertising" for men ;).
I get a lot of flack for not wearing makeup, not from my friends, but my family. Often times as I'm leaving the house my mother tells me to take pride how I look and put on makeup. Personally, my favorite saying from my mother is, "Don't you want to look pretty and beautiful? Don't you want a guy? Put on some makeup!" That's pretty hurtful to hear from your own mother, but me being me, I quickly tell her, "I'm as beautiful as you made me, now deal with it."
Every time the topics of boyfriends, husbands, fiancees comes up around me, somehow the topic always comes to the fact that I don't have one because "I don't put make up on, so no one knows I'm willing to date." Wow. I can see how that might HINT to some guys, but really, are they wanting to date what I'm told to be, or me?
Reading about how Audre Lorde does not want to wear her prosthesis, how she believes being told wearing it will be good for "her", is really how good it will be for others. People cant deal with the different, some people even refuse to see past the absence of something, and even worse refuse to see the actual person.
Oscar Padilla
English 110
GWC
Everything Rises Must Converge
Well, what can I say? This story is really something to which I could relate to in some ways. Obviously the guy who’s name is Julian has problems with his mom, and therefore the relationship between him and his mom is not really good. The fact that his mom had a stroke at the end of the story and probably died is something that really got me thinking. I mean, I would never risk my mom’s health that way. Ever since they got out of their house he was trying to humiliate his mom and try to teach her a lesson. But just by knowing in what conditions his mom was, he should have taken care of her instead of trying to teach her a lesson. The reason I say I could relate to this story is because I have been involved in situations like this when my mom acts like if she was still living in the past and most of all she is forgetting we no longer live in Mexico. She is always complaining about minor things that really don’t matter; things that one shouldn’t be worried about, like, the way people dress now days, what kind of music we listen to, the TV shows that we watch, young couples dating, etc. One cannot find a TV show now days that does not have violence or crude humor. Most of the times that we go out she complains about something and instead of me trying to teach her a lesson, I pretend to agree with her even though I don’t. My mom’s health is not very good either, and I would never risk my her health. Julian has problems with his mom because she thinks that she is still living in the past and she argues that one must know who we are. Like Julian says, “nobody gives a damn who you are.” every day one has to move on constantly because life goes on and on and we need to pick up the pace. What we did or what we were in the past becomes a memory, the things that we accomplish today are our reward and what we will do tomorrow is a mystery. In conclusion, I think he was very rude to her and the fact that she thought differently from him did not mean he should have treated her like that.
Oscar Padilla
English 110
GWC
Why do I wear Hijob?
This is a very good story, well detailed and right to the point. What the author of this story is telling is absolutely true. One shouldn’t be judged by the way we dress but by the way we act. Our morals, values, strengths and believes are the ones that define us humans. All the times most of us spend so much time in front of the mirror to see how we look, if we are presentable to go outside in order to be accepted by others. Sure it is fundamental to look good, like when we go on a job interview, or when we go on a date, but it is not the most important thing. Like the author says in the story, “beautiful women are portrayed in the media to attract more customers,” and why is that, probably because of what she says, the superficiality of the world in which we live. Some people do things to their bodies and buy expensive stuff in order to be accepted by others. Personally, I have done that, I had a very hard time when I was in elementary school and up until my second year of high school because I was over weighted and therefore some people, including my brothers, made fun of me and called me names. That is the reason why I joined the gym, but after a while I stared to realize that I no longer cared what other people said about my physical appearance as long as I was healthy. Now, I just try to look good for myself and for the ones I care about. In conclusion, we shouldn’t be judged by the way we look but by our deeds and by the size of our hearts. Women or any other human being should not be exploited, because the last thing we are is sexual tools.
Heidi Martinez
English 110
gwc
post #6
In The Lottery by Shirley Jackson I started reading the story with the misconception that the person being chosen to win the lottery would be receiving a great prize. Come to find out in the end the person that won was stoned by her fellow friends and town’s people. I found it so weird that everyone almost seemed excited for an event like this. They all seemed excited till they found it was them who held the paper with the dot on it. Once the man with the paper got a dot on the slip his family was then drawing papers to see who would get stoned. I do not how any man could sit there and let his wife or his children get stoned or even participate in it. In The Lottery, Shirely Jackson says, “And someone gave little Davy Hutchinson few pebbles”(77). Mrs. Hutchinson’s own son was ready to throw stones at her for no apparent reason. Everyone was willing to stone this woman all because her paper had a black dot on it. She had done nothing to deserve this kind of treatment and no one did or said anything to stop it. It is sad because in some countries this actually still happens. I cannot seem to find why one person cannot stand up and say stop. All it takes is one. Many wont because they fear getting hurt themselves, but I don’t see how standing on the sidelines and watching is any less painful.
Heidi Martinez
English 110
gwc
Post #7
I really enjoyed reading Why Do I Wear Hijah? This is story is so much like reality. It’s not even like reality it is reality. The world is such a superficial place it’s sad to be a part of it sometimes. In Whey Do I Wear Hijah, Sultana Yusufali says, “because of the superficiality of the world in which we live, external appearances are so stressed that the value of the individual counts for almost nothing”(77). I love this quote because it is so true. In less people look a certain way or act a certain way, are wearing the last types of clothing, or are the perfect size some people will not give them the time of day. Their personality and their real self never gets to be shown to others when they are being judged just by the way they look. In the story she talks about why she wears her hijah and I think all the reasons that she has for wearing it are extremely brave. She is so comfortable in herself that she does not have to provoke her body as an advertisement to people. She may not have people willing to want to get to know her based off the way she looks, but why would she want to spend her time getting to know someone that shallow anyway. People today spend too much time worrying about what they look like and how they are perceived just so they can fit in with the right type of people that they lose who they really are as a person. They lose what makes them an individual. This woman is brave to be who she is and not have to impress anyone. She is herself and that is good enough for her. We are all trying to fit into a mold that we think we need to fit into as people to be liked, but it’s never going to happen because society keeps changing that mold.
Matt Wilkins
English 110
GWC
Not Quite as Funny as Ignatius
In "Everything Rises Must Converge" Flannery O'Connor writes about the conflict between the different generations of a Southern family. On one hand he clearly describes the mother as a sweet ignorant old woman whose mind is stuck in the days when her grandfathers plantation was still thriving off the backs of slave laborers. On the other hand O'Connor puts before the reader the enlightened son. I couldn't help but compare this character to Ignatius P Reilly from "A Confederacy of Dunces." Both men seem to believe themselves as O'Connor puts it "too intelligent to be a success" (9). The way that both Ignatius and Julian treat their mothers makes the reader sad. At least in "A Confederacy of Dunces" there are some laughs to go with the misery though. In "Everything Rises Must Converge" all the reader gets is spite an misery.
Matt Wilkins
English 110
GWC
Cancer Sucks!
My grandmother survived breast cancer. I was too young at the time to really understand what was going on, but it changed the entire family. My mother went quiet for a month. My sisters would cry for what appeared to me no apparent reason. Being only eight at the time I just did not understand. Now that I am older I do not know If I could have understood. My grandmother had a double mastectomy, and has been cancer free ever since. She is a proud woman who would never discuss her feelings about losing her breasts with her grandson, but I believe that it changed her. When Audre Lorde says that women "respond with a guilty twitch... as if [they] are ultimately guilty of whatever has been done to [them]" I can only hope that my grandmother didn't have to feel any shame or guilt because of her cancer. I hope that she doesn't have to feel like less of a woman because of the procedure which saved her life.
Feross Khouraki
English 110
GWC
Post #6
Why Do I Wear Hijab?
*Disclaimer: I’m just one guy who doesn’t really know that much or enough to clarify all misperceptions. I really recommend approaching a woman in a hijab and asking her respectfully to explain the purpose of it. I can pretty much assure you she won't glare at you and curse you under her breath.
As a Muslim, someone looking from the inside out on this particular subject, I can say that Sultana Yusufali does a very full job of exposing Muslim women in America. A woman’s body is expected to be perfect, and if it is not, she is treated condescendingly, as if her imperfections were a handicap. The glass ceiling is very real. Women are not expected to their jobs as good as men, qualified by the sole fact that they are women. It is a silent stigma, one people preach to have been eliminated by the 19th Amendment.
As a son and brother of women who wear the hijab, I can only relate through association. As a guy, even I will admit, among the Muslim community, I define the girls who wear the hijab as responsible, mature, women, as opposed to girls who don’t; I admit that I look them up and down as objects. There are also those girls or women who only talk the talk. Yusufali, rightfully so, says that she,”will never have to suffer the fate of… trying to find the exact shade of lipstick to go with [her] skin colour.” I have encountered Muslim girls who, ultimately by choice, wear the hijab, but are not sure why. They will tell anyone who asks them why the wear it the same argument Yusufali has provided. However when it comes to their appearance, they actually do more things to combat and kind of counteract the hijab. This doesn’t happen extremely often, just often enough that I’ve noticed. They wear tight clothes, they do spend hours upon hours caking on makeup that will give them that sexy, come-hither look; all things that really counter the purpose of the hijab. I’m not saying they should wear loose-fitting pillowcases and no makeup. There’s nothing wrong with looking good. The point of the hijab is so that women are not objectified, not perceived through the eyes of others at a sexual object, to separate themselves from women who live superficially. On the other hand, I have also met young Muslim women who do not wear the hijab and, comparitvely to some of their peers, have more self-repect. My point being that the hijab is more than a garment covering one’s head. Wearing the headdress is only half of the idea of the “hijab.” As someone with firsthand knowledge of it, it’s really more of a philosophy and way of life, emphasizing modesty, humility, and more importantly, liberation.
Danh Ta
English 110
GWC
The Lottery
while reading the text, i was curious throughout the entire story as to what the prize was. when the ending was revealed i could not help but chuckle. i found it very amusing that they boasted and talked about the lottery being something so important and it turns out to be a random stoning. i find it funnier that the men of the households would have to pick for there family, and then they would have the actual families raffle against each other; including the little girls and boys. i think only very small villages that are not connected to the real world would have this tradition. lol. i dont know around what time frame this took place in, but today this would never take place. i find it funny that the man did not even stand up for his wife. he did not offer to take the stoning for her nor did he reject to any of the proceedings. haha. i feel bad for mrs. hutchinson, "A stone hit her on the side of the head." lol... i find it kind of sad that mr. summer's holds this tradition so closely and thinks of it as such an important event. haha.
Why Do I Wear Hijab?
after reading this, Sultana Yusufali has definitely changed my views regarding hijabs. before i thought that the women who wore them were forced to wear them by the men. i never really thought of it how she portrayed in the text. she makes very strong and valid points and she has completely changed my views of not only the hijab but how americans are so misunderstanding about certain subjects. before i read this article, i really thought that the men just made the women wear them just because. she brought up how she likes to wear it because it protects her from the judgements of society and the people around her. everyone who meets her gets to know her for her. there is no clothes, boobs, butt, nice hair, high heels, lipstick, or make or anything of that sort to change how a person would feel about her. they like her for her. i really think that that is a powerful thing. GIRL POWER!
Thuy-Anh Angela Nguyen
English 110
GWC
Post #6
Everything Rises Must Converge by Flannery O'Connor
This short story deals with two different generations between a mother and son. By reading the story, we're able to hear Julian's innermost thoughts about his mother, especially how conservative, close-minded, and prejudice of a person she was. It's funny, because Julian's spends most of his time "judging" his mother too. I understand that the mothers' views on African Americans were quite racial, but at the same time she was raised to think like that. It's allot harder for those people to realize that their views about the world are completely immoral. If Julian didn't spend most of his time being an arrogant son and daydreaming about teaching his mother a lesson, he could have spent time being proactive about helping his mother understand about the new social changes. After all, he wanted to become a writer, and writers should be able to communicate to people. I actually liked how 'O Connor made role changes within the story, for example: The African American mother versus Julian's mother and ultimately, Julian versus his mother. In the end, Julian's mother faced her consequences for her racial actions, and Julian earned his when he lost his mother. He got was his wished for.
Brett Hoxie
English 110
GWC
Post #5
The Lottery
I love The Lottery by Shirley Jackson since the first time i read it in 8th grade. I personally love reading cynical and satiric stories. The story is beautifully set-up in description and satire. I have always loved history and know my history well. The protagonist of the Lottery is named Tessie Hutchinson who can be compared to the real life early American religious dissenter Anne Hutchinson. Anne Hutchinson started a woman's bible study in early Puritan New England which grew to become its own church. She was finally put on trial as a heretic for her ideology and banished from the colony. Tessie is a tribute to Anne for standing up for what one believes is wrong. Jackson foreshadows not only Tessie's death but also her views on the trial of the lottery itself. You could also compare The Lottery as a satire to society in general. Every society makes norms and norms can not be broken. In The Lottery's society, someone from one household is killed every year. As Old Man Warner points out, the people of their village can not break this age old tradition.
Thuy-Anh Angela Nguyen
English 110
GWC
Post #7
First and foremost, I have to say that this was a beautiful story from a strong-hearted woman. Talking about overcoming one's mastectomy is not an easy topic for any woman who has survived from breast cancer. Two years ago, I used to be responsible for all the pathology reports for the breast biopsy patients at work. To my surprise, within a batch of biopsy reports, there were always a few who are diagnosed with breast cancer. It's a difficult process for them, because they spend time constantly evaluating their bodies, waiting for their annual mammogram reports to come back for any suspicions, and if necessary, the authorization to have a biopsy done. When I pick up the phone or assist with a possible "breast cancer" patient, I can sympathize with their anxiety. It wasn't until a year ago, when I started on the oncology (cancer) floor at Hoag Hospital as an intern, where I assisted with patient care. From there I witnessed patients actually coping with the cancer itself. A patient spoke to me and talked about her internal conflict with the mastectomy. She didn't want to do it. How would her husband feel with her abnormality afterward? How would her children think when they see that their mother only has one breast? She didn't want to lose that "normal" lady image that defines her. My feelings of sympathy evolved into empathy. I felt and understood her pain, where a woman in this materialist society is forced to have a "specific" image to match with everyone's norms. Audre Lorde fought that idea, and that was what made her so strong. She believed in the people who loved her, and she believed that LIFE was far more important than the breast she once had. I practice religion in my daily life, so I believe that human beings are at constant war between their physical bodies versus their spiritual minds. When people allow their physical being to take over their life, they end up with nothing. The soul is what enriches life and it what helps people fulfill their existence in life. The chance to save one's life is far more important that holding onto a beauty which can fade in time. Your spiritual being, is always growing with you. I acknowledge the strength and courage that Lorde has shared with her readers, and I hope her message continues to pass onto to all the women who are trying to fight breast cancer as well.
Alvaro Sosa
Eng 110
GWC
The Lottery
WOW! crazy story.
I think Shirley Jackson's message with this shoking tale was about traditions and costums. Just because everyone is doing it doesn't make it right. He kept mentioning how the stoning tradition in the village went back for so long that the exact rituals had been forgotten. It probably started with a list of the top ten criminals in the village and the one that picked the dotted paper amongs tehm got stoned, or something like that, and it just evolved to the crazy tradition Jackson describes. It was about telling people to step back and think for a second, and to not be afraid of being labeled part of the " foolish young people" as Jackson puts it. I think Jackson was trying to tell us to not just do for the act of doing but to have a purpose for our actions. This story has a common theme with the "everything that rises must converge" in that the mom is stuck in her old ways and still wished there was slavery. she is so caught up in her "class' and "race". I would compare her to the the husband of the woman that got stoned in the lottery. He is so obedient to the tradition that he allowed his kid to help stone his own mother.
Cancer Journals-
I cannot begin to imagine the physical and psychological trauma that a woman must go through after being diagnosed with cancer, even though I experienced the trauma that a loved one will go through. In this present day, cancer is so common that anybody and everybody knows someone that has, has had, will have, or has lost the battle against it. I know a few of cancer’s victims, one of them being the woman that I love the most, my mother. My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer three years ago and was fortunate enough to win the battle against it. I am sure that this was one of the most devastating experiences that mother has ever gone through, but I have reason to believe that the prostheses that she knew she was getting after surgery, helped her cope with the diagnosis and the mastectomy. My mother is a happier person today because of her prosthesis, even if the main purpose is form. I respect Audre Lorde’s decision in not getting a prosthesis although I disagree with it. If an amputee were offered a prosthesis that looked and felt more realistic would they not jump on the opportunity? If one has been diagnosed, gone through surgery, and gone through the trauma, would they want a constant reminder of all of it? Nobody wants to look abnormal. Is the society we live in today to blame? Maybe, but I don’t think we have a choice.
Why do I Wear A Hijab-
Society has indeed molded us into believing certain things and acting certain ways. Our present idea of beauty has been manipulated in many ways and the media is to blame. Our source of information (television) is manipulated by Companies which use “beautiful people” in commercials to convince society to use their products. It is a marketing scheme that depleted inner beauty and implemented the new idea of beauty. Sultana is right when she says, “..the 90’s woman wishes to believe it or not, she is being forced into a mold,” but she fails to mention that men are being forced as well. Both male and female are victims to this new idea of beauty as we are both exposed to the same information.
Brett Hoxie
English 110
GWC
Post #6
Why Do I Wear Hijab?
I think Sultana Yusufali's perception of society today in Why Do I Wear Hijab? is right on par, especially Western society. Today our lives are managed by the media in all forms on what to do, how to act, and sadly how to look. Advertising in today's world is becoming more psychologically deviant than Hitler's Nazi government. The only thing i disagreed with her was her idea that this has been a recent thing. Historically this has been happening since ancient Greece. Greek mythology was filled with propaganda to be beautiful.
Kayla Marley
English 110
GWC
Just under 30 minutes ago the "DC sniper" was executed. I am in shock and relieved at the same time. When hearing the description of his death I shuttered to myself, yet at the same time I just think of how long it took to execute a man who killed numerous people. Who was guilty from day one.
What's everyone else's take on this execution?
Tien Tran
English 110
GWC
Post #
White Guilt
Shelby Steele writes about an important topic that we generally do not think about when it comes to racism and its history of oppression: white guilt. Usually, we talk about the oppressors, the victims, those not being treated fairly, but we forget about the long-term effects on not just those being treated unfairly, but those who live in the shadows of the perpetrators. Steele goes further into the emotional and mental side of this as she moves this into a paradigm shift. White guilt is basically feeling guilty of your forefathers and in feeling that, they tend to act in a certain way to replenish themselves of this invisible sin that they did not cause. It also goes along the line of how deep a family connection is and how not necessarily your past, but your family’s past can effect your present and subsequently, your future.
Jasmyne Young
English 110
GWC
Post #18?19?
White Guilt
When I read the title, I had a feeling this reading had to do with white people and their guilt for oppressing and degrading blacks for so long and I was right! YAY! Anyway, this was an interesting read for me. I had never thought of blacks' "special treatment" as a means for whites to avoid their guilt. Blacks are a race of their own, I have always known that. The fact that Shelby breaks the whole white and black seperation issue in this way gives me a different insight on my race and us as a people. The white people are guilty for actions that were done in the past. I feel both blacks and whites should get over it. It is in the past, a vital part of our history, but it is over now. Sadly enough, I used to play the guilt game with my white friends. It was just as a joke, like her friend's game was, but sometimes it did hit home. As i have grown older, I do not see the point in color or differences period. We are all made up the same. Every race is its own, but blacks and hispanics are seperated in their own groups. Instead of that quick fix, I believe there should be an adjustment within races. The quick fix is getting no one nowhere because there is always going to be that "white vs. black problem." Unity is the key, not seperation as races. I know my blogs are kind of everywhere, but I am just writing what I feel. The problem needs to be fixed is all I am saying, but I highly doubt it ever will.
Archie Kaaua
Professor Hsiao
English 110
Golden West College
November 12, 2009
Post 34
White Guilt by Shelby Steele
The author points out that blacks in America have not been treated fairly. Most white people choose to either turn the other way or try to fix the problem with money or a student lounge to ease their conscious. A tip in a silver plate is a gesture of apology and a ticket to escape the injustice of blacks in a fleeting moment. The black people are an example of oppression that need a leg up into society and not a hand out. They want to live like white people and other successful people that they see, but the reality is they are undereducated and that seems to keep them where they are. The author Shelby Steele feels that change has finally begun to arrive in the 60’s, but it is clear that the blacks still have had an injustice that causes them pain because their surroundings have only changed where white people would feel better about themselves.
Jon Croft
English 110
Golden West College
Post #31
White Guilt by Shelby Steele
Imagine a fat kid on a teeter-totter: he sits on one side at first, then moves to the other side in an effort to appease the other children, but fails to realize that he did too much. The fat kid tries to help the other kids, but is too lazy and stupid. Everyone loses, nobody wins.
Danielle Kennedy
English 110
GWC
post #22
white guilt
this story kinda angered me a little. not the fact that white people and black people have had such a bad history but the fact that the whites should feel "guilty". i cant tell you how many times i have been called a racist because of something i said or have done at work. why should i still suffer for what the forefathers did. i never had slaves and i dont not like black people; i have alot of friends from all ethnicities or races. the history that slaves went through was awful and yes, should be remembered but present day white people should not be to blame. guilt was felt by most (i know not all felt guilty about their actions) whites after the 50s but now, why is this still an issue. not to sound mean or possibly racist but, this needs to stop. slavery is no longer an issue, equal rights has been reached and whites have now become the minority ifd one crunches the numbers; so,... DROP THE GUILT TRIP!!! whites dont need to be reminded everyday that we were the cause of slavery, we know, get over it. its over, no more, nada mas, stop!! just stop. oh, i liked the story though.
Macey Lindsay-Clinton
English 110
Golden West College
Post #22
White Guilt
Honestly, I found this to be the least inspiring piece we have read. At this moment in time I have no idea what this post will entail. I agree that white guilt is basically the easy way out of a hard situation. Blacks are discriminated against and have been in the future; lets give them money and let them get into college easier. I think that racism is such a huge problem that no one wants to deal with it. Most people practice a double standard. They think it is wrong, but they do nothing about it. I feel like I am in that group. I think racism is really wrong, but I have no idea what to do about it.
Brittany Williams
English 110
GWC
Post 45 (?)
First off, I am posting this from my phone, so I apologize for any spelling errors!
White Guilt
"With this guilt, as opposed to genuine concern, whites tend to see only their own need for quick redemption. Blacks then become a means to this dedemption and, as such, they must be seen as generally "less than" others" ( line 13).
I am calling bull *crap* on this reading. I find it unfortunate that the author would take the example of monetary compensation (result of guilt) to somehow prove that the white population sees the African American race as "less than." What happened in the past was troubling; however, it is in the past that it should remain, otherwise no real growth will be accomplished. Perhaps this is the reasoning behind the author's dissatisfaction with the attempts to bridge the gap between the races (affirmative action).
On another note... I found the author's dissatisfaction with the $20 paid to the black attendent to be unfair. Although I could see her point with this example, I did not agree with the point in which she was making. What would have been better for that man to do? Surely, there was nothing that he could have done to change the past. Simply giving what produces livlihood was, what I believe, an attempt not to necessary "escape" from the situation but rather, an attempt to make up for something that was unchangeable. Sure, he felt bad for what happened in the past; however, I'm not sure that guilt is the correct word for the emotion in which he portrayed.
All in all, I did not agree with the author's main positioning in this assigned reading.
Thomas Rios
GWC
English 110
White Guilt
by Shelby Steele
Shelby writes that that whites have only appeared to make an effort in uplifting blacks. I can agree with this to an extent. She writes that one of the effects of entitlements was the dependency on entitlements and the white guilt that generates them. I enjoyed the experiment in the bathroom. I liked the comment she made that the man bought his way out of the situation, 20 dollars is generous by one count and cheap by another. I did not even make that conection.
(Andy) Nam Pham
English 110
GWC
Post #26
White Guilt
There was always a considerable struggle for the African American community. This was due to the oppression of the whites, at the time. I never thought that the whites actually felt guilty though, at the time during the reformations. Asking the African American to put him in the white waitress's shoes was an interesting spin on protagonist and antagonist. It was like she was being the victim, which she was because of society's fault. Then again, she actually felt bad, or guilty, that she couldn't let the black man sit and eat at the restaurant.
During the time when the blacks received the power and the whites "underwent an archetypal fall," the people were feeling bad for what was so wrong that happened. In return, the whites gave the blacks "power," which was meant for redemption. Power is great and all, but it was not the right thing to do. Development was the true way to help such a crippled culture. Giving power was maintain the "look of innocence." It was also selfish and shallow. When his friend was milking the white man for money, it was all just plain fun at first, but then he later on showed his shame for a mere 20 dollars.
During the last couple of paragraphs, we ask "who is the bad guy in this?" At first, it seems as though the friend is the bad guy, for conning him into giving more money, and the good guy/victim is the giver. It is eventually reversed, and is shown that the white person is giving away his twenty only for selfish redemption, which was revealed by the friend telling him his unintended father story. This brings up quite the thought. The author is actually antagonizing the idea of helping others. When people help others, they feel good. In this case, he explains that the true motive behind giving away the twenty was because of white guilt. White guilt was the main driver behind such "sympathetic" givings, but the white guilt was really a quick way for redemption. Like the way the government was "entitling" powers to the blacks all for the effort of maintaining the look of innocence in the country, the white man was looking to redeem himself, to make himself feel better. This kind of reminds me of myself when I was a kid, doing "good things" because the "good things" were always rewarded. It was a selfish way of thought, which I manipulated these opportunities to my advantage. The story kind of puts me in my place. I thought doing good deeds and whatnot made me such a high and mighty person, but in reality, by doing so I have become a pretty selfish person.
Kayla Marley
English 110
GWC
This story kind of made me upset --call it cold hearted but I'm going to say how I feel. I competely understand how the African Americans would have felt back in the sixties just overcoming segregation, but for African Americans to still use it to this day kind of upsets me. Let me tell you why: 1. My generation wasn't born during that time era so we could not have changed it, even if we do think it is wrong. And I understand that this was a huge huge barrier that the country came over, but I feel as if I am being judged at the same time. When people talk about this subject they mention whites as an overall race, which classifies me, people say that whites were horrible people for putting African Americans through what they had gone through twentyfive plus years ago. This upsets me because there were many people who disagreed with what was happening during that era. I still to this day sometimes feel like African Americans think white people owe them everything. I AM NOT SAYING THAT ALL AFRICAN AMERICANS THINK THIS WAY, but just recently at work an African American man said something really mean to me and it made me feel really bad. I was in awe that he put me, a girl who was half his age and was just trying to help him out, say something so cold. I cannot take back what happened in the past we can only learn from it, thus being why there are programs that help African Americans, or any other race, to get an education. Scholarships solely dedicated to blacks. I absolutely loved that this teenager went off on a white man and told him that he had chances where as this man sitting on the side did not. His feelings were true and came right from the core of his heart. He was talking and displaying what he felt like what was happening in the country. Wether or not the white man felt guilt he did something he did not even have to do. He gave 25$ to people he did not even know, and yet he did that. I think that just shows that not everyone agreed with what was going on during that time. I'm excited to talk about this story in class.
Whitney Young
Golden West College
English 110
Post #24
White Guilt by Shelby Steele
This story was not too appealing to me. It did not impact me like the other stories, but it was still interesting to read. I got to see both sides of the spectrum. I saw it from the white’s side and the black’s side. When I read this story, all I could think about was how awful it is that people think money will make everything better. I do not think giving away money to blacks is done because it is a good deed, I think it is done because they think it can magically erase the past and somehow make everything better. Even with that said I believe there have been many changes since then with racism. The barrier between the blacks and the whites is no longer visible. I think that whatever was done in the past should stay in the past.
Amber Decker
English 110
GWC
White Guilt
This story was one of the most difficult for me to relate to. I understand what the author is referring to with the term 'white guilt' and I also have seen numerous examples of this in my life. But while I do feel ashamed at the way colored people were treated in the past, I would not say I feel guilty. I'm not the one who treated them poorly. I dont feel like its fair for either African Americans to make us feel guilty, or for Whites to take it upon themselves to feel guilty. All it is doing is dragging up the past. Its not leading to any change in any way, because it just keeps putting up a wall between races.
Kim Luong
GWC
English 110 ----White Guilt
I think the businessman was really generous for giving $20 tip. What is wrong with being selfish for the appearance of concern and the escape of guilt? Normal people would act like that because it was so sudden that they did not know what to do. So we have no choice but to run away "selfishly" from the situation and then think about it later. To me, it was also the "race experiments" 's fault. The friend tried to whine how miserable they were and forced the businessman to feel guilty. That friend had fun with the experiment ,and he was success to get $20 from the rich man. But after that, they called it as a "shameful encounter "; i think they already knew what the outcome was but still wanted to do it.it was their fault at first. also, human beings suppose to feel guilty because we have brain and emotion. Does feeling guilty toward someone is wrong? . i probably do not get the main idea of this text, but that's all my thoughts
Brandon Hebert
Goldenwest
Eng110
Post: 42
White Guilt.
one thumb up, one thumb down.
of what i disagree, first the encounter with the white business man. For just as the towel attendant could not help his chances, nor could the white businessman, who was simply given more chances. Does that make him responsible? The fact that he gave money made him charitable, not guilty. He gave money because he was able and willing, not because he was white and felt bad.
Secondly, the issue with american universities. The author referrs to black students as 'invisible' to administrators. I believe it is because they are part of the student body, not their own student body.
The problem with this piece, is that it focuses on the end, rather than the beginning. What is fair, is if we all start at the same place, with the same opportunities. What is not fair is if we are all given the same finish. It would destroy the work proportion, that is, it would not accurately reflect peoples effort. She toeches on it in a few lines. Statute must not be given, for that merely descriminates. But 'black development'? what about white development. By sheer number there are far more dependent whites than blacks. Merely suggesting 'black development' feeds on her own arguement that entitlement programs don't work. Tell us then, what 'development' means, because it just sounds like another entitlement. And there are plenty of WORTHY charities that I'd rather fund.
Gina Huynh
English 110
Golden West College
Post # 8
Bhagavadgita
With a little help from the Internet, I’ve finally come to understand somewhat of Arjuna’s conflict. Arjuna is confused about the battle he is about to fight, because it is a battle against his own family. He does not want to shed blood with other family members over a kingdom, but Krishna reveals to him that it is a selfless duty to do so. Krishna explains about “the coming forth and going back of life,” which is the process of reincarnation. If Arjuna hopes to break free from the cycle of rebirth, then he should fight the war. In regards to our life, if one continues to act sinfully in the current lifetime, then one will be reborn into a worse life in the next life cycle and vice versa. I have a hard time accepting this explanation just because of my different outlook on life. I believe in the afterlife and how our souls would cross over into the other side instead of being reborn into a different life. I have believe in the accounts from psychics and mediums who revealed that people who have committed sins in their lifetime, such as torture and murder, sometimes never pass over into the next world after death but still linger around for generations after generations in this world as spirits, haunting the very place where they committed their sins. Their souls are not reborn as an animal or into a worse life, only that they are stuck in between two worlds as ghosts. Furthermore, because of my fascination with stories of people experiencing near-death experiences, I have come to believe that for people who lead good lives, their souls would take a journey into a peaceful light after death, not the cycle of rebirth. Unfortunately, in some instances, some good people are stuck in this world and need the help of the living to fully cross over into the other side to rest in peace. For instance, there was a story where this family moved into a Victorian home and later found out it was haunted. A psychic discovered that the house used to belong to a polygamist family where the father would rape and torture his children. After death, the father’s spirit still lingered in the secret room, and he had also held the spirits of his children captive. With the help of the psychic, the children’s souls were later freed from the father’s evil grasp. Call me naïve, but this is one of many stories that I have heard about the after life and I fully believe in it. Due to my beliefs, I just can not fathom this idea of being reborn into a better or a worse life based on one’s previous life. What lesson would it really teach, especially if one is not told about one’s previous life to change one’s behavior? Based on the idea of reincarnation, for example, does that mean that Paris Hilton, because of her privileged life, led a good life previously and was reincarnated into this life of squander and materialism? I really do not see the connection to how being born into a good family with wealth and materialism could be the rewards for living a good life previously. The lesson is completely lost, and these people of privilege would just take their rewards for granted, without so much as a thought into why they earned it except that they deserved it.
Gina Huynh
English 110
Golden West College
Post #9
Introduction to Buddhism
Sidhhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, led such an inspirational life. Instead of choosing the path of ignorance in life, he chose to be educated about the world and about his own existence. As a prince, he was very sheltered from the real world; he was not, through no fault of his own, exposed to pains and sufferings and had no idea that right outside of his kingdom’s gate were instances of poverty, illnesses, old age, death, and other injustices of life. He could have chosen to remain in his perfect little world, but made the decision to sacrifice his good life in search of the truth and to find the meaning of his very existence. His teachings of the Noble Eightfold Path continue to live on for generations after generations and have given a number of people the guide to leading more peaceful and selfless lives.
Reading this introduction piece allowed me to think about Madam Nhu, the First Lady of South Vietnam during the 1950’s and 1960’s. Madam Nhu was born into a Buddhist family but later converted to Catholicism after marrying her husband, whose brother was President of South Vietnam. She later came to persecute Buddhist monks, calling them Communists, and made it her personal mission to eliminate Buddhism in Vietnam. In response to her treatment of Buddhists, a monk protested by setting himself on fire while meditating in the streets of Saigon; he never once screamed in pain but was seen chanting in peace as his physical being burned away from this world, save for his heart, which remained unharmed by the fire. Witnessing this act, Madam Nhu was quoted as calling it a “barbecue” and that she would “clap” afterwards. Years later, her husband and brother were both assassinated and her daughter was killed in a car accident. Her parents, who had disowned her because of her sin, were also killed by her brother. Seeing how karma had affected her life and reflecting upon her sinful actions, she denounced her actions and decided live a quiet life, committing herself to the Buddhist way of living.
As a Buddhist, I do recognize that it requires a lot of discipline to succeed in Buddha’s teachings. I have not been as disciplined and have succumbed to a number of temptations. For example, Buddhism emphasizes bringing no pain to any creatures. I am a big carnivore, so as much as I like the idea of being a vegetarian, I know that it would be highly unlikely for that to happen. However, it has made me much more appreciative of the animals that had to die so that I could live. On a positive note, because of my foundation if Buddhism, I have always yearned for a simpler way of living. I don’t aspire for fame or wealth or the material things in life and have never been. Despite this simple outlook, I know that realistically, life would be very difficult without money. With the economy going the way it has, I know that money would be the answer to most people’s prayers. Bills need to be paid, regardless of the job status in one’s life, and families need to eat. At a time when one is worrying about being homeless, it can be hard to sit and meditate about one’s meaning in life, although hopefully with faith, we can all get through this difficult economic time.
Raufiel Matias
GWC
English 110
Post #23?
White Guilt
This story was somewhat not that appealing to me when I read it but, I quite understand what the author was trying to say in this story. I understand that this story happened back in the 60's so racial problems were still an issue back then. The part were they did an experiment in the restroom was pretty interesting to me but, the part where it got my attention was towards the end where the author mentioned that, "... administrators never sit down with them and demand in kind that black students bring their grades up to par" (15). Even though African Americans back then was separated and didn't get all the equal opportunities, they should still be treated equal when it comes to education because everybody has the right to be educated and receive equal rights no matter what the color of their skin is. Overall, this was a pretty good reading and the author stated his points quite clearly.
Eric Torres
English 110
Golden West College
Post #21
White Guilt by Shelby Steele
Steele explains how people can feel guilty without doing anything wrong in the first place. There is a power struggle between two people. In Steele's "White Guilt", she states, "One cannot feel guilty without anyone giving away power to them" (2). In her writing, she talks about how her friend was able to make a man feel so guilty that he coughed up 20 dollars for his sympathy. At that moment, that businessman lost the power and gave it to her black friend. The man tipped her friend 20 dollars not out of sorrow but out of selfishness in that he did it for the appearance of concern and as a way to escape the situation overall. The way the businessman was cornered to feel this guilt and shame was through her friends tactful approach. First, he made the businessman realize his own race as a white male. Just by being a white male, a man may feel guilty because it iwas his own race that caused the harm to black people. Therefore, having racial innocence was out of the question in the businessman's defense. The difference between the businessman pulling out a 5 dollar bill and a twenty dollar bill was her friend's next step. Her friend then put himself and his family's personal life into the conversation and how his family has been victimized by white people. Therefore, the white businessman coughed up 20 dollars as a way to buy his way out of the conversation without leaving behind a sense of carelessness. In this case, the look of sympathy was not enough to make her friend stop talking about how bad his family had it. The businessman had to take it one step further and just give him 20 dollars so he can just get on with his life with a better concious.
Dalene Kolb
English 110
Golden West College
Post #51 [Wow!]
Seems like things are starting to come to place, lets just hope it stays that way. For the past couple of weeks things have been crazy for me. Fridge went out, got it replaced, then had to replace it again bc bad door. 3rd NEW Fridge coming tomorrow that doesn't sound like a car is running in the kitchen. Lack of sleep really affects someone. FINALLY just today was able to work on the Research Paper. Have the idea of where I'm headed, which is good! Yeah! Now lets just hope our group can meet up and discuss our topic for the debate.
White Guilt by Shelby Steele
Wow! This story really makes you think. When Steele mentions that whites felt guilt for what has happened in the past, I realize that I, among others, have guilt. I did not cause what happened to happen, but I feel that somehow I could have changed it. Even though it is not possible to change what happens in the pass, we can change the future. We can change what continues to go on in this world today, racism. Close to end of the story when the author mentions that this is not a case of racism, but has the same effects it makes you think twice. It def makes me think twice before I say or even do anything. This story makes me sad. We are equals!
~Dalene
P.S. Going to bed past midnight, hopefully I will be awake in class tomorrow. See you!
Jessica Atthowe
English 110
GWC
sorry for the late post, I've been really trying to post before midnight, but the power went out in my apartment last night, so I am posting at my usual time again.
White Guilt
There is no doubt today that racism is still alive. We have definitely come a long way as a country, from the 1950's to the present, but the racism has never fully gone away. It's unfair today to put blame on the white people of our generation, because we took no part in the racism that took place in the 50's. Yes, there are those extremists who will always hate the black race, so as hard as we try, racism will always be around. As a white person I feel guilty for what white people put black people through in the 1950's, but i don't think it should ever be held against me today. Although in this piece the white businessman paid his way out of feeling guilty, I don't think paying someone off to make you feel better about yourself is the way to go. Today i feel blacks and whites are equal. no they we all may not be treated equally, but in my eyes there is no superior race. I feel our generation has made big steps towards accepting equality of races and helping things get better.
Yue Hayes
English 110
Golden West College
Post #35
White Guilt
Looking through everyone's posts, I think I can easily say that this piece made most of the students feel in a negative way. Most of us disagree with this piece. Why?
I think that Steele is angry, although the writing itself is not very violent, pushy, or aggressive. She tried to write more in a teaching, or telling fashion, of her analysis on the whole situation. This piece is very personal, which explains why some readers would take this personally.
I have tried to understand racism in relation to the history. It proves very difficult, because people hold grudges. Is it right to, even though it is in the past? Even though cannot change what happened in the past, can we still be held accountable for all the horrible, painful things that these people endured?
All I can say is that I understand Steele and those who disagree with her. I may understand both sides, but I cannot take either side.
Samantha Sullivan
English 110
GWC
Post#?
White Guilt
Guilt is something that is hard to live with. It comes about when you or someone has done something shameful and regret those actions. Guilt can only sometimes be reconciled. Guilt is sometimes an obligation as well. We do something that we know that we may not want to do, but we have to. Because of this we fell guilty afterwards. In White Guilt it starts off talking about the 50s era and how the white people had no shame or guilt in denying the African American people jobs or any of the same liberties. Although not all whites at this time were raciest and discriminate towards black. This showed hope for change. Today there is a sense of irony. We have an African American president who was voted upon by the many. I think that this shows that yes people can change and release themselves of their guilt and then there are others who continue their lives hating other races. They will have to live with that guilt for their future generations after them.
Heather Brown
GWC
Post#...6..8?
Bhagavadgita
This story was crazy-weird (yea,I made that word), and hard for me to understand. I'm really looking forward to discussing this in class!
I decided to post on this story just for the simple fact they talked about the chakras, "the nine strange gates." in the beginning! I don't know the back story behind this, but what I gather from the portion I do have is Krishna is discussing reincarnation with Arjuna.
Krishna literally breaks down the basic rules and reasoning behind reincarnation throughout the story. My interpretations from here on out may be off, way off, but I'm going to write them anyway! My understanding was he labeled all bad intentions as "ill intentions" and all bad actions require forgiveness. Forgiveness should not be given if it's seen as needed or required to preserve purity. If that's the way one feels about forgiveness, don't bother. Forgiveness is a privilege, not a chore! True, and pure souls see this opportunity as a cleansing and healing process, and once they heal they can reflect on what "bad" they had done, and learn from it. If one does not turn the previously made decisions into a lesson, and truly learn from them, one will remain on the same "level" forever. The only way to improve is to become aware of the impact ones actions have on oneself, and on others.
Krishna also discusses the need to learn although we are all One, we are all separate as well. Being part of One, or God, is a major self-realization, but one step further is seeing that each person is an appendage of the One. We are separate, able to move and perform tasks but not completely independent. On a side note, I believe if someone were to deny their connection to the One and completely cut off(self-amputation)from the One, they damned themselves to purgatory (I agree with Gina on the wandering souls, remaining here on Earth is the true Hell, as well as purgatory. They've earned it).
It seems Krishna explains WHY someone would be tempted to remove themselves from the One. Often people do this to do some soul-searching, and to see how much power they truly have. These are bad intentions and the bad intentions are what holds one back from becoming enlightened and further developing their soul.
The souls that stay true in all their actions, thoughts and feelings are the ones which move on through reincarnation. Often they return to the earth living lives which require physical labor and hardships no other could bare, but somehow these enlightened souls SMILE as they go through life. Once a soul reaches that point they learn that One is HIM. He is HIM, yet he is still One.
What makes me sad, are all the souls that felt it was better to remove themselves from One. They cheated themselves and missed out on learning they did not have to leave. The true power was within them all this time, and that power was a gift from the One.
Heather Brown
GWC
Post# ?
Environmental Statement
I hate to admit it, but as I was reading this I cried. This story felt like a letter, and it wasn't a letter for pity, but a warning to all the people who wanted to covet the land. The most profound part of the letter was how Chief Seattle wrote it not only in the white man's language, but he kept it strictly professional, tapered to the white man's liking.
Chief Seattle's tone was slightly angry, but at the same time, he was posing as a grandfather figure. He was warning with compassion but from experience and knew the white men were ignorant, rash and foolish, therefore would ignore anything he said. Chief Seattle only asked that the white man teach their children about respect for Earth. All people depend on the earth, and white men were not exempt from this. He knew the white men were arrogant enough to believe they were, but not a single object on this planet is exempt.
Chief Seattle knew his pleas would go unanswered, so he attempted to appeal to their emotions by insight of the future, "Where is the thicket? Gone. Where is the eagle? Gone." Reading that quote made me upset. In terms of animism, and animal totems, the Eagle is by far, one of the best teachers for any human. The eagle represents the ability to peer into the spiritual world and not only that, as well as the ability to return to the physical world and teach the people of what it had seen. The Chief spoke of the eagle being gone, our physical umbilical cord to God, and without that link we'd all be lost souls wandering about without purpose or respect for what we were given. He knew this was a loosing battle but he fought bravely. I feel he did not fight it for himself, but for Mother Earth and all his brothers and sisters.
Heidi Martinez
English 110
gwc
post #8
What I got from Beyond Good and Evil is that this man is questions all the other philosophers on their views because their keep trying to push them on others. I think he is questioning them because they have their mind set, but he realizes that ideas and theories change over time. I don’t really think that he is trying to tell the other philosophers that their ideas are wrong. I just think that he is not waiting people to follow a philosopher for no reason. I think he wants people to know why they are doing something other than to just follow along with the views of others. In Beyond Good and Evil Friedrich Nietzsche says, “What wonder that we “free spirits” are not exactly the most communicative spirits”(5)? To me this quote is saying how people are silenced about their decisions. How they choose to follow something, but they have no reason behind their choosing. They choose it to follow someone in higher power or they choose to follow because of family. I think Friedrich Nietzsche wants the people to find why they are going to choose to follow something rather than just do it. If someone is going to follow a religion or a way of living they should know why they want to do it and not just because of others.
Heidi Martinez
English 110
gwc
post #9
In Environmental Statement it was sad to read how the Indians land was going to be taken away, but to them it was so much more than just land. It was their home and their way of survival. In Environmental Statement Chief Seattle says, “The sight of your cities pains the eyes of the red man. There is no quiet place in the white man’s cities”(9). I really enjoyed this quote because it can also relate to the modernization of the world today. What the Indians were able to do is appreciate nature at its real worth and value. They were able to be one with nature. Now our world is so filled with technology that most have forgotten about nature all together. We no longer stop to smell the air and just simple take in nature for what it is worth. We are always on the go or too busy to admire the simple structure of the world around us. The Indians were telling the people that wanted to take their land that they need to honor the values and appreciation that they had for it if they were going to give the land up. It was a way of living to the Indians, to just appreciate the smallest things in nature and not take them for granted like many of us to now days. It really is too bad that so many of them were killed over the conflict of land because in the end they could of all taught us more about their style of living. I am Native American and before reading this I would have no idea how my grandma could sit for hours outside doing nothing. Now I realize that the times she sits out there she’s admiring the beauty of nature. Now I understand why she always wants me to join her and see what she sees. It pulls one away from a busy world to notice the smaller details and appreciate them.
Esmeralda Orozco
English100
cc
post???
WHAT A DAY
SO TODAY MY TEACHER DID NOT SHO UP 4 CLASS AND I THINK HE HAD ALREADY MENTIONED IT B4 FOR I DID NOT GO TO CLASS THE THUR SO I WAS THERE LIKE A DORK BUT A FRINED WAS WIT ME SO WE WENT TO THE LIBRARY AND I GOT TO LOOK UP SOME BOOKS I NEED IM NOT GONNA LIE IVE BEEN LAGGING IT BUT I GOT TO GET MT S#*t STRAIGHT I FINISHED MY POEMS AND THE LETTER AND THE COLLOGE AND ALTHOUGH I KNO PPL ARE GONNA HAVE SOME GREAT POEMS IM HAPPY WIT MINE LOL YESTERDAY I WORKED ALL DAY TRYING TO FINIDH THAT NOW I HAVE TO WORK ON THE PAPER AND DEBATES I HOPE MY FRIEND CAN HELP ME LOL
LOVE LIFE
SO I MADE GOOD FRIENDS WIT MY EX BF GIRL AND SHE AND I ARE BECOMING SOME GOOD INVESTIGATORS LOL
SHE TOLD ME MY HER FRIEND TOLD HER HER FRIEND WENT TO THE MOVIES WIT MY EX AND THAT IS SOMETHING I HAVE TO FIND OUT IN A WAY I WOULF LIKE TO KNO HE CHEATED SO THAT I CAN GET OVER HIM FASTER (SILLY I KNO) BUT 4 ME UNLESS I FIND ANOTHER GUY IM STILL GOING TO BE THINKING OF HIM!!!!!! I AM STILL KEEPIN IT KOO WIT HIM SO I CAN FIND OUT MORE BUT MY HEART STILL STOPS WEN I HEAR MORE ABOUT THAT SITUATION
SO IM WAITING TO GO TO WORK AT 11 WORK HAS BEEN SOOOO SLOW AND ITS KIND OF SCARY NOW BECAUSE WHAT IF IT CLOSES DOWN I DO NOT EVEN WANT TO THINK ABOUT IT LETS SEE HOW TODAY IS
HAVE A GREAT DAY TODAY
Liza Heacox
Eng 110
GWC
Post #7
After reading both Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche and Mahabharata: Bhagavadgita, a single word comes to mind…huh? Not really a word but more the sound of confusion. My mind has no more room for words after taking its fill working through these stories. Knowing there are deeper meanings makes my ignorance frustrating, but after going over both multiple times my head is about to explode! I am looking forward to tonight’s discussion and hearing the interpretations of my peers. It is always a mixed bag of responses, yet ever so enlightening. I leave class with more energy than what I came in with. Working through literature and writing amongst intelligent people can have that effect. Which brings me back to these two stories. There is meaning in there that I am determined to understand, but am going to have to step out of my comfort and let others help me figure it out.
Liza Heacox
Eng 110
GWC
Post #8
Environmental Statement
A person’s heart cannot help but break reading this text. Chief Seattle is passing the life the he and his people know and value over to those not ready to be caregivers. His love of the land runs deep as it has for his people since their beginning. Leaving his sisters, the perfumed flowers, and his brothers, the strong beasts of the field, causes Chief Seattle great pain. He remains poised in his letter, though, not belittling its recipient. When he describes the way a white man plunders the land, the image of locusts swarming a field come to mind. He has every reason to be angry and curse the white man for their insensitivity, but he does not. The Chief goes on to state, “The sight of your cities pains the eyes of the red man.” He makes it very clear that the red man prefers the quiet whisper of the wind or the babble of a brook to the non-stop noise of a big city. It is at this point that I must speculate a possible correlation to the feeling of loss a red man carries, and the ever increasing rise of substance abuse and dependence amongst his people. Regardless, the feeling of loss they carry is great. “The end of living as we know it and for us the beginning of survival as we know it…”
Sarah Takeda
Eng. 110
GWC
post #3
Beyond Good and Evil
I think what Friedrich Nietzsche is trying to question how much "free will" people actually have. Other than this, i didn't really understand what he was saying. I read it again and again and still couldn't grasp his idea.
Environmental Statement
I really liked this story. It shows how much people take for granted, which is like everything. When Chief Seattle wrote that "the earth does not belong to man; man belongs to earth." I agree with this because we use what is the earths, the earth gives us everything that we need to survive. We need to take the time to thank the earth for this.
Jessica Lara
English 110
GWC
Bhagavadgita
This was ten times easier to read than the Nietzsche one. Kirshna is basically telling Arjuna how to live in the world without being absorbed by it and becoming attached to it. Arjuna is someone who is looking for truth. He questions what he knows about the physical life, or matter, and the soul beyond it. Krishna tells him that everything is God and connected and matter takes on different forms. These forms are illusions in that they seem separate and distinct but they all are the same and connected. He says that when living one must still perform the expected tasks like work and family but to be aware that they are not real. Knowledge is to see the oneness of all things; “born of this nature, are serenity, self-mastery, religion, purity, patience, uprightness, learning, and to know the truth of things which be.” Action can not have any attachment or cause harm. The agent, or self, must always act truly and not be a slave or fraud.
Environmental Statement
This made me feel bad for Chief Seattle. He really had no choice in selling the land because it would have been taken anyway. No matter what he says, the Americans were not going to cherish the land like the Native Americans did. Land to the Americans represented growth and prosperity. They felt entitled to it and that it was their destiny to use it to improve upon themselves. The Native Americans felt they were as they were because of their connection to the land. They are not careless with it because they feel they are a part of it. Chief Seattle says “our God is the same God”, and ultimately they will all be judged the same. Seattle trusts in his God enough to know that they whites coming were somehow a part of His plan. He shows his character even in the face of defeat.
Kyle Umbarger
English 110
GW College
Post #6
One struggles to find the true meaning in life; the true value and worth of the soul. They dwell in their own pity. Their spirit, their self, lacks the capability to find control. Chasing wants and desires to find their ideal lifestyle. Not even taking a second to view what they portray to the outer world, but stuck narrow-mindlessly in their inner realm. Lack of education is stamped on their forehead. "Why can't I have that, why not me, why must I suffer", is stampeding through their inner realm. Such noise masks their true meaning in life. Their "free" soul has been quieted. They are taken over by their emotions, rather than their instincts and real purpose.
Stop! Focus on yourself and find the road to enlightment. Through whatever path one must take, there will always be that path to find. Listen and trust your instincts, these are which will tell you your true purpose. To be humble, to be true. Walking every step as if it were your last, and making the most out of every experience, good or bad, in which it is encountered. Renounce your hurt, and think of the good in which comes out of it. Why does one walk such a shaken path, when one can so easily give it up. Life is about choice. Your choice to learn or your choice to dwell. If one dwells, he will therefore be losing that much more knowledge to find true inner and outer peace.
Veronica Vasquez
English 103
Cerritos College
Sorry for the caps in advance
TO ALL:
DOES ANYONE HAVE A PCI EXPRESS GRAPHICS CARD, 16X?
IF SO:
I need a huge favor. My graphics card might have bricked, and I need to test a temp card to see if my pc will post. I've tried the ram on my old pc and it works fine; tried the hdd and is also working fine. It posts w/o a card, but not with it, which leads me to think it is the graphics card. Problem is I need to see if I can get to bios with a temp graphics card so I can RMA mine. This way I can rule out my motherboard being fried.
I'd only need to try it out for a couple minutes. If we can arrange this "mission" sometime soon, I'd be forever grateful!
If interested in this great noble deed, please email me at kistos@gmail.com Hope to hear from someone!
Belinda Avila
English 110
Goldenwest College
Post #7
Introduction to Buddhism
This reading was very interesting. It shows Buddha as an actual human being. When I went to China, specifically Beijing, our tour guide described Buddha as if he were supernatural. She said that it was rumored that when Buddha was born, he took 12 steps at birth. As it said it the reading, only about six percent of the world are Buddhist. The reading also says that most Buddhists today live in China. With that fact, I would also like to mention a belief of Buddhism, "If one continued to do good here, even better circumstances could be anticipated in the next life," (4). With that being said I do not understand why in China, drivers have the right away. I know this does not exactly relate to the reading but it really brought up a good point. How can the people in China (that drive) feel that they lived a good life, if they almost take out out three or four tourists a day? I guess it is more of a cultural thing because the locals know better than to step foot in the street without looking both ways, six or seven times
Eric Monreal
English 110
GWC
Post #7?
Beyond Good and Evil
Wow... I really did not know what to make of this story... I don't know if it's because I've been feeling under the weather these past couple of days and my mind's cloudy, but i'm lost. I see that Nietzsche is talking about "free will" but I'm not sure in what context? Is he saying that people "feel" they have a free will when in reality they don't because of outside influences? That's pretty much one of the only things I was able to extract from this reading.
Danh Ta
English 110
GWC
Beyond Good and Evil
i have never been so confused. i think i was more lost while reading this then i was when we first read allegory of the cave. i couldnt keep up with the message per paragraph. something that kept getting repeated was "free spirits" and "new philosophers" but i dont understand what he is talking about. i know throughout the reading he compares between the old philosophers and the new philosophers and i get a feeling of sarcasm when reading this. i dont really understand what he is saying but from the words he chose and some points he brings up, i kind of feel as though he is insulting the future philosophers. i dont know; hopefully this gets discussed in class so i wont feel so stupid haha.
Introduction to Buddhism
this story was not new to me. i was raised in a household who believed in buddha's teachings. being true and staying away from ignorance. actually believing and thinking right in what you are doing. that concept was kind of hard for me to grasp growing up, but around the age of 14 - 15 i finally understood it. what it basically means is that dont do things just to do them because you know they are right, actually truly believe that it is what you SHOULD be doing. dont do community service and things like that to make you look better, like to make you look like a good person. if you apply buddhas teachings, that would not count as being true. to truly be folllowing buddhas teaching you would do community services and other activities just because you want to. you want to help and you want to be a good person. i dont know if people have a problem understanding some of this or not, but his teachings are very simple and basic. i like to tell my friends who ask me all the time that basically its be the best person you can be all the time without expecting anything in return. do it for yourself. growing up with catholic friends and all of the religions expectations and standards kind of scared me. because i was buddhist and this religion doesnt really require much of anything. trip to temples once in a while. some time to think about life on your own. fasting for a while. vegetarian if you choose to. but other than that, this religion is very based upon you. theres no higher power or being or anything of that sort. its focused a lot on you and how you act with what life throws at you. our family is not completely buddhist though, we're a mixture of buddhism beliefs with confucian teachings. we also believe there is a god who created everything. hahahahhaa. completely weird i know but hey its worked for our family. i believe we are good people :)
Kyle Umbarger
English 110
GW College
Post #7
People are programmed by the influences and situations in their life. A small percentage of these people are masked throughout their childhood of the pain, sorrow, and misfortune others feel on a daily basis. Siddhartha Guatama (also known as Buddha, or "the enlightened one") had a invisible cloak upon the outside world for the beginning 30% of his life. He saw luxury, he learned nothing while being trapped inside the walls around his home. Once he wandered outside the gates, he found that he knew nothing. This affected him so much that he decided to give his life of carelessness, and learn the true nature of human existence. This is called the Great Rununciation.
Meditation is a great tool. People meditate to find happiness, their spirt guides, knowledge, peace, and so much more. Buddha used meditation to find the true nature of human existence. From meditation, Buddha learned that the key to reach nirvana is to take control of one's thoughts and actions, and to cease to participate in behavior that had "bad effects". The Four Noble Truths are based upon Buddha's teachings. Within the Four Noble Truths, Buddha gives a set of eight behaviors to follow in order to reach enlightenment. Buddha had a long-lived, full-filling life that created a religion that has influenced millions.
Belinda Avila
English 110
Goldenwest College
Post#8
Beyond Good and Evil
This reading was A LOT for me to take in. I have a decent vocabulary, but this reading made me feel like I have the vocabulary of a seventh grader. What I got from the reading was people are free spirits. We choose what we do and what we say. From my understanding, the reading is saying we are trapped by things both good and evil, "...which preferences and prejudices, youth, origin, the accident of men and books, or even the weariness of travel seemed to confine us; full of malice against the seductions of dependency which lie concealed in honours, money, positions, or exaltation of the senses," (5). I think it also says that people are trapped in their daily lives.
Eric Monreal
English 110
GWC
Post #8
Environmental Statement
This was a powerfully written story. You can feel the love for the land that Chief Seattle shares with his fellow "red man". In this story, the Chief is saying that the "Great Chief in Washington" (the President of the United States) wishes to buy the land and "reserve" a place for the Chief and his people. The Chief responds by saying that "if we sell you our land" he wants you to respect it as you would respect a fellow brother. Everything is connected. He says this several times, "if we sell you our land". The emotion that is felt when reading this passage is truly deep.The tone through this story is not angry or anything like that, but he heeds his warning. If the "white man" does not care for his land, then it will parish. "He treats his mother, the earth, and his brother, the sky, as things to be bought, plundered, sold like sheep or bright beads. His appetite will devour the earth and leave behind only a desert." He feels that if we sell you our land, that you must become its keeper, and to remember that this land was sacred to those who were there before. If only everyone had this kind of passion for the Earth and its resources then we would not be in the crisis that we are in today. Granted, people are trying, but as the saying goes, "too little, too late..." This was definitely one of my favorite reads so far this semester.
Oscar Padilla
English 110
GWC
Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche
What a metaphorical story! One of the hardest I have ever read. This story talks about new philosophers, philosophers from the future. It also talks about misconceptions and prejudices and most important, humanity. According to my understanding, Friedrich talks about philosophers themselves. After reading this paper a couple of times I was able to understand a few things that allowed me to come up with a conclusion. I think that what the author is trying to say here is that philosophers are free thinkers who are always talking and writing in metaphors, but they are always misunderstood by society because they are so consumed by power, money and materialism. I also believe that what he is trying to say is that they are heralds to the people, message senders who are always trying to communicate to the public. I also think that he says that they are free spirits who are trying to free people from ignorance, but they are often prejudiced and mistaken. Therefore, they identify themselves as free thinkers, or as they call themselves “libres-penseurs,” “liveri pensatori.”
Oscar Padilla
English 110
GWC
Introduction to Buddhism by John Jarvis
It is an interesting story, and also very positive story as the character from the story seeks for peace in order to break out the cycle of human rebirth and existence and keep people from suffering in their second life. This character named Buddha sacrifices his father’s kingdom in order to do good deed, find true peace and to seek enlightenment. Besides the fact that this story talks about the live of Buddha, I think it also sends the reader a message that means that one always has to always do things right and to make good deeds so that when we die, we won’t suffer. I believe that Buddha in this story is more like a role model to people so that they will have someone to whom they will follow. I agree that one has to make good deeds in order to stop the suffering when we finally die.
Thuy-Anh Angela Nguyen
English 110
GWC
Post #8
Environmental Statement by Chief Seattle
The connection the Native Americans had with the land they lived on was illustrated beautifully by Chief Seattle. The earth is their mother, the flowers are their sisters, the animals are their brothers, the ground is the ashes of their grand fathers, and the water in the streams is the blood of their ancestors. It's amazing how intimate their relationship with nature was. These people believed wholeheartedly that everything in nature is sacred and this belief must be passed onto their children. They took such great care of their environment, because they believed that nature has done the same for them. A biologist would define an ecosystem with abiotic and biotic factors, in other words: non-living and living things. The Native Americans wouldn't label it in such a simple matter, but rather speak of how alive and significant these sacred things are in their life. I feel shameful for how poorly we have taken these people's land. We've taken what was once a sacred place and destroyed it. Everything will be gone, just as Chief Seattle mentioned.
Matt Wilkins
English 110
GWC
Post 4ish
Beyond Good and Evil
I didn't realize at first what I was reading. It took me until my second time through when I started to see the underlying hints, the anger towards Democracy, and the disappointment towards Americans ideas. When the author talkes about how in America and some of the European countries we will hide behind "closed windows and bolted doors" rather than have to look at the world as it is (2). We of the "democratic taste" have been mislabeled as "new philosophers" because our ideals are a lie (2). We are as Nietzsche so spitefully states "not free and ludicrously superficial" (2). We are caught up in the happiness of the minute, and seem to care for nothing outside of ourselves.
Nietzsche is one of those names that I hear every now and then on television, in movies, or just quoted in general conversations. I have never read anything from him before today. I have to assume that the translation process was very difficult from the original German, and After looking in to it I found that the reading that we were assigned was the conclusion of a chapter in one of his books. I am intrigued to read more about this man who so influenced the belief system of both the Communist and Nazi regimes of the mid 20th century.
Alvaro Sosa
GWC
eng 110
post #4
Environmental Statement
This was a depressing story. It made me feel guilty for my contribution to this environmental mess we are in. In the name of progress we are destroying our earth.If only chiefs seattles teachings had reached more and more people.
Katherine Nguyen
ENG 110
GWC
Introduction to Buddhism
by John Jarvis
I enjoyed reading this. I'm Catholic and attend church every Sunday, so I don't know much about Buddhism. This story informed me a lot about their beliefs and culture in a way. I thought Siddhartha Gautama's journey was very inspiring. He left his home in the kingdom to help others in need. It was finally great for him to come into realization that not every one is as happy and healthy. he wanted to help others and come up with ways to do so. Seeking enlightenment is a good way to live your life. but i don't think you have to leave your family behind in doing so. I know some Buddhist monks where they shave their head and aren't so close to their family because they live at the temple. its kinda sad that they cant spend much time with their family, but it seems like its their choice and they enjoy doing what they do. they also strongly believe in it. i don't practice Buddhism but i do respect those that follow it. Siddhartha Gautama is a very inspiring person. he found a way to seek enlightenment and showed many people the path to free themselves from the misery and pain of human existence. he was not selfish and decided to leave his home to help others, which makes me think that not everything should be for the benefit of yourself
Katherine Nguyen
ENG 110
GWC
Introduction to Buddhism
by John Jarvis
I enjoyed reading this. I'm Catholic and attend church every Sunday, so I don't know much about Buddhism. This story informed me a lot about their beliefs and culture in a way. I thought Siddhartha Gautama's journey was very inspiring. He left his home in the kingdom to help others in need. It was finally great for him to come into realization that not every one is as happy and healthy. he wanted to help others and come up with ways to do so. Seeking enlightenment is a good way to live your life. but i don't think you have to leave your family behind in doing so. I know some Buddhist monks where they shave their head and aren't so close to their family because they live at the temple. its kinda sad that they cant spend much time with their family, but it seems like its their choice and they enjoy doing what they do. they also strongly believe in it. i don't practice Buddhism but i do respect those that follow it. Siddhartha Gautama is a very inspiring person. he found a way to seek enlightenment and showed many people the path to free themselves from the misery and pain of human existence. he was not selfish and decided to leave his home to help others, which makes me think that not everything should be for the benefit of yourself
Feross Khouraki
English 110
GWC
Post #7
Beyond Good and Evil
What I took from this excerpt of Nietzsche is pretty much that the old way of thinking, the old way of philosophizing should be thrown, and he is heralding a new age of philosophers, what he calls “free spirits.” I don’t really understand what his problem is with the old philosophers, but for the most part, he wants these new philosophers to be critical of humanity. I agree with Danh that Nietzsche is really sarcastic and cynical, to the point of arrogance. He’s appointed himself the prophet of modern philosophy, someone with true insight of humanity, which is a little big-headed. The entire passage is of him repeating what the old ones did wrong, and what he’s doing right, sitting on his ivory tower and handing out life lessons to all the sinners.
Environmental Statement
This short passage by Cheif Seattle was very moving. I really empathize with his humble request for Americans to not take the earth for granted. Nature, he explains, is like their family. All he asks is that we respect earth, as we rely so heavily on it. In a way, Al Gore is a modern-day Chief Seattle. Seattle complains about how the settlers are, in a sense, raping the land. “He kidnaps the land from his children… and his children’s birthrights are forgotten.” Obviously, he is not going to be tacit as the earth, whom he believes he has a blood relation to, as it is treated as a master treats his slave. In the same way, Al Gore is preaching about how, right now, no one seems to care about how much pollution is being created because it hasn’t become a real threat to humanity. In the next 25 to 50 years, the effects of our waste will begin to take affect, and our grandchildren will be the ones to pay the price. Seattle, being a humble and gracious man, does not want to see the earth destroyed by the things it was created to assist.
Thuy-Anh Angela Nguyen
English 110
GWC
Post #9
Introduction to Buddhism by John Harvis
I've heard this story as a child when I went to temples with my mom. Even though I'm raised as a Catholic, I still had a chance to practice Buddhism at an early age. The story taught me to life in a humble manner, and that materialism will only bring suffering into my life. Siddhartha Gautama taught people to let go of everything they own and to go on a journey to find peace like he did. It's funny, I was recently reminded of this story from my boyfriend during a conversation about religions. When Buddha was still a prince, he had never experienced suffering nor even witnessed any of it. His father wanted to keep all of that away from him. Everything in his life was perfect, beautiful, and materialistic. Once the prince had witnessed life beyond the palace boarders, he wanted to seek truth. During his entire journey searching for truth, he had found peace. I always like to make parallels between religions and within this story, I find the The Noble Eightfold Path and the extreme vegetarianism comparable to The Ten Commandments and fasting Jesus had done for 40 days and 40 nights. Why follow rules? These things aren't meant to be strict and to make people's lives harder, but to bring enlightenment to their lives. When one have so much within their hands, they end up having so much to lose. They end up mourning for these things. Buddha wanted people to free themselves from suffering and by doing so, they must let go of all the pleasures in life. It's a paradox.
Katherine Nguyen
Eng 110
GWC
Beyond Good and Evil
While reading this short story, I can see that the author, Friedrich Nietsche, is a very opinionated person. he speaks whats on his mind and has a very strong view on it. he accuses philosophers of having ideas based on insufficient information. He refers to the word "free Spirit" a lot and from what I think he means from that are those who are not caught up in a certain viewpoint, like the philosophers. he thinks that philosophers should have an open mind and create meaningful facts instead of just finding answers. in the story, he also says, " what would they, they fain attach with all their strength, is the universal green meadow happiness of the herd".
From this, i would think hes trying to tell us that the philosophers are happy as a herd, trying to infer that these people are part of a crowd and saying things that the audience would like to hear, instead of standing up for your own opinions and coming up with new creative values and meanings. they are categorized as a group (herd) instead of in individual.
Matt Wilkins
English 110
GWC
Post #5-ish
Environmental Statement
I am rarely moved by something that I watch or read. I was amazed at how heartfelt and sad "Environmental Statement" was. Chief Seattle explains in simple words what his peoples stance on the white mans manifest destiny is when he bluntly predicts that "[the white man's] appetite will devour the earth and leave behind only a desert" (8). Who are we? Where did we get the right to ransack the earth, "and when [we have] conquered it" just move on to the next stretch of quality land. Chief Seattle was being forced from his land by the mighty force of the U.S. military and the president had audacity to send a letter offering to purchase the land. It disgusts me that I come from this people. I hate that my history is stained with more genocide, slavery, and lies than any other people in the history of the planet that we are trying so desperately to destroy. We purchased the land from Chief Seattle. Where he asked us to "teach your children that [the land] is sacred" we instead chose to teach our children how to find the best deal at Wal Mart. Where he said that "the rivers are our brothers... teach your children" we chose to build trac homes, and sell them to the pompous elite who needed a view when the left for work in the morning. I as a white man am ashamed of the lack of soul that my people have.
Environmental Statement-
We have destroyed our mother. We seize every resource she has to offer until she is nearly empty, and then we search for a substitute. If there is not a substitute, we steal it from those who have it. The “white man” is a powerful man and will use money to buy what shouldn’t be bought. If money doesn’t work, we threat. If threats do not work, we result to force. This is what we are being taught, indirectly. We are not taught to respect what supports life, we are taught to exploit it. We are taught to take anything and everything until it is gone, and then look for an alternative. We are contaminating the bed we sleep on and will eventually suffocate. The bi-products of our contamination are greed, hatred, violence, pollution, and illness. This is everything we will drown in, the path we are leading. While the people running us fill their pockets, they fail to realize that someday their children will suffer the same misery, as our children will. The “red man”
knows whats up.
Intro to Buddhism-
If humanity lived by the eight behaviors, this world would be a better place. I am not down with the vegetarian part, but Ill let a spider live next time I see one. The life story of Siddhartha Guatama humbled me. He separated himself from EVERYTHING he had to find peace. I feel like this is not a religion designed to praise anyone but more of a way to live life. Although I do believe in a higher being, I lack the belief of religion. I mean no disrespect to anyone, as anyone is free to believe whatever they feel, but I feel as religion has been used more as a technique to manipulate humanity. It has been used as a scare tactic to influence people to do certain things or act a certain way. Most religions have many of the same beliefs and the same values, as many of the immoralities and sins are shared as well. If we as men have evolved, what makes us think that religion has not?
Edilu Medina
English 100
Cerritos
Post # Just a thought
I just realized how time flies.I cant imagine it being thanksgiving already when only a few months it was labor weekend, then halloween im like aghhh scary or what if...its just a paranormal activity that we think its thanks giving when it were still in labor weekend. LOL I dunno what im speaking I havent even seen the movie, which is sad everyone has seen it Im goin to see the fourth kind on Friday. Hopefully it will be good or I want a refund.. and make my friend see paranormal activities again for the 5th time .. Well have a good evening folks Im going back to researching and finishing my homework.. toodles
Priscilla Daza
Cerritos College
English 100
post #27
just a thought
i got this from the merriam websters online dictionary:
LOVE
stong affection and tenderness between lovers...maternal love as in loving a child
now i do believe that there is two types of love. one as mentioned on the above definition "maternal" in the sense of loving your mother, father, brother, sister the whole family tree that you know of or maybe even friends. you love your friends for who they are and what makes them them either being the funny one, the wise one, the one that never knows whats going on...that is one type of love...i sometimes joke around with my sister that im obligated to love her because she IS my sister ahaha...thats another story...anyway the second type of love is the...and this is my opinion...is when you're IN love. you meet someone and their entire being and attraction for them, desire to be alongside with them your heart cringing on your ribs kind of thing...the tenderness felt by lovers as mentioned on the previous definition...
now im just curious if anyone would agree with my thought...if not i am HIGHLY interested in reading your opinions on your definition on love
on a side note...ive noticed the newcomers on this blog...what the heck man!? where have you guys been?? ahaha...jk...i know
Archie Kaaua
Professor Hsiao
English 110
Golden West College
November 13, 2009
Post 35
Recitatif By Tony Morrison
The author in this case is trying to show the similarities between blacks and whites. Most scholars would agree that neither character could be identified as black or white. Either race could fit in both characters of Twyla and Roberta. I however am not in agreement with the scholars; I see several tells that lead me to believe that Roberta is black and Twyla is white. I will leave it at that since I believe those of authority will disagree. Both of the girls took care of each other while in the Youth shelter. In later years they grew into different lives and could not find much common living ground to hold a conversation together. Stil, their friendship endures. Later they meet again and find commonality in their families. This was something that neither of them grew up with, but both of them had later. They get into a fight at a bussing protest rally as they are both on different sides. They meet one last time to reconcile their differences as they realize that they were cruel to their caretaker Mrs. Itcan. This was a metaphor of how they were treating each other as well.
(Andy) Nam Pham
English 110
GWC
Post #27
Recitatif
At the beginning of the story, the main character Twyla accepted her black roommate Roberta. She grew up with a racist mother who taught her misleadingly against blacks. Later on, they grew a certain bond with each other that provided love and support for one another. The story then flash forwards into the future. Twyla meets Roberta once more again, while working in the restaurant. Whites and blacks were separated at time by social indifference. When she first says hello, the whole conversation was awkward from the start. They did not hate each other, but it was interesting because they loved each other so dearly before back then, you would expect to see a stronger dialogue between the two. Another flash forward, and they are at the super market, both married and everything. They have coffee, and this time the tone was overall cheerful. This time, they were so friendly. They talked about the time they met at the dining restaurant and Roberta explained that the awkward situation was just due to the times. Another flash forward, and everyone is protesting. The third meet was entirely different. The conversation between the two sounded like they were about to kill each other. It was interesting to see the main character take on the subject because she based her protests entirely on Roberta's protesting. Nothing made sense without Roberta being there. Twyla was aiming for Roberta, while Roberta was just protesting for blacks in general. Interesting to see how much hate Twyla portrays, just to strike down Roberta, her long time friend. Her signs said it all. They were not directed towards the children or the blacks, they were all about Roberta. She was not exactly racist, of course she was in a shell too. Another flash forward and they meet again. This time, all the hatred was gone and the sound of guilt was in both their voices. Their whole relationship was on and off. Every time they were alone together, with no external forces putting pressure on them, they were friendly and got along just fine. When they were with a group, Roberta specifically with her protest group and friends, she was also on the opposite side, and so was Tywla. Society had a way of driving them apart from each other.
Monique Gutierrez
English 100
Cerritos College
Post #67
Recutatif by Toni Morrison
What I gathered by reading this story was that it was about misjudging people. Whether it is by the color of their skin or how great your relationship was with them before. Twyla and Roberta were not the best of friends. They had many things in common such as being put in a shelter at a young age. Both of them had mothers who were not around that much. Twyla was taught how to be stereotypical by her dancing mother. She was told that people of a certain color (color not mentioned) smelled funny. Twyla noticed Roberta’s smell when she first met her. Twyla did not want to room with Roberta because her mother would not approve, but Bozo (hospital worker) put her there anyway. Roberta did not understand why Twyla was so distraught. She was oblivious to Twyla’s hatred towards her race. I was a little puzzled about Twyla’s mother. Was she a stripper or was she a club kid? It took Twyla and Roberta awhile to warm up to one another. Twyla was bit more educated then Roberta was. Roberta could not read and Twyla could read but had a hard time remembering what was read. Rejected by other children, Roberta and Twyla hung out together by default. They were ridiculed for their skin color. “So for the moment, it didn’t matter that we looked like salt and pepper standing there and that’s what the other kids called us sometimes,” (7). It saddens me that even today children are ridiculed for many things. I know it is a part of growing up and they have to see things for themselves. But, you can only be humiliated so much. Once their mothers visited them in the shelter, they were divided. Roberta’s mother seemed more caring rather than Twyla’s mom. Twyla’s mother did not want to be there. But, Twyla felt more proud to have her mother there due to her appearance. “A pretty mother on earth is better than a beautiful dead one in the sky even if she did leave you all alone to go dancing,”(15). I took this quote as Twyla’s ignorance of love. She is blinded by her mother’s beauty; she could not see that her own mother did not care about her. Twyla would rather have an ignorant mother than a dead one. She possibly was seeing the good out of a bad situation. Which many people do in life. It is necessarily not a bad thing, but you could miss what is really going on at that point. Time passes and Twyla bumps into Roberta more than once. The first time Roberta was distant with Twyla. Twyla could not understand why Roberta treated her that way. Later, Roberta blamed the race card on their last meeting. Twyla was upset by Roberta’s loyalty and did not care if she ever saw her again. But, they found each other again. This time, they reunited at a picket line where Roberta was protesting for integration for their children’s schools. Both Twyla and Roberta had a disagreement and had a squabble. They both had this hidden hatred towards one another and desperately tried to hurt each other’s feelings. Twyla even used Roberta’s mother as a jab to Roberta. I thought that was a low blow to use her mother as a punch line, but we as humans do stupid things when we are angry. Before the tiff, Roberta claimed Twyla took part in the beating of Bozo. I did not understand this part of the text. But, Roberta stated that they all kicked a poor defenseless Bozo because she was black. Twyla did not believe that Bozo was black. She could have been half black, half white from what I understand. I am still not sure what went on with this. In the end of the story Twyla and Roberta set aside some of their differences. But, Roberta questioned Twyla on Bozo’s whereabouts. That is what I would like to know! I really enjoyed reading this paper though. It was suspenseful and it has me thinking. Hopefully we will all clarify this in class on Monday?
Kim luong
GWC
English 110
I had a hard time looking for room 102. Next time, Mr. Hsiao should clearly say the room 102 is behind the counseling center instead of ‘next to the counseling center’. It was my first time going to the poetry reading. The reading was short but it was a great experience. The dim light made it more interesting. The food was good too. I thought that we have more people going to the poetry reading but it was fine since I don’t like the crowd, and it was easy to listen to the poems. The poems of the girl with glasses were ok. I just don’t like the way she repeated the word “I never” again and again for every line. Her poem was pretty strange or irony. She said something like “I don’t cry but I am a tissue holder. I am not intelligent but I am smart”. I think he contradicted herself. It sounded like “I have never slept but I dreamt sometimes”. At the end, I still didn’t get what her poem’s meaning was .Also, it was interesting at the beginning but the more she repeated it, the more boring it got. However, she was brave to stand up in front of others and to read her poems. I like the poems of the 2nd girl the most. She used different tones to read her poems. The one with “rock , rock .. and I will never be your wife “ entertained me a lot. The poems of the glasses guy did not give me a lot of impression, so I don’t know what to comment about him. Last, here I go to the journey of complimenting Mr. Hsiao’s poems. But I got to be honest. I don’t really understand Mr. H’s poems as much as other girls’ poems. Maybe, my teacher’s poems were more complicated and difficult than other’s poems, so I did not get the meanings. Don’t worry Mr. Hsiao. Even if I don’t understand your poems, I still think that they are really good. Usually, the poems that I don’t get are always the really good ones. Because good poems always have more metaphors and deep thoughts, we, normal people, sometimes, don’t understand them as much as the normal, obvious poems. Also, why do we have to die in order to live Mr.Hsiao? did you mean reincarnation ? what if there are people that don’t believe in “rebirth” stuffs ? what if there is no another life after death ? can’t we just live our fullest lives as much as we can.
(Andy) Nam Pham
English 110
GWC
Post #28
Poetry Night
Or should I say Hsiao's night...
This was a fun night, a lot of familiar and friendly faces. The beginning of the night I was with a couple other classmates at Denny’s. When we arrived, there were more people that I did not expect. It seems as if we are all getting a little closer with one another, and that is pretty awesome. Anyways, the poetry night should have been called Hsiao night, because he was pretty much the only one who spoke the most. Two poems that really stuck out to me was the one about the community service, and the very last one. I forgot their names, there were too many to remember. The community service one was interesting to hear because it was about the good deeds that not only Hsiao did, but all of us too. The drive behind us, the good will; we all had experienced that feeling on at least one of our field trips, in which we helped the less fortunate. It was a great feeling when we saw the happiness within another, which correct me if I am wrong, our drive. The last one (was it call to action?), about flipping society upside down, was focused on so many things that we learned in class. How form is over function, how in order to live, we must first die, and how status in life does not matter. It was a good poem about how wrong life is lived so wrongly, and how we should start living idealistically. Professor Hsiao also had a good idea about how poetry should be like. For expression, sparking an emotion inside of us, it all made sense. It has been what we’ve been writing like all semester long, and it makes all the difference between a strong paper and a weak paper. Overall, it was a great night. We learned a lot about Professor Hsiao.
Also, at the end, was that one lady's explanation part of the poem too? Or was it a really short piece with a lot of background info?
Stephanie Farano
GWC
English 110
Recitatif By Toni Morrison
This story was a about a bond between two girls, who were unintentionally linked through common situations. The two girls Roberta and Twyla were both put into a group home, because their mothers were unfit to take care of them. Despite their racial differences the girls were forced to bond and became best friends. After years of separation they continued to have random encounters, in which they spoke of the past and their present situation. Each of their meetings were interesting interactions and all tested the sisterhood that they created as children. Both still bluntly spoke to the other as if they were never apart. I found their interactions really sister-like. There were a couple of times when they fought and maliciously attacked the other. They were constantly challenging the other, but only because they were linked through a sisterly bound. These girls never had families. The relationship that they created as children, was the closest thing that either of them had to family. They were like sisters.
Archie Kaaua
Professor Hsiao
English 110
Golden West College
November 13, 2009
Post 37
Poetry Meeting
The meeting this time was smaller and a lot nicer than it was last year. We were so fortunate to hear the many poets who shared their poems. One in particular was the poem of a lady who was not happy with a lover who did not call her back. I can understand how frustrating it must be to wait for the phone to ring. In the end she marries some one else and is now living her life as a happy wife who is not waiting for the phone to ring anymore.
The room where we met was very nice set up like a dinner theater complete with table cloths. It felt very warm, not like the impersonal feeling of a cold auditorium as last years meeting was. I was surprised that there was an open call for anyone to read and share their poetry. One lady was even able to recite a poem from memory. I wish that I could remember things at will like that. If one tries to correlate what I am talking about, try to remember the second verse of a song. I always wondered why no one could remember the second verse to “Silent Night”, but it seems that everyone knows how it starts out. What was even more fun was being roasted by Professor Hsiao regarding status anxiety. His poem was telling us that in order to find yourself you have to loose yourself, In order to live you must die, in order to go forward you… well you get the idea. I get his point though; one has to focus on what is important and not so much money. I never wanted to worship money or too many things that money buys, but I do work hard and want some things. Well, thank you for that. All in all it was fun.
Did I mention that there were poetry books to buy for only two dollars? Normally they sell for fifteen dollars each. Last but not least there was a coffee bar with deserts. If you get a chance to go to one of Professor Hsiao’s poetry readings, my advice is to not miss it!
Macey Lindsay-Clinton
English 100
Golden West College
Post # 23
Recitatif by Toni Morrison
First and foremost, I would like to mention how much I love Toni Morrison. Beloved is one of my favorite books. Anyways, this piece was very interesting to read. A major theme that I found was the search for permanence. As Twyla states, “We changed beds every night and for the whole four moths we were there we never picked one out as our own permanent bed” (paragraph 1). As children of the youth shelter, the children were used to the stability of a sick mother, and a mother who dances every night. The girls are used to the stability of negativity. Being able to change their bed every night gave them a sense of freedom from the restraints of permanence. This is not a very good thing because the rest of their lives are filled with confusion. They felt that instability was a good thing when it is not. The freedom they felt as children was unable to relate into their adult lives. Suddenly, their races constricted them. These racial constraints were a sense of stability. Thus, the two women were unable to feel the freedom which initially brought them together. In the flashbacks and flash forwards, we see the roller coaster ups and downs of the women's’ relationship. While Twyla finds no problems with the racal differences as an adult, she had them initially as a child. Roberta seems to be opposite because she finds racial problems between the two as an adult rather than a child. These differences are another factor in their inability to maintain a friendship. Basically they are two confused women who are unable to put aside racial differences to be friends again. In my opinion, hurt is the most lasting impression. They were both hurt as children by their mothers who could not take care of them. Also, hurt was felt in their racial inequality.
Whitney Young
Golden West College
English 110
Post #25
The poetry reading was very interesting. I had a completely different vision of what it was going to be like in my mind. I expected there to be much more people there. I kind of expected it to be in a forum like the one last semester. I was surprised to see your students there being the majority of the audience. Although it was late, I was glad that I went. Professor Cosand started off talking about how people survive through their creativity or something like that and it really got my attention. I actually agreed with what she was saying. It made a lot of sense, and I just really liked the way she put it into worlds. I have to say, the star of the evening had to be Professor Hsiao. I am really glad that I got the chance to listen to more of your poems. They were not as intense as the ones you read in class, but they were still really good. I am very poetically challenged, so I think anyone that can write poetry is really talented. It is always interesting to see how others express themselves through their writing.
Zachary Duke
Eng 103
CC
Post ???
White Guilt
This is a sad story. It reminds me a lot about my father. He is from Tennessee and he is what i like to call a "modern redneck". he moved here when he was around 16. he still has a little bit of the southern ascent. he is pretty raciest. I can actually remember once he yelled at this African american man for filling his i Mustang at the gas station. he went off talking about slavery and how at least to him, start it again. Like one of my classmates said, that racialism has not gone away. it will never go away. trust me. I want it too. but people, like my dad, will never change there minds. they where raised to think things are a specific way and that is what they will believe for the rest of my life. I am glad i did not fallow in his footsteps.
Jasmyne Young
English 110
GWC
Post #18?19?
Recitatif
The journey and the relationship between these two women was weird. First, they are children who do not care about race or color, they are just two common girls dealing with the death of their mothers. Then, they are teens who make it seem like they do not know each other. Then, they grow older and i do not know, this whole relationship was weird. This whole love-hate relationship between the black and white friends was confusing. That is the reality sometimes though. I have never been in that type of situation. I have had friends that come and go, but when we see one another later on in life, we are always cordial and cool with one another. I do not see how or why someone would continually turn on and off their like for you, but it is what it is. I feel blacks and whites are always going to have a certain "thing" between them, deep down, but I do not see why we all cannot just get along.
Samantha Navarro
English 103
Cerritos College
Post # huh ??
Recitatif by Toni Morrison
This story demonstrates how two people who ordinarily wouldn’t meet (because of racial issues) keep running into each other’s lives. The choices they make when they meet express their feelings at the time of how one feels about the other in regards to race. Their reactions are always different towards each other at each meeting; one dislikes the other while the other doesn’t, and vice versa. Perhaps if the racial issues hadn’t been happening, they would have had a good relationship throughout their lives, given that they had only each other at the beginning of their friendship. But because of these race differences they experienced, their relationship wasn’t a stable one. In the beginning, Twyla judged Roberta based on race, because of her mother’s influence, but that quickly disappeared, I think because children tend to look deeper into a person than adults do, despite what reservations one might have been programmed with. As they grow up, however, they realize that they are on opposite sides of the racial battle, and though most times they try to act polite because they are acquaintances, their judgements toward the different color of their skin is too strong to continue the friendship they had started as kids. This story can be taken as the literal racial conflicts of recent history. The tensions that existed according to the time in history it was is how blacks viewed whites and whites viewed blacks. I think we, the American population, not black, white, brown or whatever, will see eye to eye with one another until we truly do not judge based on things that in fact do not speak about one’s character. Perhaps it was the atmosphere that is in the air at Christmas time, of togetherness and appreciation of what one truly has, what drove Roberta to come out and say how she truly felt throughout all those years of hurtful exchanged messages; “It was just that I wanted to do it so bad that day- wanting to is doing it” (2). It all begins with the realization, with the awareness in one’s head, to change the course of history.
Gina Huynh
English 110
Golden West College
Post #10
Sunflower Sutra
Chief Seattle was right when he warned in “Environmental Statement” that if we “contaminate [our bed, we will] one night suffocate in [our] own waste.” Such is the case in this piece, where the author is saddened to see that our world is now lying in a midst of pollution, with nature dying at our living expenses. Everywhere we look, we see crowded cities surrounded by dirt and grime, “dead baby carriages, treadles tires forgotten and unretreaded, and condoms and pots.” This is like the description of a landfill, where many of these products lay in waste beneath the earth, forgotten for generations. Ginsberg further describes of technologies, like locomotives, giving way to a land of “gnarled steel roots of trees of machinery.” The luscious blue water is now “oily,” taking with it the lives of innocent sea creatures, like “fish” and “hermit.” Machineries have contributed to the destruction of nature, and more and more businesses, fed by greed, are fighting to claim over fresh, untainted land in order to build new places of operation. All of this is at the cost of human kind, where we, like the remaining sunflower that sat “dry on top of a pile of ancient sawdust,” will wilt without fresh sunshine and air, due to pollution. The ozone layer would be depleted and expose us to harmful UV lights. Our lungs would be filled with dirt and other harmful chemicals that are byproducts of the age of machineries. This is the price we pay when we deal with corporate greed and overpopulation. Finally, towards the end, Ginsberg realizes that despite pollution ruining our physical appearances, within all of us are still “beautiful golden sunflowers inside.” Our spirits are very much alive, despite the change in the natural scenery. Thus, we can still keep our souls unpolluted and healthy by not allowing greed and other negativities to contaminate our inner beauty. We should, instead, live a pure, clean life free of any darkness so that we can avoid becoming like Mother nature’s land.
Gina Huynh
English 110
Golden West College
Post #11
Pebble in Your Pocket and Other Musings
If every one of us kept a pebble in our pocket to help us in times of anger, we would rid this world of much violence and negativity. Anger is something that we are all born with, and the outcome of it is dependent on how we deal with it. Some people take the calmer road and think before they respond. Others hold in their anger until they explode at the wrong moment, while still others react to it immediately. Sadly, it takes a lot of discipline when we are angry to remember the guidelines revealed in this piece. Anger manifests itself in all aspects of our life, from situations dealing with our families, to our friends and significant others, and even to strangers. It is in recognizing the right way to act that will allow us to maintain our sense of integrity and reputation. For example, Thich Nhat Hanh reminds us that when we are angry with, say, our significant others, we should “tell the other person that we are angry” and to follow that with our expressed effort to change and to request for the help and support of our loved one. Only when we respond like so out of anger that we will “inspire respect and motivate the other person to look back and to practice likewise.” I wholeheartedly agree with this guideline. When a person in a relationship is angry and starts to yell at his significant other, it will only trigger anger and animosity from the significant other. Anger is like being drunk; it masks any rationality, and the result is never pretty. Thus, two people yelling at one another seldom leads to any positive outcome. However, if one is angry and expresses one’s anger in a rational, positive way, it would most likely elicit sympathy from the other person, and both people can work together to resolve whatever issue they are dealing with. Hanh also advises couples and others from not withholding anger, which is very unhealthy. If people in relationships hold in their anger, they are most likely to cheat out of frustration or explode over a senseless argument. Thus, it is important to let our partners know that we are angry right away, and if we miss the moment, to not mention the problem again months later when we are arguing over something else. Some people have said that it is best to never go to sleep angry and to talk the problem out, while others believe that it is better to just leave the other person alone until he or she is of a sound mind in order to engage in any rational discussions. From experience, I find that women tend to want to resolve any issue with their partners before going to bed while men tend to opt to be left alone. Furthermore, Hanh also mentions that those who get angry quickly must have had their seed of anger watered frequently. This means that this particular person has never learned to deal with his or her anger over the years and is easily triggered. Being around this person would be like walking on eggshells every time, which is really no fun. Some children are unfortunate to grow up in a household where their parents abuse them and abandon them for drugs and alcohol. They grow up resentful of their lives and their loved ones and continue to practice anger with their own children. Thus, this is where they cause others to suffer because of their own suffering. The cycle will continue on unless someone decides to take his or her anger issue into his or her own hand and to “water only the good seeds.” Only by doing so will he or she have a more positive outlook on life. Finally, Hanh advises us to use compassion in dealing with anger. In order to do so, we have to understand that the other person is suffering and to just listen to him or her speak from the heart. These are great guidelines to anger, but on days when the pebble is missing from our pocket, just excuse oneself to another room or express one’s anger on a piece of paper, all of which are great outlets.
Cathrina Afusia
Cerritos College
English 100
Recitatif by Toni Morrison
This reading had a huge amount of gray area, but I see the message the writer wanted to get across. I remember Mr. H saying that in the reading the writer never tells which character is white or black. When I first started the reading and the Twyla’s mother described that a certain group of people smelled funny because they do not wash their hair. Right there is when I started to get a little confused, because I instantly thought that Roberta was black. I thought this because just from having African American friends I know that some do not wash their hair on a daily basis. Then the story started to toy with me, because then the writer started giving off characteristics that maybe Twyla was black. I then realized this is what the writer wanted. Toni Morrison wanted to show how important race was to a person. I can admit all throughout the reading I was going back and forth as to what race fit which girl, but it was written so miraculously that there was no way I could choose. It gave me such an anxious feeling, and that could be because race plays a huge role in my everyday personal life. I overall enjoyed the reading. I thought it was unique how well written it was, and probably made some feel guilty for stereotyping the characters for the way they were described. It sort of brought me back to the paper we did about being stereotyped. I was again question myself, just because a certain characteristic is linked to a certain race, why do you have to classify within that race? There were so many effective examples of stereotyping, from the big hair, chicken, not washing of the hair, and the mother with the big behind. I loved the reading.
Gina Huynh
GWC-English 110
Poetry response
First of all, I would like to say kudos to Mr. Hsiao and the other gifted poets for writing such thought-provoking poetic pieces. I liked how most were based on the poets’ lives, allowing the audience a glimpse into the personal lives of the poems’ respective authors. Sadly, I just wished that I was half as smart or philosophical because after hearing Mr. Hsiao’s poems, I felt like I needed a class discussion in order to understand some of the things that he wrote. There were several poems that really touched me. I will discuss two that I sort of remember. The first was from Mr. Hsiao, titled “Community,” which discusses the importance of human compassion and applying it to help the needy and less fortunate in one’s community. When we help others out, the reward does not come in a monetary form but in the satisfaction that arises from knowing that we have done our part in assisting another human being. Without this compassion for others, we would be very apathetic about the injustices that exist within our world. For example, there would be no aid to developing countries. Children everywhere would continue to starve to death, and world disasters would mean every man for himself. It is such a blessing to know that most humans are born with compassion for others, and because of it, we see a number of homeless people and battered women and children being sheltered and fed, celebrities and the average Americans rallying together to raise money for different causes, and people everywhere donating blood as well as other body organs, just to name a few. “Community” also applies to my own life. I am currently volunteering at a number of elementary schools, helping to assist nurses give out the H1N1 shots and flu nasal spray to children. These nurses are volunteer workers, working almost 8-hour days for free in preventing the H1N1 virus from claiming more innocent lives. Without such community effort, thousands of the students who received the shots would face a higher possibility of acquiring the virus and possibly die. Thus, our progress as well as the future generations’ progress is truly dependant upon human compassion. “Community”
Gina..continued post
reminds us why we need to help. Another piece that I recalled was about one of the poets’ friend’s relationship. The poem reminded me of scenario B in “Happy Endings.” I take it that the poet’s friend is sort of in an unhappy relationship where she is being taken for granted but chooses to stay in that relationship, regardless. Her boyfriend fails to compliment her or treats her with much respect and usually is the aggressor. Like Mary in “Happy Endings,” the girlfriend seems to sacrifice her self-respect in order to please her man so that she can maintain some sort of companionship. In life, this situation is very common. Most of us know of someone in relationships whose boyfriends only call them when they want something and forget about them when they already have plans with their friends. Some girls would accept this unwillingly, just to “keep their man happy.” This situation also occurs on a daily basis within married households. Some women are stuck in dreadful marriages where they would avoid fights with their husbands whenever possible. When the husbands would come home from work, the wives would happily hand them some beer and leave these men alone with the television. It is even a sadder situation when these women are stay-at-home mothers who only converse with children all day and long for some mature conversations when their husbands come home. By the time the husbands get off from work, they are too tired to play therapists, so guilt would drive these women to let their husbands be with the TV and resort to alcohol instead as a way to release stress. Some then become alcoholics as a result. Thus, these women reveal how they are the ones making the sacrifices in the relationship, the “shoulder” for others to cry on, and never the one doing the crying. All in all, I am truly glad that Mr. Hsiao could share with us some of his personal pieces and show us just how gifted of a poet he is. I hope to attend more poetry readings in the near future.
Cathrina, I love your interpretation of Recitatif! I hadn't noticed how the author plays with the words we usually classify with race.
Celina Rivera
English 100
Cerritos College
Post 79
Recitatif by Toni Morrison
When I read this story, I saw so many aspects or points of views. I read the story twice to try to figure out who was of what race. What this story made me think about was the meeting my manager had went to. He told me he walked into a room and all around the room were a variety of uniforms. The uniforms consisted of a police officer, nurse, a outfit with jeans and shirt that Cesar Chavez, outfit with Jamaica colors, one with raggedy clothes with holes and so forth. The person giving the meeting asked each person to fill out the paper. The paper asked each person to write down what person would correspond to each uniform or outfit. The majority of people said a bum would wear the raggedy clothes. Next multiple people said that woman would have the occupation as a nurse. Other people also answered that a Mexican would wear Cesar Chavez clothes, black person would wear the Jamaican clothes and the police officer would be a white person. In the meeting no one had answer correctly. EVERYONE had some type of racism, sexism and stereotyping. How come these adults could not answer that paper and say anyone could wear these clothes or have that occupation? How were able to stereotype people just based of of their clothing or occupation. What are we really learning?
When you read the story we are all so quick to judge what person was who. We judged because of names, what the writer portrayed about the people in story. We were also able to judge because of how thought. To me that is such an interesting fact.
For me when reading this I need to stop a wait before we JUDGE people.
The author was a great writer who conveyed her message well. You could understand what she was trying to say after reading it.
Andy Tran
English 100
Cerritos
Post #
Recitatif
The story is written in a unique way. Toni Morrison does not disclose the race of Twyla or Roberta. All we know is that one is white and one is black like salt and pepper. The reason for this is to express how blacks and whites typically generalized their race in opposition to one another. As stated in paragraph 2, Twyla's mother, Mary, would tell Twyla "Every now and then she would stop dancing long enough to tell me something important and one of the things she said was that they never washed their hair and smelled funny." When I read this, I instantly thought that Roberta was black and Twyla was white. Not to be racist or anything but I'm sure many have heard the joke or phrase that black people do not wash their hair. In example, Bob Marley who must have had really stinky and dank hair but, really good music! But who knows, it is my opinion about who I think is black or white. But anyways, the story was a good read even though in some areas I was lost. I loved the descriptive words and writing style Toni Morrison uses.
Post a Comment