I'm having a lot of trouble thinking of a subject to argue for or against that won't be too cliche. Especially if it's something most people have already formed a opinion about. To think of something that is not already on the presidential debate is also very difficult.
I am very tempted to write about the American elementary/high school system, of course the public ones. Though I could bring in privates schools for comparison. A part of the education system I'd like to focus on is the No Child Left Behind Policy. What better to talk about for a school assignment than school?
American School Setup: Age 5/6: Kindergarten
Age 6/7-10/11: Elementary Grades 1-5
Age 11/12-13/14: Middle School Grades 6-8
Age 14/15-17/18: High School Grades 9-12
No Child Left Behind
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
I'm Convinced, Men are Pigs!
I first came across this piece during a scorching hot afternoon, which may have driven me to be more flustered than usual about this subject. This is an essay written by Judy Brady (a.k.a. Judy Syfers) titled "Why I Want a Wife". I will try to summarize it, but it's a short 5 paragraph-ish satirical, feminist paper.
link: http://www.cwluherstory.org/why-i-want-a-wife.html
To put this article into context, it was first published in Ms. (magazine), a feminist magazine started by Gloria Steinem, a popular movie star/playboy bunny in the 70's. The magazine is known for not containing any advertisement and for landmark issues, like presenting a published list of women who admitted to having abortions before they were legal in the Roe vs. Wade case which included many movie stars.
The essay Brady rights is a sarcastic description of the All-American Mom (a.k.a. Soccer Mom). This is to the very pinnacle of what a mother is expected to be in our culture. A mom is a : chauffeur, a nurse, a valet, a sexual partner, etc. Brady explains that wife is expected to guide and help their husbands regardless of their own needs, and she knows this because she is one. She mockingly describes all the jobs that a wife is expected to do and how it is a clear-cut double standard life she is expected to lead. A life, where all she does is sacrifices and gives, and realizes that she would like a wife too.
Brady's article, although has a sardonic tone, is a very convincing one. Sarcasm is not the typical strategy to convince someone, unless it is frighteningly true. Her rhetorical approach is to narrate as though she is proposing a scenario, like a vacation advertisement, of what it is like to have a wife. She appeals to mothers/wives with pathos when she brings up an endless list of tasks they are expected complete. To everyone else, Brady writes in respect to logos. She questions why one wouldn't want a wife, or essentially, an indentured servant.
The problem is that what she describes is the epitome of the perfect American wife/mother. Very rarely does one mom fit into all of these descriptions. Though, with a resounding agreement, my roommates and my own mother play most of these roles. One of my roommates, who identifies the closest to a Nuclear Family, said Brady's description was eerily familiar to her own description of her mother. Also, there's nowhere in the essay that mentions the rewards of being a mother. The fallacy in her logic is that she assumes mothers and wives do all of this without any benefits, but women would not do it if they did not find it rewarding to be a "good" mother/wife.
link: http://www.cwluherstory.org/why-i-want-a-wife.html
To put this article into context, it was first published in Ms. (magazine), a feminist magazine started by Gloria Steinem, a popular movie star/playboy bunny in the 70's. The magazine is known for not containing any advertisement and for landmark issues, like presenting a published list of women who admitted to having abortions before they were legal in the Roe vs. Wade case which included many movie stars.
The essay Brady rights is a sarcastic description of the All-American Mom (a.k.a. Soccer Mom). This is to the very pinnacle of what a mother is expected to be in our culture. A mom is a : chauffeur, a nurse, a valet, a sexual partner, etc. Brady explains that wife is expected to guide and help their husbands regardless of their own needs, and she knows this because she is one. She mockingly describes all the jobs that a wife is expected to do and how it is a clear-cut double standard life she is expected to lead. A life, where all she does is sacrifices and gives, and realizes that she would like a wife too.
Brady's article, although has a sardonic tone, is a very convincing one. Sarcasm is not the typical strategy to convince someone, unless it is frighteningly true. Her rhetorical approach is to narrate as though she is proposing a scenario, like a vacation advertisement, of what it is like to have a wife. She appeals to mothers/wives with pathos when she brings up an endless list of tasks they are expected complete. To everyone else, Brady writes in respect to logos. She questions why one wouldn't want a wife, or essentially, an indentured servant.
The problem is that what she describes is the epitome of the perfect American wife/mother. Very rarely does one mom fit into all of these descriptions. Though, with a resounding agreement, my roommates and my own mother play most of these roles. One of my roommates, who identifies the closest to a Nuclear Family, said Brady's description was eerily familiar to her own description of her mother. Also, there's nowhere in the essay that mentions the rewards of being a mother. The fallacy in her logic is that she assumes mothers and wives do all of this without any benefits, but women would not do it if they did not find it rewarding to be a "good" mother/wife.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Chapter 14
Its seems to be the common trend, but the times a writing text helps me is far and wide, which is how much this text is able to explicitly show good writing rules. I have never figured out a way to: describe the Point of View of writer and reader, consider open and closed formats according to goal, account for audience, occasion, and subject. This chapter showed writing in a different light. Persuasion is definitely a different tone from truth-seeking. It's also interesting, because even with this highlighted, I'm not sure if it would make a huge difference with which one I choose. This will help me define what I am trying to accomplish more clearly, but I still would have based how far I leaned between these two depending on my audience.
Often, with a more liberal and educated mind, I feel the "truth-seeking" method is more efficient. These are people that are generally more open-minded and would not be pleased to find the author omitted certain things to sway them one way. With the general public, which is especially prevalent in propaganda, they seem to try much harder through persuasion. I just found that a thought provoking connection.
Often, with a more liberal and educated mind, I feel the "truth-seeking" method is more efficient. These are people that are generally more open-minded and would not be pleased to find the author omitted certain things to sway them one way. With the general public, which is especially prevalent in propaganda, they seem to try much harder through persuasion. I just found that a thought provoking connection.
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