Reading

May 4, 2009

Response to Eighner

Lars Eighner writes “Dumpster Diving” as an extremely detailed description of dumpster diving procedures as well an examination of the viewpoints from both scavengers and consumers that view such scavenged items as trash. Included in his piece is much detail about rules concerning perishable food; cans are usually safe and mold found on vegetables and fruits can be picked off. He also explores the mental process a new scavenger goes through as well as details challenges dumpsters bring.

In his last few paragraphs, Eighner reveals two lessons he has learned: the first is to take what you can use and leave the rest and the second is to view objects objectively rather for their sentimental value. Everything he owns as already been thrown out at least once, showing his objects have no sentimental value to him or the people who threw them out. His last few sentences express a final point about the difference between the “rat-race millions” who live looking for “what they know not” and Eighner and the very wealthy who can have all they want.

Capitalism has taken such a stranglehold on America’s population that very few realize its adverse consequences. We are raised in a society that encourages us to spend, spend, spend, and if something looks good, we should buy it. We are constantly shoved advertisements that are designed to entice us and persuade us to buy products. College is a hallmark of society, but what does it lead to? A typical answer includes a better job and a better paycheck, but for what? It all comes down to the ability to purchase more goods and the development of a wasteful attitude that millions have. Since supply is seemingly endless and we are taught to spend, it does not seem wrong to overstock the pantry and then throw out boxes and cans when they are past their expiration dates; Eigher asserts that this is wrong.

Eighner gives an example of wastefulness with vegetables and fruits. Many of these are thrown away for minor imperfections which can be cut off. I know I’ve looked at a bag of salad, seen a few “bad” leaves of lettuce, and immediately thrown the whole bag away without a second thought. Watching the freegans on Oprah opened my eyes to what people are doing today to stop chasing fancy items and start seeking only what is necessary. Many of the people digging through trash had six figure salaries, yet they were happy to take home all kinds of food and household goods. Eighner and the freegans have definitely made it clear that we all can live without the newest electronics or the newest fashions; although it seems nice to have all of these new things, we end up being ridiculously wasteful in the end.

April 23, 2009

Words Are Words

When a term used in derision is reversed and proudly accepted, the term becomes a label, rather than an insult. A person that chooses to use a term as a label feels no hurt from the term. If a person uses a term in a derisive manner against a person who already uses the term as a simple label, the term won’t do any harm to the receiver. To Mairs, “cripple” means nothing more than being deprived of the ability to use her limbs. To Gates, “colored” means nothing more than the color of his skin compared to the light hues of American skin. To gays, “queer” simply means a homosexual. By taking terms as their own, these people conquered the opposition that created the terms. Derisive terms are created out of hate, ignorance, and fear, but by accepting them and making them personal a person wins the battle over hate. No longer does a term express faults with being a certain way. Instead, the term is a simple descriptor. It says who a person is for who they are, not for being different. Derisive terms try to harm people by making differences seem wrong. For example, when a person calls a black person “colored” with a demeaning tone, the first person finds something wrong with colored people do to differences in appearance or from stereotypes. The first person has set out to harm the black person with the term, but if the black person already accepts “colored” simply as a word that describes him, then being called “colored” would not harm him. By accepting a derisive term with pride, a person gains a victory over another person who previously sought to harm others with the term. The term becomes powerless when accepted as a label.

March 16, 2009

A Distorted Reflection

After entering Governor Bellingham’s dwelling and observing his various possessions, Pearl becomes fascinated with a suit of mail and beckons Hester over to view the shiny armor. Hester looks at the armor up close, and to her dismay, sees the scarlet letter as the dominant image in the reflection. It defies physics, because convex mirrors show a smaller image than larger. The image is so large that Hester “[seems] absolutely hidden behind it” (102). Hester shoos Pearl away from the suit of armor in her discomfort and shock. This incident reveals Hester’s shame and humiliation she still feels from the scarlet letter. Although she has seemingly taken the letter as part of her own being, she still feels strong shame from it. It is a reminder of her sin not only to her, but to the rest of the townsfolk. It keeps everyone away from Hester, but at the same time, protects others from committing adultery because of public display of her fault.

March 13, 2009

Our Quests For Wisdom

Schools have definitely become focused on teaching knowledge. There is very little wisdom involved anymore with learning; the wisdom that scholars had centuries ago is not commonly found in today’s scholarly world. Whitehead writes to encourage change in the education system today, as well as educate his readers about the differences between knowledge and wisdom, and the process that one goes through to obtain wisdom.

I remember I learned about World War I in depth for the first time in 7th Grade. My history teacher, Mr. Hoessel, showed a slide of a map of Europe. On this map was a diagram of all of the various alliances that had been in place at the time. The diagram was made of a bunch of arrows connecting the countries that were allied with each other, and there were too many to count. I wondered, “Why are there so many alliances? And what are they there for?” Mr. Hoessel went on to explain how Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated by Serbian nationalists, which helped spark conflict and test alliances. Soon after the assassination, two main opposing forces were assembled and ready to fight.

I believe this presentation was my first contact with romantic teaching. My teacher showed us the slide without any explanation at first, which made us think for ourselves of what we thought it meant. This was a moment of freedom we had, because we could think whatever we thought of the slide. Mr. Hoessel also guided us through the lesson, which was necessary. We all enjoyed the lesson, because of the freedom given to us, as well as guidance from the teacher. If we had only been lectured to, or if we were left to fend for ourselves the whole day, our curiosity in the subject would not have been nearly as high as it was when we were given both freedom and discipline.

I agree with Whitehead’s idea that teachers are only a part of the education process, and I also agree that students eventually learn on their own. Teachers should be here to give students both knowledge and the tools to become wise. Whitehead defines wisdom as the mastery of knowledge; it involves the way knowledge is handled, processed, and used in relevant and useful situations. Knowledge is easy to obtain, but wisdom is something that takes time to develop. Teachers should recognize that students change as they grow and must follow growth patterns. Young children need guidance when first introduced to the information at hand, but must also be given freedom to explore curiosities and find what suits their tastes. As students get older, more and more freedom can be given, as well as deeper knowledge and thinking. A teacher should not be the controller of a student’s education, but rather an aide on the path to becoming wise. Once a student has reached the point where he/she has the discipline to think and act for him/herself and explore ideas, then the teacher has finished the job.

Whitehead refers to “barren knowledge” as being “evil” (paragraph 6). In my education, I would consider “barren knowledge” as most of the information I learn in classes. For example, almost everything I learned in Biology has long been forgotten. The only things I’ve retained from that class are about general topics such as ecology and ecosystems. I have forgotten the minute facts and details about photosynthesis, but I memorized all of those facts for the tests I took. After the test, I completely forgot about the subject and moved on to a new one. “Barren knowledge” is knowledge that is not useful or relevant. It comes and goes in our lives. It’s knowledge that has no use other than for trivia. I do not agree with “barren knowledge” as being “evil”; it is too strong. Perhaps “barren knowledge” can distract  us from obtaining useful knowledge that we would use accordingly with wisdom, which could be why Whitehead calls it “evil”. “Barren knowledge” is definitely  not evil however. It simply has no use in our lives. Wisdom involves using knowledge in constructive, deep, and thoughtful ways, and “barren knowledge” is knowledge that isn’t used with wisdom. Whitehead asserts that wisdom should be our goals, so “barren knowledge” has no part with wisdom. It is not evil, but simply useless factual knowledge.

Whitehead, Alfred North. “The Rhythmic Claims of Freedom and Discipline.” The Norton Reader. Eds. Linda H. Peterson, and John C. Brereton. Vol. 1, 11 ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.. 2004. 475-484.

February 27, 2009

Humanity’s Everlasting Connection With Nature

http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/11/09/home/gould-aids.html

This article, written in 1987 by Stephen Jay Gould, gives an insight of America’s initial response to AIDS. At first, the disease was contained in Africa, which led Americans to believe that it was no danger to the world. Americans also commonly held a belief that the disease could only be spread through homosexual sex. In Disney’s Epcot Center, giant corporations displayed a message of mankind’s separation from nature; technology was believed to have advanced far enough for humans to do anything. A.T. & T. proclaimed, “We are now unbounded by space and time.” Americans truly felt that the future was going to be bright forever through technology. This contributed to the indifference of Americans. Gould writes to galvanize Americans into realizing the seriousness of AIDS. He compares the disease to a checkerboard; if a penny is placed on a square of the board and the number of pennies doubles at each square, the number of pennies by the 64th square is too large to imagine. At that time, the disease had not spread wide enough for Americans to realize its potential, but Gould reprimands them for this mindset. He blames the corporations for melding American minds into believing that humans had risen above the powers of Nature. He asserts that Americans need to realize that AIDS is just another work of Nature, not an embodiment of evil. Once Americans realize that they are composed of the same atoms and molecules as diseases, Gould asserts that AIDS can be fought the same way as any other disease.

The first thing that came to mind while reading this was the sad misconception people made about gays and AIDS. They thought that AIDS could only be transferred through homosexual relations, when in fact it was transferred through heterosexual relations as well. Although there wasn’t a lot of education about AIDS at the time, it was still wrong to point a finger at gays. Making a ridiculous assertion like this was rude, immature, and downright wrong.

I also shake my head at the corporations that so boldly challenged Nature’s power by claiming that humans had the potential to surpass Nature. The numerous pandemics that came before AIDS wiped out millions and millions of humans, but our species has come back stronger than ever from each one. Why should AIDS be any different to deal with? The corporations gave the people misconceptions about how to handle AIDS. Instead of relying on technology to find a cure or panicking and blaming irrelevant sources (like the gays), humans needed to realize that all things in Nature work by mechanisms. AIDS has its own mechanisms and scientists will hopefully be able to decipher them soon. It’s been over two decades since we’ve known about it but a cure still hasn’t been found.

February 2, 2009

I Just Wanna Be Average Précis

Mike Rose, in his short story “I Just Wanna Be Average” (1989),  asserts that knowledge and learning are important to enable you to do things in the world. He uses anecdotes to back his assertion and shows his progression through high school. Rose’s purpose is to sway the audience into learning that education is a valuable asset to have, even if the process is boring, tough, or a pain to deal with. He takes a casual tone for a mainly young audience that hasn’t realized the importance of education.

Vocabulary Words

1. (para 2) spate (noun) a large number or amount
2. (para 10) tenuous (adj) having little substance or strength
3. (para 12) somnambulant (adj) walking or having the habit of walking while asleep
4. (para 13) dearth (noun) an inadequate supply
5. (para 14) apocryphal (adj) of doubtful authenticity
6. (para 15) restive (adj) stubbornly resisting control

Rhetorical Strategies

1. Epithet: “There was Ted Richard, a much-touted Little League pitcher.” (320)
2. Connotation: “There was Christy Biggars, who, at sixteen, was dealing and was, according to rumor, a pimp as well.” (316)
3. Diction: “Ken was good-looking in a puffy way and had a full and oily ducktail and was a car enthusiast… a hodad.” (320)

Questions

1. Was Rose’s father a key part of his life?
2. Does Rose’s style effectively help communicate his message?
3. Are vocational tracks prevalent in today’s education system?

Quotation

“Reject the confusion and frustrations by openly defining yourself as the Common Joe. Champion the average. Rely on your own good sense. Fuck this bullshit. Bull shit, of course, is everything you − and the others − fear is beyond you: books, essays, tests, academic scrambling, complexity, scientific reasoning, philosophical  inquiry.”  (321)

January 27, 2009

Terwilliger Bunts One Précis

Dillard, Annie. “Terwilliger Bunts One.” The Norton Reader. Ed. Linda H. Peterson. New York, New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2004. 1255.

Annie Dillard, in the memoir “Terwilliger Bunts One” (1987), reveals her mother’s unique personality and quirks. Dillard supports her revelation by telling tales of her mother that show her personality, which all come together as a short story. Dillard’s purpose is simply to convey to the reader how unique and bold her mother was. She takes an engaging and lighthearted tone in order to hook an educated audience.

Vocabulary Words
1. (para 5) tellingly (adverb) having force or effect
2. (para 7) connoisseurs (noun) a person of informed and discriminating taste
3. (para 8) locutions (noun) style of speaking
4. (para 9) eschewed (verb) to avoid, shun
5. (para 16) pat (adj) exactly to the point or purpose

Rhetorical Strategies
Alliteration – “…tremendous road through the terrible…” (151)
Anaphora – “They fought off cottonmouth moccasins and six-foot alligators. They slept in boats, wet. They blasted muck…; they laid logs…” (151)
Asyndeton – “‘Terwilliger bunts one?’ Mother cried back, stopped short.” (151)

Questions
1. Is the mother simply crazy or does her courage in her opinions and fearlessness justify her uniqueness?
2. How does Dillard’s style create a mood appropriate for the occasion?
3. How would people in today’s society generally react to a person like the speaker’s mother?

Quotation
“And in fact it was always clear to Amy and me, and to Molly when she grew old enough to listen, that if our classmates came to cruelty, just as much as if the neighborhood or the nation came to madness, we were expected to take, and would be each separately capable of taking, a stand.”