Benedict Carey's Op-ed

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/19/health/19babies.html?src=me&ref=general

This article is about the fact that children under the age of two are learning nothing from sitting in front of a TV. Instead, children under the age of two learn in an environment where they can interact with objects or people. Since these children are still developing, they have a harder time understanding what they are watching. In fact, they don't necessarily understand much of anything they are watching. Parents argue that it is an escape for them, because they sometimes need that time for themselves to deal with work, shower, or other quick tasks at home. Unfortunately the best way to get these tasks done is by placing the children in front of a TV screen to keep them occupied. This is the cause of children not being taught to their fullest potential, and because of that parents are being advised to limit the amount of time they put their children in front of a TV.

This article is very well-written. It provides a variety of different statistics which helps their opinion become more plausible. Along with that, the article isn't too pushy, it advises, but doesn't say that this is something that you have to do. As a reader, I felt that the approach of Carey's opinion made his point come off in a more appreciated tone. He wasn't yelling at parents for what they were doing, or bashing them, instead he was bringing to attention the downfalls of children under the age of two watching TV. If he would have been criticizing what other parents were doing, then this essay would have been a harder read for parents because they could become really defensive, but he didn't do that. Therefore he made his opinion clear and positive, which provided a great op-ed.

Deaf vs. Hearing

Sound and Fury was a very unique movie that allowed for its viewers to really think about culture and what it means to live in a world that is so different from someone else’s. The main issue that was brought up in the movie was a cochlear implant. This is something that is implanted in your head and can make someone deaf have the ability to hear. Heather, a four-year-old girl, was debating getting a cochlear implant. She wanted to hear, talk on the phone, and communicate with her hearing friends and extended family. The problem that arose from Heather's idea of a cochlear implant was the fact that her entire family is deaf. Even with her family being deaf, I believe that Heather should have gotten the cochlear implant.

Growing up in today's society isn't always easy for people who can hear, let alone someone who is deaf. Heather wants to hear the sounds around her, and the cochlear implant would allow her to experience those sounds. It would be a little more difficult for Heather to learn English or any language, but she could still do it and perfect it with time. When you are a baby and get this implant, you have a much easier time learning to speak because you are learning the language just like all other babies. Heather could is still young enough that she could still learn the language, but she would just have a harder time because she would be less developed compared to other of her age.

Although this could benefit Heather, her family completely disagrees with her idea. They think that it's completely against their culture. She is born deaf, her family is deaf, why not stay deaf? That all makes sense, but if Heather has this opportunity, her parents should take into account the benefits that could come from a cochlear implant

Heather would have the chance to live the best of both worlds. She could use speech and along with that her native language, sign language. She would be able to have professions that aren't necessarily available to people who are deaf. It's sad to think that way, but the hearing world isn't forced to learn sign language so the majority doesn’t necessarily know how to sign. That means at malls, restaurants, gas stations, libraries, schools, and other public places, they won't always know how to sign and there would be a lack of communication.

Heather wouldn't be giving up her culture; she would just be gaining hearing. She would still need to use sign language at home, and therefore she is still staying actively involved in the "deaf world". It's similar in the way that sometimes people, who speak Spanish as their native language, learn how to speak English fluently, but at home still use Spanish whenever they speak. Heather would become bilingual and what a neat thing for her. She would have many more opportunities in the world because she can speak English and sign. Her parents might not agree with it, but if they set aside their feelings and think of Heather, maybe they would realize that this would be the best thing for Heather. It might make them upset, but she is still deaf, she just can speak too.

Even as the mother of Heather, she considered getting a cochlear implant but when she heard that it’s much harder for an adult she reconsidered. Not only did she reconsider for herself, but for Heather too. Parents can affect their kids a lot and that’s what I believe happened. They made it seem like it was such a bad idea and then they began to involve Heather in a world of all deaf people. Of course taking Heather to a school where the children can hear wouldn’t be a good idea, because she can’t communicate with them at this moment. She still can’t hear because she doesn’t have the implant, so she is deaf. I just feel like what they did to her was unfair, they made her believe it was bad. The grandma was right; they are taking away so much from this little girl. I understand that growing up Heather’s parents didn’t have it easy, but they know what it was like. I feel that Heather’s parents took away a great opportunity for her, and she should have gotten the cochlear implant. Put all negative feelings aside and think of the little girl, not yourselves.

The Words of the Wise

As I found myself browsing over all the different words that the president's have used since 1789, I found myself to be rather surprised at how much certain words were used and at how little words were used.

When I think of a new president, I think of improvement. For some reason it has always seemed to me that when a new president takes office, he is going to work on something and make our nation a better place. Looking through the words used by the presidents, I realized my assumption was way off. There were only two presidents who even had that word listed. I guess it's not as popularly used as I thought. Although there were some words that didn't surprise me all that much.

During the time I was looking for improvement, I seemed to notice how often nation and government were used. It seemed to me that those two words were very common in almost all of the president's speeches. Sometimes, through the early years, these words weren't as common, but as the years turned towards being more current the usage of those words were very high.

Through this activity, I was able to really think about the words that presidents commonly use in their speech, and I thought that was really neat. It got me to be creative in the ways in which some of the presidents used so many of the unpopular words that were so frequently used by them as an individual. Hopefully throughout the course we will have more opportunities to do more activities like this.

The View Point of Writing in My World

Writing can be interpreted in a number of ways. There are people who write every single day of their life and love it, people who write because they are forced to, and people who write because it just keeps them busy. Well for me, I write because I have to. But that doesn’t meant that I can’t find joy in it or have an opinion on the way I write.

The way I write isn't unique in anyway, I just sit on my laptop and type. I allow for the words to flow out and that's what ends up on my computer, even my final draft. Then again after I ramble a lot, it leaves me with a lot of corrections to be made. 

I always follow a typical paper format, with an introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusions, but sometimes it doesn't always end up being read the same way I thought I wrote it. I overthink my writing a lot and want to add in a bunch of fancy words so that I sound more sophisticated because to me, if teachers don't feel like you are using good word choice, then your paper "sucks". That's why I find myself being forced to write rather that actually writing for fun.

Although there are quite a few times when I will find myself writing for fun and that's when I enjoy it the most. I just say what I want, without worries or critiscm. My ideas flow from my head and through my fingers, onto the keyboard and once I'm done it turns out to be decent. It's when pressure is put on me that I feel my writing turns terrible.

It doesn't help that I can become easily distracted with texting and facebook. Therefore I find majority of my time where I could be working on a paper, and instead I'm getting side-tracked by little things other than the paper itself. I have to be completely focused if I ever want to sit down and write a decent paper. 

Writing can mean a lot to all sorts of people, but to me it's mainly something I am forced to do. I don't find myself as a brilliant writer by any means, just someone who writes because of instruction and therefore not ending with the best papers out there, but at times I can find joy from writing, it just has to be on my own time.  

"Remember the Sweet Things"

Over the summer, well for me over the past week, I decided to read a book about the life of Ellen Greene. I usually am not one to sit down and find enjoyment out of a non-fiction book, but as I read her book "Remember the Sweet Things", it seemed just like a fiction book. I fell in love with her style of writing, the joy she found in her life, and everything she did to fulfill her life and live on edge.

Growing up in a small town in the northern part of Wisconsin, Ellen set out for Costa Rica to work on her Spanish degree. Since she was young, wild, and free from her christian home life, Ellen was ready to just have fun and part of that started at a club where she met her first husband, Carlos. She learns that she could do so much better and after a three-year's length of marriage she is back in the states. That is just her first stepping stone in life. Going through numerous men, moving her children, and losing jobs, Ellen finally finds happiness.

Back in the United States Ellen found a man that ended up being everything she ever needed. She found optimism and joy out of everything in her life. That's where her list of "Remember the Sweet Things" came from. Every time Marsh would do something nice, or she found something he did to be caring whether with her, family, or friends, she sould write it down. She figured that if you look at the negatives, you can never find the positives, and so from then on she would write down every positive thing about Marsh and when the time was appropriate she would share those memories.

Ellen had a certain edge to her. Marsh and her would just decide to travel, and so they'd pack some bags and hit the road. Sometimes with a plan, sometimes with nothing planned, just a drive and some stops. They lived in China for three years, traveled the world (well almost the whole world) in a boat, and made their life worth living. Ellen would switch up jobs and help teach English in different countries, and Marsh would work or do things at home.

If anyone were to ask me how I would want to live my life, it would be how Ellen had. She had a husband who adored her and shared the same interests as she did. They loved doing things together and had the "ideal" life. Financially they were always doing fine, but never were huge spenders. When complications came, they didn't fret, just went straight to a solution that they compromised on.

This book was a phenomenol read. Sometimes I had to stop and ask myself, "is this honestly a true story?" All the adventures and stories of what they went through seemed unreal. Along with that I couldn't believe how optimistic and up to anything these two people were. They pleased so many people, and gave so much of themselves, but didn't hesitate to meet their own needs as well. Everything they wanted accomplished was done. It was just incredible to see how she can come from having a life of disaster and pulling herself around and finding the best in everything. It's how everyone should find life, because as Ellen later found out you never know how long you'll have with someone.

The Extremely Long, Confusing Reading by Mary Wollstonecraft

Mary Wollstonecraft states her opinion in a very peculiar way. I have never read anything like it, maybe because if this weren't assigned I would have never picked it up, or even made it past the first sentence. I hardly understood anything she was talking about. Everything she wrote consisted of words that were far beyond my vocabulary and that created for my understanding to be slim to none, not to mention the style of her writing, it was absurd. I felt that she was just rambling on in a seventeenth century tone, and obviously I couldn't quite figure that out either. Though what I did get out of it was a lot of inequality and the superiority of men over women.

While reading, I became quite intrigued about how Wollstonecraft mentioned her views on how women were set about this earth to "please" men. I'm not exactly positive if that was what she was getting to, but from an early quote in the reading, she wrote "Women are told from their infancy, and taught by the example of their mothers, that a little knowledge of human weakness, justly termed cunning, softness of temper, outward obedience, and a scrupulous attention to a puerile kind of propriety, will obtain for them the protection of man; and should they be beautiful, every thing else is needles, for, at least, twenty years of their lives." What I got out of this is that if women are beautiful and just act the way they have been taught, then they will "earn" the man's protection. To me, I find that ridiculous. I feel that men and women should work together, even if she doesn't act perfectly. Most importantly, a woman should not have to gain a man's protection or knowledge, she should just have it from the start and they should work together. I guess from my perspective, especially being a female, that's the way I'm going to feel.

Wollstonecraft made it a point to acknowledge her views on the inequality of education. In her article she wrote that "man may only have to proceed, not to begin, the important task of learning to think and reason." Where is the idea that women should recieve a good education too? According to her, women only recieve a "disorderly kind of education." They felt that men needed the education and from that, they decided to educate men from infancy. I'm not exactly sure if that's even right, because like I mentioned before I was completely lost in this reading and had no idea what was being said.

From my understanding, Wollstonecraft had numerous points she was stating, maybe could have been stated in less words, but unfortunately she felt what she had wrote was much needed. I thought it was quite repetitive and wordy. Sometimes it's wise to use large words to make your writing seem more sophisticated, but in her case, I personally believe she went over the top. I know that this is probably one of the worst blogs i've written, but it was too much for me. I thought she made some really good points, and obviously had a strong opinion. I'm sure people back in the day, especially women, got a lot out of this article and maybe even used her for inspiration. She seemed to tell people the straight up truth. I'm sure if I were around back then I would have looked up to her for taking this step and speaking her mind. If Mary were still around today, she would be much happier, but i'm sure she would still have some personal opinions she could shout out to the people.

Is Google Making Us Stupid?

On any given day if we want to figure out a quick piece of information, it's easy. All most people do is either reach for their laptop or pick up their phones and "Google". We don't use our own knowledge to figure anything out, we rely on the simplest thing, the internet.

Though the internet is very accessible and quick, Carr points out that because of the internet, "our own intelligence flattens into artificial intelligence." I believe that with our society and the new advances, people aren't as willing to dig deep and think hard for their own answers. What we want is for all the answers to be handed to us, and that is what the internet is giving us. A couple of quick clicks with the mouse, thirty seconds of skimming, and the answer is found. Does that mean we are becoming stupid?

I personally don't believe that it is making us stupid. There are still thousands of people out there who are very intelligent and can create things that people from the past never would have come across.Although that is kind of beyond the point, because as I sit here and think about all the small observations Carr has made about people today, I figured out that I am that person. I found myself going back and forth between facebook, itunes, and blogger. Along with that I can't stay focused on long articles or any type of readings. But is that a direct result from google or the internet? I still can't figure that out.

As our society keeps growing and keeps on modernizing, we aren't ever going to reach back to the traditional ways of life. Almost every household will have a computer, a cell phone, or some sort of electronic device that provides us with quick access to information. We may not be as critical of thinkers, because we aren't forced to use our brains as much as people had to in the past. Carr grew up in a unique time because he was able to watch technology advance the way we live our lives. It's so similar to the ways in which the clock changed the world. No one had set times for anything before the clock came around and now it's what we rely on, and that is what the interenet has become, and as Carr puts it perfectly, "it's becoming our map and our clock, our printing press and our typewriter, our calculator and our telephone, and our radio and TV".

People have become accustomed to the way the internet has provided us with so much, it might not make us any smarter, but along with that I feel it doesn't make us stupid either. It just is a lazy way for anyone to get out of really using their mind. To some people that might mean that we are becoming stupid, but then again it just depends on the way you interpret it. Google is going to be around for a long time, it's not going away and that might just be the problem, but we won't ever know because the way we live is what we have all become accustomed to.