We Are Orphans Here Review

This essay takes place in the hot zone of the middle east, Isreal. Depicted is a camp that holds in the refugees with inhumane living conditions. The trash is burned at border walls as an act of symbolism. There are criminals and dangerous men who walk the compound. When we read the camp, we picture something minuscule. When shown the photos the actual "camp" is a lot bigger than what my imagination created. There's a tone of sadness as we can't help but feel sorrow for the children and families who live here. There's a tone of optimism with the introduction of the character Baha. A man who wants to create a better living space for everyone. This often reminds me of MLK as a man who wants to create positive change. Like Martin, Baha was gunned down by someone who was scared of change. This creates a bleak sense. As if the hope of positive change died with him, but as the narrator says in the end "A baby can thrive no matter." Compared to Two Shallow Graves I'd say after reviewing again this story is much sadder. These are children who suffer. WHo are using drugs as early as eight. Who grow up without fathers and mothers and live in a cage. It is sadder because these children don't have the privilege to experience a life they deserve.

In the essay "Two Shallow Graves" by Jason Arment, made me feel sad. I did not find anything that humor me in this essay. its hard to make humor out of something that makes you feel for a person and there is really no time to make humor when you are trying to survive in war.

Two Shallow Graves

My first impression from this essay was in the intro when he talks about the man they have who was a farmer, that's what he had assumed and  

"\We are orphans here."

                              "W\e are orphans here" was a very interesting essay to read about for my opinion. The author gave the readers many ways to image who she is. After reading the intro the reader can already conclude that Rachel is an american.After reading the essay I can conclude why the author named this essay " we are orphans here", the author mentioned that there was no place for children to play or move around. I believe this is one of the reasons the author named this essay as she did. throughout the essay the author explained many negative things about the refugee camp, but barely any positive things about it. I believe the author feels pity on the people, mainly children that live there, which is the reason for my opinion she gave the essay this title. thoroughly the essay was pretty bleak for my opinion. However the only part of the essay which i thought wasn't bleak was when Rachel stated "baha founded a community center so that older children have a place to hang out". Everything else mentioned in the essay was very dull for my opinion. Bureaucracy is a system of government in which most important decisions are made by state officials rather than by elected representatives. In this essay it was a bureaucracy system because the officials basically made rules for the camps. For my opinion both essays were very dull and sad to read. 

We Are Orphans Here Review

    This essay is bleak and talks about Kushner's experience in Shuafat Refugee Camp with Baha as her guide, a twenty-nine- year-old Palestinian community organizer. The author, as a special guest at the Refugee Camp, shows us what she saw and heard in the first person. As I read about the poor living condition of people there, I sympathized with refugees and felt angry because neither the Palestinian authority nor Israel provides services to the  Refugee Camp, which causes many innocent people die and a lot of social problems, such as crime, jihad, and trash fires. According to the title "We Are Orphans Here", it comes from what Adel said. On the other hand, "Orphan", means a child whose parents are dead, which refers to these refugees without the government's help and protection, forcing to live in tough condition. And the kids here don't seem to have a good future. As for Baha, it can say that he is a hero and he is important to the whole Refugee Camp because he make a great contribution to the Refugee Camp. In the end of the essay, author describes Baha's death in a flat tone but it implies that the entire camp will suffer in his absence and the refugees' fates are dispiriting.

                               "We Are Orphans Here"

The ethos was impressive because the way writer expressed the story created a picture in font of my eyes. The significance of the title "We Are Orphans Here" was that it kind of tells you about what the story is going to be because the word orphan means a child without parents and we means there are a lot  of people who are alone.The text "the building next to us was twelve stories. Next to it was another twelve story building". After reading this line it all starts to make sense like how the refugee camp was like and i searched for the pictures of Shuafat Refugee Camp on Google and it was almost the same as i imagined.After looking at those pictures i wanted to get to know more about that Refugee Camp. Bureaucracy 

• What is bureaucracy?  What role does bureaucracy play in both of these essays? Does it serve a purpose for good, bad, or is it more indeterminate? 

A bureaucracy is a system of government in which most of the important decisions are made by state officials rather than by elected representatives. Bureaucracy plays a big role in how the lives of the people living in refuge camp are run. Due to the strife of war torn countries and lack of a place in the world the people inside the Shuafat Refugee Camp are barely considered citizens and even though there are taxes being paid to the government that took them in as sanctuary.

"We Are Orphans Here" Response

From the beginning of the essay, "We Are Orphans Here" the author gave me the impression of being surprised of the people around her and the unfamiliar settings. She recalls the admiration the community has for Baha and I believe she herself is at least a little inspired by the way everyone looks up to him. He was like this celebrity that people relied on and he was eager to help. Rachel Kushner goes as far as to describes him as "an informal mayor". As a character, I wouldn't say she has authority, that position would definitely fit Baha, as so many people respected him, but she was a curious outsider looking in and when she gets to see, firsthand, the tragedy, she's sympathetic.

A part that really stood out to me in the essay is when she meets Adel's daughter who is physically disabled due to the school bus accident, leaving her face burned and without ears, Kushner  just wanted to offer something as comfort or to give her some kind of promise, hope, even, but nothing was good enough. No material offering was good enough. She wanted to give her earrings the earrings she was wearing but she knew that wouldn't fix the fact that Adel's daughter would go on to live a difficult life.

The title for this essay, I would say, is straightforward. These people who live these unsafe and impoverished lives are living in refuege camps. It's a temporary shelter, kind of like orphans in an orphanage, until the situation gets better. If it ever does, that is.

We are Orphans and Two Shallow Graves

We are Orphans and Two Shallow Graves are both connected.  The essays are connected because they both take place in Middle Eastern areas.  And we(people who watch the news) are always hearing about these terrible things that go on in the Middle East.  It changed the way I read the essay because feel like have heard of these things before.  I knew the essay would have a sad tone when i realized the setting.  For example in "We are Orphans Here" the author mentions a little girl named Mira who was missing part of her arm and a kneecap due to a bus accident in which people burned to death.  Accident or not it seems like we always hear of these type of tragedies mostly in those areas.

In both essays "Two Shallow Graves" and " We Are Orphans Here" I didn't really find humor of within both of them . They both take place in the Middle East , either a war going on or families in refugee camps . These moments that I read from both these essays makes my reading experience seem very dull. Knowing what these people had to go through and no one doing anything about it , or to help at least . 

"We are orphans here"

The impression i felt from the author is that they speak with a very sad tone and give off a story where we feel as if there is a significant problem going on. Me personally i felt the Palestanian and Israeli essay more and felt more related to that one just because the fact that i am a Palestanian. Growing up i used to hear and see alot about whats going on in my country but all the time i just felt greatful for not being in their position. I felt this way until summer 2016 when i visited Palestine and saw the harsh conditions that they were living in. Now when i talk about the conditions they were in, im not only talking about the lack of clean water and housing conditions, im also talking about their enviroment. The country is very dirty and has garbage and mud all over the place and the worst is walking down the street and hearing gunshots and bombs going off everywhere. The night time was the worst and i felt very confused as to why all this was not fazing my family that does live there until i realized that they are used to living in these conditions and getting news that so and so died or someone got shot. For the 2 weeks i was there we got 2 knocks on the door with someone breaking the news to my cousin that someone they knew died. Its a sad world and i barely survived those 2 weeks so i always think about what i seen over there. I actually got 2 guns pointed at me and my family at the airport by israeli soldiers for jumping on the wrong shuttle bus.

In the essay "we are orphans here" Rachael sort of talks about how life was kind of hard in the refugee camp. Also I found it interesting how she brought up this guy Baha Nababta who acts sort of like a mayor in the camp and this guy is like God to everybody, whenever someone has a problem they go to him.

Two Shallow Graves

The essay is placed in Iraq. Off the bat the tone is dark and melancholy. Were introduced to this unparalleled world where there's nothing but heat and misery. There's a prisoner who's not titled a prisoner but a "Person Under Custody." Hands behind his back with a sandbag over his face in the merciless sun. That's the mild side of war. The narrator depicts this separate world that somehow fits into our world. War was always ruthless and inhumane but do actually get depictions of the tear drops forming on the sand as the prisoner cries and prays because he knows hes going to be tortured like a animal causes my hope in humanity to die down. Humans acting inhumane is the best summary I can give when speaking about this war. Inhumane is not an accurate word but nothing summarizes the painful misery that soldiers live in. The mental trauma the builds up causes nightmares and the decay of his life. In 10 days the soldier spent 150 hours on post. The sweat and fungus builds up on his skin. We often fund these wars with out tax dollars and selected government officials. There is a mandatory grit and ruthlessness needed. When humane is shown its often identified as weakness and treason. "Two Graves" is a manifest of war.

We are orphans reaction

This article was a fantastic insight to a borderline humanity crisis which is rarely talked about. With all the atrocities going on around the planet every day, it's tough to touch base on every single one. This piece provides a lens into the nightmarish hellscape that is this refugee camp in Israel. The government of Israel is exploiting these people in any way possible, from not reciprocating their tax dollars, making it illegal to leave the camp for some people who do not have proper ID, to allowing infrastructure to deteriorate to the point where there are hardly any paved roads. Many of the people living within the walls of the camp simply cannot leave because they are from Gaza, and it is illegal for any citizen of Gaza to enter Israel. It's an extended form of oppression that dates back to the mid 20th century when Israel became an independent state and all Arabs were exiled to what is now Palestine. The pictures definitely helped paint the decrepit scene the author was describing to us. The encampment looked as bad as I thought it would, however, its size is what really shocked me. I believe she said it was 2 square km in the article, but seeing that size through photos really makes it set in how much this place really is like a city.

We Are Orphans Here

This essay really shed light on what life is like in the Shuafat Refugee Camp in Israel. Reading "We Are Orphans Here" by Rachel Kushner depicted the issues refugees of this camp face on a day to day basis. She talked about a man named Baha Nababta who was viewed almost as an unofficial mayor of the camp. Many people of the neighborhood looked up to him and came to him in their time of hardship. The way Kushner describes how the people of the camp rushed over to her merely for the fact she was accompanied by Nababta. It shows he was a beacon of hope of the people of this refugee camp and he wanted to be that for them. He wanted to bring the people of this camp together as a wholesome community. After viewing the pictures in class, I realized that my mind was picturing the situation at the camp in a destitute state. It wasn't that bad however, I still feel it isn't right that the people of this camp don't have basic necessities of life such as clean water and well built shelters. This camp stands for 50 years now and I haven't done any research on the place besides reading this essay but I hope its a better place now.

The middle east connection

I feel like both essays did an exceptionally good job at showing the brutality and horror that the middle eastern people have suffered either directly or indirectly from U.S occupation. The graphic details from both authors like the child's ears melted off to the soldiers barbecued in their own Humvee's. Both were pretty bleak, the attempt at humor in Two Shallow Graves didn't seem funny as much as it did a coping mechanism for the soldier to deal with the horrors and  risks he faced at war. Professor Talbird you must be correct about my cynicism because i actually enjoyed these bleak tragedies over the other essays.

We Are Orphans Here

One thing that struck me about the essay is that people are so resilient, they can come to see anything as "normal." Rachel Kushner, even in her short time in the camp, is not afraid to walk alone as she exits, thinks how "wonderful" and "safe" it was. Baja is very optimistic it is true. However, she gets another view from Baha's friend Adel, the one who speaks the words that give the essay its title, "We Are Orphans Here." Every day he has to see the horrible thing that has happened to his daughter so he can never be entirely optimistic. Likewise, I suspect Baja's wife, who will now have to raise three kids by herself, will have trouble seeing things so rosy. Perhaps positivity is a luxury not everyone can afford.

We Are Orphans Here

"We Are Orphans Here" was originally published in the New York Times Magazine accompanied by photos. Do the photos affect your reading of the essay? How so?

Intersex, and Erased Again

    As for the fact that the author is an intersex, I sympathize with her and understand her difficult situation, because it is difficult for anyone to accept such strange fact. On the other hand, if I am a intersex, I think I will suffer from depression or commit suicide.After all, this society is realistic and cruel, and it is hard to accept the heterogeneous people in a short time. When I finish the article, I know that the author is angry because her parents make a decision that they want to raise the author as a girl without her consent. I think people' fate is out of control sometimes. Being born with XXY chromosome is an accident of life. There is no use blaming parents because it isn't their fault. All parents hope their children have a healthy life. The only thing you can do as an intersex is to accept the fact and be optimistic about life. No matter what others think, just be yourself and  do whatever you want. Everyone is unique, either you have one more chromosome than other people is different. Everyone have his own rights that are not deprived at will. Hence,  I am opposed to Trump administration's policy that forgot the right of intersex.  

Two Shallow Graves and We Are Orphans Here

Both of these essays are along the lines of our final formal writing assignment. They are a personal response to a public issue. By personal, I don't mean that the authors have an opinion--everybody has one of those. What I mean is that in order to write their essays they had to go out into the world and experience things. They couldn't just write based on things they read about in the library or online. How did their personal experiences make you see these two historical events (the war in Iraq and the Palestinian crisis) in a new or different light? Other questions:

• What impression did you get of the author as a character in his/her own story (i.e. What is his/her authority (ethos) as a writer?)
• What is the significance of the title for each?
• Both essays are pretty bleak. Did you find moments of lightness or humor in either? Where and what do these moments do for your reading experience? 
• What is bureaucracy?  What role does bureaucracy play in both of these essays? Does it serve a purpose for good, bad, or is it more indeterminate?
• Both of these essays take place in the Middle East. Can you make connections between them? Do they have similar messages or do they overlap in any way?

Travels in Pornland Review

    Comparing with the essay " Cost of Living", I preferred reading the essay "Travels in Pornland" because this topic attracted me a lot and gave me to think  a lot. In the essay "Travels in Pornland", the author Andrea Stuart examined the subculture about porn through her own experience. When she was child, she was confused about sex or porn, and she thought those were mysteries belonging to the adult world. As she got older, her attitude toward sex changed. She became interest in it and wanted to know more about this subculture through interviewing with other people. 
     Besides that, the essay reflected a new style of feminism. Sex-positive feminists thought that porn was an opportunity for sexual self-expression and it helped more woman to have an independent income and gained a powerful political discourse to enhance their social statues, which was the authority about this subculture.                                                                                                                      After finishing this essay, I wonder that whether people develop porn industry can really benefit feminist? In my opinion, porn industry just brings to great fortune to unscrupulous final winner. What's worse, it will do more harm to people and the whole society and  obey the ethics.   

Response to “ intersex, and erased again”.  

               To begin with in my viewpoint in today’s generation, gender is quiet a problem. In many families, if a girl is born there isn’t any celebration, yet if a boy is born there more than just a celebration. However diragarding my thoughts on gender many people are also happy to give birth to a girl.  This essay confused me in many ways. By this I mean that, in the essay it stated that the doctors and her parents chose her gender when she was a newborn baby.  My viewpoint towards this is how is a New born baby suppose to determine there identity ? Rather in there life they choose to be a female or male ?  However when it came to the part in the essay where it mentioned that she was concerned about the trump adminstration wanting to make the meaning of gender to just female, male , and unchangeable, I was able to understand her feelings. I say this because she doesn’t fit into anyone of these categories.  I personally disagreed/ unliked many parts of this essay, because till today there are many births taking place, disregarding the fact if the baby is a male or female that are born with both male/female body parts. 

Two shallows grave
     
             Personally to me this essay was very interesting.  The author through the essay referred to ethos.  The essay was fluently described in a great manner, as I would say in a calm manner.  However it got kind of rough towards the authors view of the war.  The author seemed more worried about himself more than his partners through out the essay.  He stated more parts which included him drinking hot water rather than the part in the essay where he mentions his colleges being barbecued in their humvies, but the thing is deaths do take place during a war. I like how the character being mentioned  was completely against  capital punishment and also murder.  Darwin however still wins the side of the readers for my opinion.

Two Shallow Graves

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"Intersex, and Erased Again" response

Gender seems the be one of the most sensitive and maybe controversial topics talked about today. I think it's difficult to understand it when the meaning seems to be changing at such a rapid pace. Thus, why I hope not to offend anyone with my thoughts or reactions towards the article, "Intersex, and Erased Again". It's challenging for me to relate to gender issues or even feel like I get a say in them because I never struggled with my identity. I can't imagine that what the author went through was easy, as she talks about the issues intersex people face today. What confused me, however, is when she seemed upset that doctors and her parents chose her gender when she was a baby. At that age, how is a newborn supposed to vocalize how they choose to identify? It didn't make sense to me. I can understand getting to choose your gender as you're older, and you should have the luxury to do as you please, but when you are just born and can't speak, think, or depend on anyone else but your parents, how can you choose your gender?

I can see why she's concerned about the Trump administration wanting to make the the definition of gender be limited to male, female, and unchangeable, especially since she does not fit into simply one of those categories. It's concerning, especially for intersex people who are faced with have both male and female parts. I suppose the article broadened my perspective towards the issue a little more.

The Cost of Living

After reading The Cost of Living, I felt as though there wasn't really a subculture being exposed. The essay goes in depth about the narrator and author, Emily Maloney, and her struggles to pay her medical bills, but I don't see how that relates to a group within a bigger group. That said, I did find myself sympathizing with her struggles. It's unfair to think she reached a point of her life where she didn't want to live but after an unsuccessful suicide, she's burdened with a student loan amount of debt. She's paying to be alive. I also found it interesting to get an insight of what goes on in hospitals, like the crazy $54 million debt and the scarcity of resources. It makes me wonder, what does the hospital do with all the money it gets and the donations they receive? Where does all of that go?

I believe the author presents herself as a victim of the expensive costs that come with hospitalization. She's one of the many who have to struggle to find how they're going to pay for such expenses and often times, it's a life-long debt. I think she is trying to stress that there needs to be more resources available to these hospitals. I recall her explaining doing jobs that she wasn't responsible for, due to the issue of the hospital being understaffed. Then there were things like Dermabond being expensive, the cost of staples, X-ray's. At the end of her essay, Maloney leaves us to contemplate, what really is necessary?

Intersex thoughts

When I first started reading the article I honestly felt a little uncomfortable because I didn't know that a person's gender could be determined without their consent(the writer's gender was chosen at birth because she was intersex).  I would imagine that it feels violating to have your gender choice made that way.  Even though the child was intersex I feel when the child grows up they should probably be the one making the decision on gender.  And then she mentions how the Trump administration is trying to classify gender in a way that doesn't seem to consider intersex and transgender people.  There obviously needs to be more awareness and consideration for people with complicated gender, so that when big decisions are being made about gender there is more consideration for them.

Thursdays English Class

In thursdays english class we were put in groups to read each others essays and leave comments on what each student can add or what they could improve on such as adding details. When getting into groups it helps me better understand how to improve on my essay and know if my information all makes sense or if I'm missing information so it really helps. But for this weeks group I enjoyed it the most because we as a group decided to go around and talk about how eveyone could improve on or what they could add on each others essays. We thought about good ideas on how we could get more information about our topics such as, who to specifically interview and what areas in New York City each of us could go to get a better idea about our specific topics. I personally got to learn more about each students topics as well as gave ideas on what they could do when interviewing people on their sub culture. I really enjoyed the group I was put in because talking about each others topics rather than just writing down ideas on paper was a better way in understand how to improve on our essays as well as it allowed to express out thoughts in a better way. Overall it was a less akward experience with my classmates because we were open to giving ideas and helping each other out to improve in our essays instead of being quiet and not wanting to talk at all. It was both fun and helpful.

"Cost of Living"

While you reading you can clearly notice the tone of the essay, which has a mixed between pessimistic reality and tragedy. The main topic of this essay seems to be around the huge debt that corresponding both the author and the place where she works, the hospital. Additionally, this essay introduces us to the life of a nurse. The way that she works and manage her life outside her job. First, she tells about her life in the hospital she describes how after the debt of the hospital, they managed to cut their resources and use them as minimal as the can. She also tells us about the things that she has to do in the hospital. Ironically, she works as the person who assigns the billing to the patients. This way, I noticed that the job that she has, not only relates to her life in the present, but has much to do with her life in the past, or in other words when she got her huge debt. 
One of the things that she mainly narrates is the way her huge debt affected her life and how her life is surrounded by this debt. And as I say, the job that she has now relates to her in so many ways. First, she got the debt when she tried to commit a suicide but fails in the way. This way, she went to the hospital, where they helped her with her physical and mental injuries. Finally, because she didn't have a insurance to pay for this emergency, she got to pay it by herself. This way as the work that she has to do in the hospital, which is billing, has a lot to do with her dept. She mentioned in the essay that she feels identified with the people who get a huge debt when they go to the hospital. Therefore, sometimes she tries to help these people and tries to reduce their payment. 

 In the end, something that I didn't understand very well was the conclusion of the essay. 

Was she done with her payment? How so? 

How didn't she realized before?

After reading the essay "Travels in Portland" you realize that the main focus is the subculture of explicit porn stars. The narrator/author of the essay explains their trip to Los Angeles where the porn industry is mainly located. On the trip they get to experience it with their own eyes and see the behind the scenes of  making these explicit pornography films. The author eventually plays a role in this and becomes a porn star by exposing herself to the world of men and women porn actors and engaging in their ways by posting explicit videos to the web of herself.

Cost of Living

Reading the "Cost of Living" by Emily Maloney, I found myself feeling very sympathetic towards to the author. Suicide is never the answer but when someone is driven to that point and they fail it leaves the person in an inconsolable state. Ultimately, what led to the authors decision to commit suicide was when she got off the meds she was prescribed, which was 26 in total. This is a lot of medication for someone to be taking and then suddenly stop. Her medical insurance was also terrible so she wasn't covered on her hospital expenses. As someone who has never had to deal with horrible debt I can't completely relate to her. I don't believe it's right to make someone pay that much money just to pay for medical expenses that come from them trying to kill themselves. They should receive help for their issues instead of having a bunch of debt thrown their way.

travels in portland shows the subculture in porn. she touches base on all the topics, how there's a demographic porn for transgenders. she is a black lesbian through the 90s which can be really hard because even living in the 21st century, people still get judged for being gay and the suicide rate in the LGBT community is high. San Francisco has a large acceptance for porn and they do make a lot money out of it but the reason why they make so much money is because they have a big support from the LGBT community.

Intersex and Erased Again Review/Thoughts

Upon reading this, I was expecting a left winged angry essay just like the ones I've read in the book, but I enjoyed the piece. The writing style and narrative was easy to follow and well written. Often I find with personal and emotional pieces there seems to be a jagged narrative that crosses over into different subjects that don't correlate to the actual topic. In this case, the whole essay stuck to the issue of intersexual people face. In such a sensitive matter I'll tread carefully and try my best to be politically correct. I have not encountered any phycological or physical issues that a person who was born with two reproductive parts so in some parts when reading this essay I found it hard to agree with. Not because I feel I'm against the topic but because I just can't relate. There's one point that left me puzzled when the author says that they were born with both reproductive parts one in the inside and one on the outside they didn't let her choose. While I understand when your in a situation like that the person should decide what gender they prefer to identify with for their lives, but when you are born you can not choose. Since you are a baby, I do feel it should be up to the parents to decide until your older to see what you'd like to identify as. As someone looking through the outside in I sensed a tone of resentment or victimization. One that I found injust especially since no parent would purposely put stress on the child. In regards to the laws and views of the Trump administration I rather not touch on.

Intersex, and Erased Again

This article was in the times today and is relevant to what we were talking about on Tues. Check it out:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/23/opinion/trump-transgender-memo-intersex.html

Cost of living

This essay starts off with a setting where we already imagine whats going on. In just the first sentence we learn the year this took place and where the narrator worked, which was a hospital in the level 2  trauma center just outside Chicago. We also learn that the hospital is $54 million in debt, the introduction hooked me on as soon as i started reading because i wanted to learn why the hospital was in debt?, what they do about it?, whats going to change? Just a bunch of questions i had just from reading the introduction. The title also played a huge roll on why i picked this essay, and that is because it makes you question what it could be about and attracts the reader from there. The narrator starts to bring up patients that she felt bad for because they weren't able to pay off their hospital bills. At this point she was the one sending the hospital bills out and she went ahead and decided to lower the cost of some patients bills because they couldn't afford it. The hospital was already in deep debt so when you're basically stealing money from the hospital and you get caught, you're definitely getting fired. So she risks her job and maybe even career for these patients.

Cost of living

The essay "Cost of living" examine nursing subculture.The author worked in a Hospital as an ER her job was to help nurse and doctor if they need something.Their ethos was to conserve resources and only use what is necessary.The author tried to kill herself. She was not expecting how much money she had to pay.She talks about the unintentional cost. She talked about how expensive the hospital was.She talked about how the medicare could effect the quality.She was comparing herself to college students because some of college students are in debt because of student loan.She was in the same situation. I feel like this essay talks more about how  resources should be used.The last line of the essay asks a question "But what,exactly,is necessary? I feel like every thing in the hospital is there for a reason so i feel like everything is necessary.

Cost of Living

In this essay, the author was in depression and she tried to kill herself taking pills. When she went to the hospital by emergency, she did not imagine how much it would cost, including the hospitalization. She also had to take medicine to recover and those were expensive. The author also descried her experience working at the hospital and how she helped other people in their payments making it less.

 the author talked about the issues at the hospital, especially the cost of medical care. At the end of this essay someone removed her payment information. 

"Cost of living"

In the essay "Cost of Living " by Emily Maloney the author talks about two things one being suicide and another being the cost of paying off debt. At first when going into the essay I thought it would talk about the struggle it is to pay for rent and food when being payed very little money. The essay was completely different and talked about two issues suicide and debt at the same time. The author showed how a person could not only struggle from being payed at minimum wage and trying to pay for their responsibilities, but also struggle when trying to put your life back together. The author struggles to put her past in the past and be a new person, but she is still reminded of her mistake by being on this debt she cant pay off. As I read the essay I didn't really see how the essay was  a sub culture because she the author didn't stick to talking about one thing, such as nursing but overall I saw how the author incorporated both suicide and debt which is something I haven't heard about so that was really interesting.

Travels in Pornland

The Essay, "Travels in Pornland" focuses on the subculture of raunchy porn stars. The author, goes to L.A.  where it really all takes place and gets to witness it first hand. The author examines their subculture by exposing herself to this world that consisted of men and women alike, participating in sexual acts to put out into the web. She takes note of not just the acts they do, some which, she doesn't quite understand and leaves her cringing, but by diving into detail about what these group of people look like and how they act. She described them as white, heterosexual and conventional She felt as though it didn't represent real people.
   Andrea Stuart presents herself as an admirer of this particular subculture. She isn't directly a part of it, as she isn't a porn star herself, but she is a writer who worked at feminist magazines. She says herself, she was, "transfixed by the pleasure-loving, sex-positive model of feminism that the third-wavers espoused." (Staurt 253). Feminism is the political statement in the essay and I would even say is the prominent theme. My question would be, why does she consider herself a third-wave feminist?

Cost of Living

The subculture of "Cost of Living" is being a nurse and also being in debt. As a nurse she has authority over the sick and shows how hard it is being a nurse in a hospital in about 58 million in debt and how she does extra work since it looks like they don't have enough staff. As for her she has no authority over her debt as she been getting calls from debt collectors and been blocking the numbers and how she believes that killing herself would be cheaper then trying to pay the debt off.

Cost of living

            This essay for my opinion was very interesting. I personally believe there wasn't any subculture used throughout the essay, instead it was like a scattered essay for my opinion. The author at the beginning of the essay mentions that the hospital he worked at was $54 million dollars in debt, which resulted in them having to use less supplies on patients. For example it mentioned " we were told to dispense fewer scrub tops to...". Hospitals still today face debts, because many patients who come in for an emergency usually don't pay the bill, they receive due to how large the bills are. The argument being mentioned in this essay is that everything in life has a cost, no matter what it is. Also for my viewpoint i believe that the author is arguing that people should not be billed, for life threatening issues. For example the author of the essay mentioned " i started billing differently, it could have been when we had a patient die, and i had to bill his family". The author is basically arguing that the bills for patients that come, are way to high and cant ever be affordable to an individual. After reading this essay it started to make me think about things like, why send a bill of a large amount to someones family who has died because doctors weren't able to save him?  Even today if you don't have medical insurance, just to go to the ER for a minor injury, the bill which comes in the mail is over a 1000$ easily. 

Travels in Pornland

"Travels in Pornland" written by Andrea Stuart is a very interesting piece on the different views on pornography as a whole. The author was just a child when she had her first encounter with any form of pornography. I felt I could relate to this since I was also introduced to pornography through a childhood friend from my neighborhood. As kids we don't truly grasp what we are exactly looking at when it comes to porn. Stuart, her brother and their friend didn't seem to know either, however they knew it was naughty. Pornography had almost no presence in Stuarts life when she was young, but as she grew up she eventually began to work at a feminist magazine called "Spare Ribs". Here she saw  different takes on pornography from feminist individuals. 

Some sex-positive feminists thought that sex was a way for one to express themselves. Although it was believed to be a radical way of going about things, it was still accepted by many. Stuart personally felt porn was catered more to male pleasure and less to female pleasure. Also, she believed it didn't represent minorities very well. I feel like I can't really relate to most of this essay because I didn't have the same issues as she did with pornography, but I do respect her viewpoints.

Travels in Pornland

In the essay "Travels in pornland" I found it very interesting because the author said in the beginning that porn when he was 7 years old was like such a low key type of a thing and they would whisper over a picture of a women's boobs. However, as he grew up in the 70s and 80s, porn became more of a common thing because everybody liked it. Nowadays, it sounds crazy but pornography isn't even something that someone is embarrassed of its almost like an everyday routine for some people and that's why I mainly find this essay so interesting.

Travels in Pornland response

Travels in Pornland is mostly concerning the subculture of  feminist porn watchers.  Actually the main character of the essay is part of two different subcultures; feminist porn watchers/makers and feminists who believe porn is okay toward women.  In the essay when she talks about feminist she mentions that they are split in half on the topic of porn in terms of women.  There are feminists who believe porn(or the porn industry) is borderline abuse and takes advantage of females and there are those who see porn as way women can finally make good money.  They also say it is a good way for women to express themselves express sexually.  It was interesting to find out that feminist are divided when it comes to certain topics.

In the essay "Cost Of Living" it introduces that the hospital was in dept . $54 million in dept. They made a policy was that "please conserve your resources. Only use what is necessary ." So how will they overcome it , to get out it ?

Cost of Living 

One of the subcultures in "Cost of Living" is the cost of everything in the hospitals. They were $54 million in dept. Their were people who knew this as well. It was well known. Little things as having to be careful on distributing stuffed animals to those kids who weren't so happy having to be in the hospital. As well as being told to watch on what they use because there wasn't enough money for everything to just be thrown away. This was a sad intro to begin with. Left me with sense of how can people work like this?..

Cost of Living

The Cost of Living has no subculture. The ethos portrays the medical health care system in America and how hospitals are severely under budgeted and often in debt. The "subculture" is the medical industry in America and while that is a group its not necessarily a subculture. A subculture to my knowledge is a group that is formed from a bigger group and while there is a hint at a subculture in the sense of nurses and suicide survivors there isn't enough light shined on it to call this essay a piece on subcultures. Big pharma is portrayed as a villain by charging suicide attempts a six figure debt. The hero are nurses who do all the work in the hospital to help save lives for the benefit of humanity.  An argument can be said to say there's a subculture in the medical field in which nurses are the work horses but like mentioned earlier there isn't enough light shined upon them to create a narrative of subculture. The main question I have is how does this essay give a look into a subculture that we don't know. And what subculture is it. 

Cost of Living

           I think the subculture represented in this essay was nurses. the author herself was a ER Tech at a Chicago hospitals's level 2 trauma center. the ethos sounded frustrated,overworked, and disgusted at the system in which she was involved in. the tone made more sense once she discussed her attempted suicide and the bills that arose from that "failure". the main focus was on the billing system in the health care system so i found the author a bit scatter brained which would make sense since she was a resident of "Fort Knox".

the tone of the intro is very aggressive, June goes right into her point and from the very beginning not only does she talk about smoking but she brings up racism. she talks about the class difference with people.

the conclusion she was still aggressive except she was more calm and organized. i dont agree that she wanted to smoke  around kids, i think that was a little overboard. 

If I Only Had a Leg

After reading the essay “If I only Had a Leg”, the author Greg Marshall informs that people have to stick around if you want to succeed. Greg Marshall’s experience enlightens me and inspires me a lot. I think I shouldn’t easily say give up if I encounter some adversities.

When I first saw the title of the essay, I thought this essay just talked about an experience of person without legs. However, when I finished the essay, I figured out it was not what I thought.  The title reflected that Greg’s wish, which connected with the whole essay. Also, it was related to the Scarecrow's song named If I Only Had a Brain in The Wizard of Oz. The fate of Scarecrow was similar to Greg's fate; they both hoped to have a new organ to substitute their bad one. They were looking forward  to their bright futures. In the process of  pursuing Greg's dream, he learned to know himself well and overcame the adversities. Especially, when he didn't get the role of the Scarecrow in high school, I thought this event was a good lesson for him because he did realize his weakness from it, even though he performed that role of Scarecrow well when he was a child.

"Cost of Living" & "Travels in Pornland"

The essay "Cost of Living" examines the nursing/hospital subculture and the essay "Travels in Pornland" demonstrates the subculture of porn related magazine workers.

In the essay "Cost of Living", the author presented her subculture by speaking of the cost of almost everything in the hospital and ways to prevent additional debt. The author's ethos of the subculture was practically about how hospitals that are in debt should work more careful in order to not waste money.
In the essay "Cost of Living", the author presented her subculture by portraying the views of porn magazines, feminism, and actual famous porn stars. Her authority towards this subculture was originally as working at the feminist magazine Spare Rib.

"Cost of Living" and "Travels in Pornland"

• In what ways do these two essays examine subcultures?
• How did the authors present themselves in relation to the subculture that they examine? In other words, what is their ethos? How are they an authority about this subculture(s)?
• Both of these essays seem to be making certain political arguments too. What are they and how convincing, or not, are these arguments to you?
• What questions did these readings raise for you? (Try to answer one of your classmate's questions.)

Revenge of the mouth breathers:

                         The essay " revenge of the mouth breathers" was for the most part, written on the authors opinions. By this i mean the author didn't actually put any facts into her essay to back up her opinions. for example the intro of the essay mainly mentioned what she thought about people who are against smoking, and towards the end she did the same. However i did enjoy reading the essay, because i myself use to smoke, so it was a interesting topic for my opinion. 

Revenge of the Mouthbreathers :A Smoker's Manifesto

     After reading the opening of the essay, the author June showes her antipathy toward antismoking legislation. Indeed, I favour that antismoking is good for our health. However, I don't like the government's hypocrisy that June mentioned in her essay. The government announces that antismoking legislation is for our own well-being while it isn't really concerned about public health. Besides, the government doesn't care about the working class people's health which makes me furious. I think this kind of class prejudice and racial problem will cause social more disharmony and foster class hatred.

   As for the ending in this essay, the author continues to accuse the government' hypocrisy and informs that people have rights to pursue what they want and don't let anyone make you feel ashamed. I 'm really agree with her idea. Even though I understand the cigarette does harm to people heath, people still have rights to smoke. Hence, you, bourgeois or other  classes should gives a tolerance with each other.

Revenge of the Mouthbreathers

Upon the first few sentence of Moutbreathers, I initially thought I wouldn’t like it. It wasn’t just because I was a non-smoker, but because of the aggressive tone the author goes in with. I got the sense that she was resentful, even, , at least towards the government. She attacks them several times throughout the essay and that’s how she brings up class. The essay was about the the rich, the poor, and everyone else, just as much as it was about smoking. It was hard for me to sympathize with someone who was so crass, especially when she used the analogy of blowing smoke into babies faces. Maybe she did it for the shock factor, and if so, she was successful in doing so and in showing her unapologetic support for smoking. 

  The essay was very much, the author’s manifesto. While I wasn’t swayed completely, I could understand the certain points she mentions. From what I understood, she believes the government takes so much from us without giving back. The working class, who notoriously smoke more than everyone else, are struggling in strenuous jobs that earn them less than enough to pay rent. They don’t have the luxury of going on vacation and getting a proper night’s rest. Smoking is the one thing they do have, and maybe that’s why she’s so endlessly passionate about it. She clearly has experience with it herself as she angrily mentions getting kicked out of certain public spaces for smoking. By default, she has her own bias. However, I will say this: the government does do a good job of picking and choosing what they will spend their attention on. If they really cared about the public health of people, they would go through greater lengths to get things done. Whether that be making sure everyone has healthcare, making sure jobs are paying enough for people to actually survive, or bringing awareness to other habits such as drinking and nutrition. It seems hypocritical to pick and choose what to focus on it seems the author is fed up with it too. 

Revenge of the Mouthbreathers: Introduction and conclusion

In the introduction, the author transmits a aggressive tone, this way the tone brings more attention to the topic and emphasizes her perspective and her point of view. Which's she arguing in favor of the smokers. Also, you can see in her words confidence and power because she clearly has experiences with this particular subject and as well as she knows what she wants to convey or express to the writer. She talks about many subjects in this introduction such as the gap between poor and rich (where she's defending a particular class which the working class). The decisions of the government about the different campaigns about cigarettes and the way the government tries to convinced us about cigarettes can be harmful for us.Additionally, she's talking about how the government chooses to ignore another harmful things like sugar and alcohol, but doesn't talk about, making cigarettes look more harmful. Finally, she refers to the racism as well. All of these arguments help her to build her thesis and as well as the evidences that support it.

The conclusion clarify what's her respond about the different ways that the government tries to make smokers to quit. She also points out that there are many other things that are harmful for the working class, but the government refuse to talk about it. Also, she wants the smokers to not quit just because someone said to do it. She courage them to keep on do it, as she says " our lives are actually for our enjoyment, not to make others' lives easier, cleaner, and lazier". With this, she demonstrates sympathy towards this people and how she cares about them.

Revenge of the Mouthbreathers

I find "Revenge of the Mouthbreathers" by June Thunderstorm to be a very compelling manifesto after reading it a couple of times. Although Thunderstorm has a very aggressive approach to this writing piece, I believe it's the most effective way to get readers to actually listen to what she is saying. At first I felt like she was a very rude person and didn't like the way she presented her argument. However, after we discussed the text more in class, I realized maybe her argument isn't just about her smoking cigarettes wherever she wants. I believe it's more about the different classes and how they are treated differently. She has a strong passion about what she's talking about and I've grown to respect that.

If I Only Had a Leg Review

This essay was interesting. Not the aspect of being a gay actor with cerebral palsy but the format that the piece is written. The actual wording and narrative are well executed. Often when I've read the previous essays, there's a trade-off. Execution or concepts and there's a tiny population of people who can do both well. Greg found middle ground. The technical aspect of the essay was written in a way where it doesn't feel edited. It feels organic and natural the way writing should be. There's no smell of corporate works when you read this, and that makes this essay much more enjoyable. And although its well written the actual story was bland. For the topics at hand, Id assume there'd be much more room to draw the readers interest. There was no part in which I felt something for Greg. There was no emotional connection with the work and no sense of importance in the story. If Greg found a way to make the story more rich in details about being an actor with a severe disability or being confused or even how the acting career was demanding this could have been a much stronger piece.

I Am Not Your Negro .

This is my first time to read Baldwin ‘s works. After watching the movie “I Am Not Your Negro”, I took a long deep breath about this racial discrimination history. And it gives me a lot messages to think about. Everyone is born equal, isn’t it? Even though we are different colors, we are both god’s creatures, like brothers. Hence, why always brothers are fed up with his brothers and why brothers murder his brothers? According to Baldwin’s last statement in the movie, “I’m forced to believe that we can survive whatever we must survive, but the negro in this country, the future of negro in this country, is precisely as bright or as dark as the future of the country. It is entirely up to the American people are not representatives, whether or not they are going to face and deal with, and embrace the stranger they have maligned so long.””The white population of this country has got to ask itself, North and south, because it is one country, and for the negro, there is no difference between the north and the south, it is just a difference in the way they castrate you, but the fact of the castration is the American fact.” I agree with him. Nowadays, racial discrimination is still a ubiquitous social problem. As a person in 21st century , I’m inclined to say that people should live in harmony no matter what color they are. Our world needs love and peace.

In "Revenge of the Monthbreathers:A Smoker's Manifesto" made me view smokers still the same in my point of view many people smoke for different reasons. That does not change the way of the smell or how others can inhale that smell and can still get sick from it, in the long run.  Everyone has there own opinion and that fine.

The conclusion she says " my last words for smokers are simply: never let anyone make you feel ashamed. You should be able to smoke precisely as much as you want." shes right you shouldn't let anyone tell you nothing but you should have some consideration to them as well and if there is a child around move from them.                                                                                 

The conclusion is saying that people think it "mean" or "violent" because smokers are in public doing it around kids . Bad for peoples health . Basically the government is allowing it , so why should other people care ?

The intro to "Revenge of the Mouthbreathers A Smoker's Manifesto" was about how smoking doesn't help. Basically saying that people smoke for different reasons . That they argue how its bad or good . Giving examples of people smoking , or her herself doing it .

in the start of "Revenge of the Mouthbreather:A Smoker's Manifesto" by June Thunderstrom, June tried to make it seem that the government is trying to divide people. it is also very one sided since it doesn't share the other point of view.
 in the end of the "Revenge of the Mouthbreather", June stated "the ruling class want us to quit smoking, they can provide us with the resources to spend". i believe that June blames them that people smoke. at the end June believe that if the government wants people to stop smoking, they should fund them to stop. 

Revenge of the Mouthbreathers intro and conclusion

In the essay Revenge of the Mouthbreathers, June Thunderstorm starts off with a very aggressive tone.  Thunderstorm's aggressiveness is targeted towards the government.  She is arguing that government anti smoking legislation is not or our well being, but "Foster class hatred, to keep us looking for the enemy in each other instead of those who are making a killing off cigarettes and anti smoking campaigns alike".

Thunderstorm takes a more of a revengeful turn in her conclusion.  I feel the author went overboard when she started talking about smoking near young children and blowing smoke in peoples faces.  Saying statements like those puts her the position of the bad guy not the people she's arguing against(government/higher ups). 

Revenge of the Mouthbreathers

June Thunderstorm the author of, "Revenge of the Mouthbreathers: A Smokers Manifesto" argues that anti-smoking legislation is simply passed as a form of social control. Workers work shitty jobs with shitty hours and they're just looking for something to alleviate the stress. Personally, I never smoked a cigarette in my life but I don't look differently upon anyone who has. They have their own life and they get to make their own decisions. The warnings are on the boxes so people know exactly what they're getting into when they smoke a cigarette. 

The author June Thunderstorm also speaks about how people feel disgusted when their around a smoker nowadays. They act as if smoking in front of child is an inhumane act and your should be reprimanded for it. However, she believes that smoking in front of a child is nothing compared to the other antics the government is up to. She states, "Instead, they blame the poor for contaminating the world, while funding paramilitary offensives in defense of filthy transnational mining projects and neocolonial oil-and-resource wars...". While that may be true I believe its unethical to smoke in front of a child and I'm not a fan of her aggressive tone in this essay. She has a right to her opinion on the matter but I just don't like the way she goes about expressing her opinion.

The opening of the essay gives me an idea of what the essay is going to be about.Opening shows that Anti smoking legislation did not improve the lives it claims to be protected.It shows the war between the working class and upper class people.The war is that smoking is dangerous for public health.This essay shows the racism that i United States cps kill black men simply for walking and breathing.

 conclusion

                          She is talking about what are the resources government should provide them just by spending quarter like smoothies,doing yoga,attending trauma therapy.I feel like she is trying to say that government is not really helping the working class people.In conclusion she talks about the smokers should not let anyone to make them feel ashamed.She is saying that it is our life we should make ourselves happy and not think about how other people judge you.

The conclusion basically refers back to the introduction of the essay. The author still has the same viewpoint of smoking as she did in the introduction. The author believes rather than the government worrying about citizens who smoke, instead should worry about other serious things in the world, and let smokers smoke in peace. As reflected by the conclusion the author is aggressively against the government and their view points towards smoking. as stated in the conclusion the author mentions " if our desire is to smoke, then offended professionals can just hold their breath for once." Although there were many opinions mentioned by the author which i disagreed with, this quote from the essay i personally agree with. Anybody shouldn't have anything against smokers, because they are not harming you in any way! 

Just from the opening of the essay, the author sets this tone of resentment towards anti-smoking legislation. From the beginning, June Thunderstorm is not just against it, but she doesn't like the government having involvement in such matters. She goes as far to claim "hypocrisy" and that the attention should be shifted towards things like alcohol and sugar consumption if the government is so concerned about public health. She come's off as resentful to me because she says that, essentially, everyone should choose to do as they please.

The conclusion sums up that very idea. Thunderstorm says if the government and upper class cared about about the public's well being, then they would also care enough to give workers a proper pay, paid vacations, and a job where they don't have to work tirelessly until they lack sufficient hours of sleep. She refuses to let smokers feel ashamed for their habits. Smoking is the only small induldgance that the poor have, so why take that away from them?

revenge of the mouthbreathers intro/conclusion response

The author is expressing his/her feelings on how warning labels on cigarettes. and anti smoking campaigns in general, are used to divide people. The author goes on to explain that the majority of smokers come from the lower class, a class which is already falling ill due to other factors in the life they lead. These lower class people won't feel the negative effects of smoking cigarettes, because their "shit jobs paying shit money", are already negatively influencing their health.


In the conclusion, the author seems to go off the deep end. While I typically agree with her overall argument, that minimum wage workers at multibillion dollar companies should get paid more, using cooks and cleaners at restaurants was a horrible example that only negated her point. Most restaurants are family owned; are family owned restaurants expected to dole out 35 dollars an hour to each one of their line cooks? Furthermore, at what point does onus get placed on the worker. In this world, there are numerous jobs available. If you're unhappy with where you are, the beauty of America is the ability to move on and change where you are. I recognize not everyone is able to make such moves, however, most of the people stuck in their position are not sous chefs at family restaurants, rather cashiers at McDonalds or some other massive food chain. Yes, there are numerous problems with the way the world works, especially when it comes to wages. That being said, if every business was expected to pay their workers 5x above minimum wage like she suggested, there would be no small businesses left, and that local pizza spot or chinese food restaurant you love so much down the street would be replaced with soulless Boston Markets or Applebees to give the illusion of a home cooked meal.

In Revenge of the mouth breathers, June Thunderstorm is setting a sad and miserable tone for the reader, because she is trying to show people what being in hard working class is really like. Its just a miserable life of people who work for minimum wage and have a very tough time making a living and all it does is drive them to smoke cigarettes for the rest of their lives until they die an untimely death. Even though the government says "warning this can cause cancer and/or death" it doesn't stop people from doing it because the government is making life so hard for people that its giving them no choice. In the conclusion I think the point June is trying to get across is that hard working people who have stressful lives should be able to smoke in peace without getting any crap from the professionals. These people already live stressful lives trying to live off minimum wage; the least you can do is let them enjoy a cigarette in peace!

Revenge of the Mouthbreathers Intro/Conclusion Response

The tone is set quick on the intro as its very assertive. The aggressive stance is fueled by politics and a feeling of oppression. Of the bat you sense years of oppression just of the way June describes smokers and the white politics that influence it. June takes a stance that there is a anti working class propaganda and it involves the use of cigarettes. She also touches on race and how nobody cares if Hispanics or African Americans smoke but only if the White Americans smoke. The aggressive tone often creates a strong stream of ideas that expand into other color politics and social issues.

The conclusion was more of the intro but more calm and organized. The conclusion was based off the idea that the working class is displayed in a vulgar manner because they smoke and because they smoke their less of a human than the "professionals." There's also a stance that smoking is a right and liberty that the working class should enjoy without others intruding and speaking about second hand smoking and the physical damages it causes. The argument in the conclusion is rage full as if its insane for someone to ask about second hand smoking or the damages it causes. What right do they have to disturb someone smoking. In all the conclusion was just more anger and oppression but written well and constructed in a organized and poetic manner.

In the opening paragraphs of the essay, the mood the author sets about cigarettes and smoking in general is degrading and exemplifies the way things were at the time the essay took place. For example, the author states that since cops in the United States kill black men for simply walking around and breathing, cigarette packs should read "Smoking Is a Leading Cause of Death Unless You Are a Black Man, in Which Case smoke 'em if you got 'em." This shows the racism occurring at the time.


In the concluding paragraphs of the essay, the author closes her final thoughts by giving some advice about smoking and people's opinions. It is your body, your choice, and your life. Based off the way people were treated in the essay because of smoking cigarettes, I agree with the way the author closed the essay and the effect it gives on both smokers and those who judge others that smoke. Me, personally having smoked and struggling with quitting, I take this advice but also have thoughts of the way others would take it.

The introduction basically states facts about smoking, and what the authors viewpoint is towards anti smoking legislation's. The author compares the way death takes place between black men and any other race. The author states black men get killed for just breathing while other races die from smoking or consuming alcohol. Towards the end of the intro the author mentions another great topic about how, smoking isn't the only thing killing people, its there minimum wage jobs as well, " shit jobs for shit pay is making the working class sicker,faster.". The way the intro is written just interests the reader so much, to continue to read the rest of the essay!

Mouthbreathers

As a life-long nonsmoker, it's hard to get on board w/ her essay. At the same time, it's also hard not to see the inherent logic of much of what she says. It is strange that the govt. is so invested in controlling this product that they formerly protected and assisted (in the form of tax cuts for corps.). Also, our govt. is in the process of lifting limits on car and factory exhaust and where is the outrage on that? We often see people of color as smokers in these anti-smoking commercials which presents the smoker as "the other" (at least to white viewers). Still, I wonder about Thunderstorm positioning "professionals" against "workers."

Revenge of the Mouthbreathers

The introduction to this essay really highlighted the ability a writer has to create bias, and make good points out of any point of view. Far from a victim, yet the author conveys this sense of helplessness in the face of "Big Brother" when it comes to his unhealthy habit. It showed to me the importance of doing research and verifying sources when reading as to not be mislead by writer bias as demonstrated in this essay.  the author makes 0 factual references and is entirely stuck in his way. Maybe a kale smoothie and walk in a smoke free environment wouldn't be the worst thing he can try.

The conclusion was unnecessarily aggressive/borderline radicalism with intentions of malice. sit ins next to a nursery? what does this accomplish? as if the babies have an opinion to her habit. She also doesn't want others opinions effecting her but will gladly blow her smoke in children's faces and force her choice on others. author just seems like a very angry individual who is either really irrational or on the Philip Morris payroll. cigarettes are not outlawed and she can smoke as many as she can afford in her home or in allowed public spaces. The author is no ones victim.

This documentary really opened me up more. I knew there was racism in America and many people wanted segregation, but I never realized how severe it really was after slavery. Even though there were laws that protected blacks from certain things like violence, the stuff that was said to them and the signs that were made were just flabbergasting, because if anybody were to say those things to me I would probably lose my mind. Racism is much better today compared to what it was back then but were still working on it.

James Balwin talks about how sentimental it was to him and to all the families. How it hurt them in many different ways. Watching this film made me see things different. Made me feel grateful to what we have become in the world. There are things that are sad still going on in this world but we came a long way. The racism that was going on back then was a very sad thing and many families losing members.

Revenge of the Mouthbreathers

What is the main argument of this essay?

How well does the author support her argument? Do you feel convinced? Why or why not?

What part does the government play in this debate?

What question(s) do you have after reading the essay? 

If I Only Had a Leg

What does Up with Kids sound like from the essay?

What's the significance of the title? How is it related to the Scarecrow's song in The Wizard of Oz?

What purpose did performing on stage serve Greg Marshall as a child?

What is the lesson that Greg Marshall seems to learn when he doesn't get the role of the Scarecrow in high school? Is it a good lesson? Why or why not?

I Am Not Your Negro

The whole film was very dense with the perception of what Black America was at the time. We often like to think of our civilization as advanced or progressive, and although at times it is, I often see the same struggles just masked differently. Visually the film was well made with the archival footage of James Baldwin, MLK, Malcolm, and Medgar. I'm not sure if ironic is the correct word, but I did find irony in the film on how the same situations that happened in the civil rights area are so identical, that if the film were colorized it would be no different from our current time situations. While the film was moving and powering I couldn't help but feel hypocrisy towards Baldwin. For the same exact reason, Brian did. To preach about black struggle in America you should at least be in America and not in a gentle European country while your "friends" are hunted down. Although Baldwin does return, I could not feel the same emotional encouragement as Malcolm and Martin.

James Baldwins School Performance

When watching the the documentary in class I am not your negro we were recomemded to watch a perfomance at out collage related to James Baldwinds work, which I found pretty interesting so I decided to attend. I didn't really know what to expect when coming in to the perfomance but I was surpised when it began it was beautiful. Musicions performed jazz music which I found to like a lot. The musicians explained how this music related a lot to James Baldwin because jazz was really big when James Baldwin was growing up. They let the audience know about how this type of music helped many african americans get thorugh hard times and how they were able to express their felings though music by playing it or just creating it. I found it amazing and beautiful to learn about how music was a big part of history and how it allowed people come together in hard times.

I am not your negro

When watching the documentary I am not your negro I found it very interesting as it spoke a lot about many important times in history for african americans. It showed how much african american people fought for their freedom to live completetly free in America, to be treated as equals, and to feel comftarble living in a country they helped create and grow just as much as the white man. As I watched the documentary I felt really frustated and sad because seeing how much african americans fought for this freedom to live in peace and be treated as equals in America for many years it seems as though this racism still goes on today in America, maybe not as much throughout the time of the civil rights movement but racism could still be seen today. I feel like watching this documentarry helps people open their eyes about racism and show how it's still going on in America it helps people undestand that change needs to happen.

The Weight of James Arthur Baldwin

The fact that Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah was the first black intern at Harper's goes to show the lack of diversity that's still around. It brought out the fact that not much has changed. We live in a world where whites are the majority and everyone else who isn't is a minority. For Ghansah, the symbolaized the lack of representation. This led to an inner struggle for her because she started to wonder whether she got the internship because she was genuinely worthy of it, or if it was just because she was black. It discredits all her accomplishment that got her too where she was. It shouldn't have mattered what color Ghansah's skin was but at work, she couldn't seem to forget it. In her essay she says, "It was then that I was smacked with the realization that the walls weren't the only unusual white entities in the office- the editorial staff was strangely all white as well." (Ghansah 19)

It is vital that not just mainstream US publications have black editors, but that all other jobs represent them as well. Diversity brings people together by teaching them about different cultures, religions, backgrounds, and experiences. We learn about someone else's perspective, not just our own. It is important to be exposed to different types of people and learning to accept them. I think that if society doesn't see people of their race in these important positions, it develops this culture that it's because they can't reach that level of success. A little girl at school who see's a teacher who's black like her deserves to feel inspired that one day, if she wants, she can be a teacher too. A teenage boy should get to see the first black president the United States and feel excited that he has the chance to be one himself. Diversity, inclusivity, and knowledge is essential.

I Am Not Your Negro

After reading Rachel Kaadzi's Ghansah's essay about James Baldwin, and later seeing a documentary about him, it feels as though not a lot has changed. At least not enough. Racism during that time was extremely common and African Americans had to fight for their equality. Did they reach their goal? I say yes and no. While racism isn't where it was in the time of Martin Luther King or Malcom X, it has not vanished completely either. Today, we see it in places such as our schools, our jobs, and even from our president. There is so much left to be done and people who need to be educated. Racism is not behind us.

So, what does Baldwin's work say about us now? I say it's that we don't change. In a way, history repeats itself. We're in a turbulent time where everyone wants equality but those who have it are a limited few. I think it says the times we're living in are similar to the times Baldwin experienced himself. If you read the paper or watch the news, you hear about the Black Lives Matter movement and police brutality, and it makes you wonder, or at least it makes me wonder, has anything really changed? It's important to start that conversation.

I Am Not Your Negro

What does his work say about us now?
You can see how the past and the present in the film are pretty much the same situations.With the difference that this time people are trying to be less open with their opinions about civil rights and more importantly, America is trying to transmit an image of change when there is not.  However, this time media has a greater role than before. You can clearly see nowadays, how information is shared throughout the world faster and now people from different parts of the world are aware of what’s happening with the fights for the civil rights in the US. Therefore, there are more people support this cause not only in America but in several other countries. But, even with this support, people seem like they don't want to truly learn or even more, open their minds to changes. Although you can see some changes, for example, people are not that open about expressing their racism than before. Of course, that’s because they are gonna be judged not only for their country but worldwide (media's role). To clarify, America has made some changes in order to end the inequality, however, there are still things to learn and a long way to go in order to end with it.

I am Not Your Negro

To be brutally honest this film really pissed me off. Not because I found it offensive but because i related to it so damn much. To feel unwelcome on the land your born. But that is our unfortunate history, since the smallpox blankets. It is a rage that burns so deep and for so long that sometimes you do forget with the hustle and bustle of the day to day. but then you see a film like this and your reminded of the times you felt ashamed of those who gave you life simply because they spoke with an accent, and worried what your white friends think. Or that dreadful question when first meeting white friends parents " where your parents from? It's these emotions of shame,rage,anger,angst simply from being, that are the very reason i could not connect as strongly to Baldwin. Whereas Malcolm, Martin, and Melvin were soldiers who stayed and fought for their people, bled and died for their people, Baldwin was the "war historian" writing from afar, at times coming into country like the press do at war times. a historian's description can never carry the detail, passion, and truth as that of the soldier who put their life on the line in battle. it made me see Baldwin as a coward. He didn't want to feel the feelings we who stayed felt, so his voice can never be our voice, not truly.