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Advanced Essay #3: Trump's Twitter. Enough Said.

Posted by Harlem Satterfield in English 3 · Block · E Band on

​Introduction
When I first thought about what my topic should be, my mind immediately went to social media. What's one of the biggest social media platforms? Twitter. And who spends so much time on Twitter? Donald Trump. I always believed that Trump wastes his time posting and that he should spend more time actually being a president. In my essay, I wrote about two very controversial posts from over the past year and analyzed how Trump's tweeting has affected the nation now and in the future. The word count, however, is a bit higher than it should be, even after trimming it down without leaving anything out. I always ended up adding more.

Advanced Essay
Words are important. They are arguably the strongest tool mankind has created. They are strong enough to carry information and open people’s minds. That’s why writing is important. People use writing to convey their ideas, to explain and interpret the world around them. Writing can come from many different things and from many different backgrounds. It’s truly an amazing concept. It’s just when one abuses writing that it gets bad. President Trump takes writing and language with a grain of salt. Instead of being a responsible president like he should be, he spends his days writing 140 (and now 280) character messages. 
If there’s anything that President Trump is known for, it's his Twitter account. It’s something that most people just love to hate and, in some ways, serves as a shrine for Trump’s supporters. Ever since he was inaugurated, and even before, his Twitter has been one of the most discussed and reported topics in politics. It’s just so...random! One can find literally anything on his page - comments, roasts, criticism, racism, official political decisions, everything. Twitter has evolved so much over the course of Trump’s first year in office, that people have several different views on it, and he has shocked the nation time and time again with the posts.

The Transgender Military Post - July 26, 2017
In a series of tweets, Donald Trump announced that the military would no longer accept transgenders. He claimed that the “tremendous” medical costs would disrupt the military and keep it from achieving its goal: decisive and overwhelming victory.

These posts surprised several thousand people. However, its effects were delayed until January 1 of this year.  As one could imagine, Trump received overwhelming applause for the bill’s release from his supporters, and equally sparked protests and resistance from Democrats and even some Republicans. The opposers claimed that the military shouldn’t be discriminating against anyone because everyone just doing the same thing: helping to protect America. “Transgender people are people and they deserve the best we can do for them.” - Sen. Orrin Hatch. The huge medical cost excuse was over exaggerated as well. There’s plenty of other things that military puts a lot into, like Viagra, for instance, as The Washington Post writes. They reported that medical care for active transgender soldiers costs between $2.4 million and $8.4 million annually, whereas total spending on “erectile dysfunction” amounts to $84 million.


The “Covfefe” Post - May 31, 2017
Rewind to May 31, 2017. President Donald Trump posted a tweet that caught the entire nation’s attention. Let’s just say that he invented a word:
“Despite the constant negative press covfefe”
That’s it.
That’s the entire post.
At a first glance, this tweet looks completely ridiculous. You just look at it with a blank stare of surprise and confusion. Like most of Trump’s tweets, this one made the news but received a lot more attention than others. There wasn’t really much to report on, though, since no one really knew what the sentence meant. All anyone could do was think and speculate about what Donald Trump was saying, er, tweeting.
  On one hand, the covfefe post was rather bewildering and completely out of nowhere. It made no sense to anyone at all, which is alright compared to most of the things Trump does. He often makes no sense. However, on the other hand, everyone, supporter, and non-supporter scrambled to find out what exactly “covfefe” meant, and the two groups even worked together in some cases. So, in a way, this tweet, as crazy as it was, united the country in a sense. This was definitely a surprising tweet, but it was one of the “better” ones, compared to the other trash Trump usually posts.
Something noticeable about Trump’s tweets and (mainly) his supporters is that they never really go into depth about anything, despite Twitter’s limitations. Whenever Trump makes an accusation or an announcement like the one above, no matter what, his supporters applaud him. However, when they’re asked “How?” or “Why?”, a true answer never arises. They’re always like “Yay! No more LGBT!” or “I know Trump would save us!” or they just flat out repeat whatever he says without a second thought. They have never ground for their claims and when they do, their response is usually vulgar and ridiculous, but their sources appear to always be an only be Twitter. It’s awful.
Bottom line, Donald Trump’s twitter account has been an essential part of his presidency, and his supporters. The posts make it obvious that he has absolutely no concern for people besides himself and others like him, fitting for a billionaire from Corporate America. Twitter themselves have debated about terminating Trump’s Twitter account, but it’s still there. I personally think the twitter account plays too much of a roll in media and politics. People shouldn’t have to cite a person’s social media to gain valuable information, especially when said information pertains to the well-being of the country. Imagine what people of future generations will have to do. They’ll have to live in a dysfunctional or even a destroyed economy. Kids will be doing literal research projects about Donald Trump. His tweets would be printed in textbooks! Donald Trump needs to start being the president he signed up to be and lay off of Twitter.

Sources
“Hatewatch.” Southern Poverty Law Center, www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/201.
Ingraham, Christopher. “Analysis | The military spends five times as much on Viagra as it would on transgender troops medical care.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 26 July 2017, www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/07/26/the-military-spends-five-times-as-much-on-viagra-as-it-would-on-transgender-troops-medical-care/?utm_term=.c3341a0dbe5f.

Advanced Essay: Standard for Masculanity

Posted by Marcin Czapla in English 3 · Block · E Band on

                                                                                                                                                                       


Introduction: My goal for the paper is to explore the standard of masculinity that is set in today's society and argue that it is outdated. I am proud of the way I incorporated my quotes. One way in which I could improve my paper is by adding more quotes that support my claims.



Advanced Essay:

Ever since I’ve been a young child, I’ve had the idea that being masculine means being powerful, muscular, and dominant. This idea is embedded in the minds of young boys across the world, making them feel minuscule compared to the ideals found in sports like wrestling, mixed martial arts, football, basketball, soccer, and even the action movies they see on T.V. This standard also discourages men to show emotion, labeling this behaviour as feminine, and creating a divide between young, impressionable men and their emotions. As a man, the impression is set by society that your role is to be powerful and brave, with a physique like the Rock. Society has created and stuck by a model of masculinity that is outdated and doesn’t fit the design of every man.
One of the clear problems with this is that these set standards benefit certain people more than others. Men who are unable to fit this certain dynamic, because of genetic setbacks, don’t fit this mold because of something they can’t control. These expectations can make them lose their true selves as they chase this ideal image of masculinity, which often leads to depression. This depression could cause men to feel the need to prove that they can be dominant. Not only to others but to themselves, leading to potential outbursts of violence. The Boys Are Not Alright offers an interesting, yet truthful explanation as to where this pent up rage and depression leads. “And so the man who feels lost, but wishes to preserve his fully masculine self-has only two choices: withdrawal or rage. We’ve seen what withdrawal and rage have the potential to do. School shootings are only the most public of tragedies. Others, on a smaller scale, take place across the country daily; another commonality among shooters is a history of abuse toward women.” They state that the public effect of this withdrawal can be a severe public showcase of rage, such as a school shooting, something we’ve seen an increase of in the past few months in our country. Of course, these shooters chose to go out and do what they did, and no amount of abuse or pain in their lives can justify that. We can, however, look towards this standard society has created and seen it as a step that built up to these violent tragedies.
Women constantly have movements for empowerment, telling them to be proud of who they are, go out to change the world for the better, and not let people see them for their bodies, but for their minds. These movements truly do empower and enlighten the hearts of millions of little girls on a daily basis, but what about the boys? What do they have to enlighten them, to tell them they don’t need to be the slabs of muscle they see on T.V, whose sole job is to hurt people and show just how strong they are? How can these boys grow up to be anything different then what they see on T.V. if they don’t have anyone to tell or guide them in a different direction? We need to implement a new set of standards for masculinity in today’s society, one that strays farther from that of domination and physical strength and accepts intelligence as a form of masculinity too. Intelligence is something that is respected in today’s society, but it is often seen as nerdy, and not exactly placed in the category of masculine. We need young boys to want to study and do well in school. Building up their knowledge, instead of focusing on strength. Physical strength is still important in today's society, and there's no reason to completely remove it from the standard of masculinity, but why not promote intelligence more, allowing young boys to choose which one they value more, or which one suits them better? Psychologist William Pollack said it well when he made a theory on this subject over two decades ago. “Boys start out sensitive but through a “shame-hardening process” — told to stop crying, to be a man — they learn to hide what they really feel. And if they don’t know or understand their own feelings, how can they care about anyone else’s?” The quote is stating that young boys are told to hide their emotions and ignore them throughout their childhood. Does it raise the question that if you take their emotions away and make them almost emotionless, how can they understand the emotions of others? You can almost see this as dehumanizing them from childhood, making them become these dominance obsessive beings which can lead to abuse in a relationship. 
Overall, what I’m trying to accomplish with this essay is convince you that the standard of masculinity is outdated in today’s society. We focus too much on the physical attributes society has decided it takes to be a man, and not enough on the mental ones. A strong and dominant man shouldn’t need to be muscular anymore unless he wants to be.

Works Cited:

Velasquez-man off, Moises. “Real Men Get Rejected, Too.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 24 Feb. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/02/24/opinion/sunday/real-men-masculinity-rejected.html.

Black, Michael Ian. “The Boys Are Not All Right.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 21 Feb. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/02/21/opinion/boys-violence-shootings-guns.html.

Advanced Essay #3: High School vs. The World

Posted by Kiah Johnson in English 3 · Block · E Band on

Introduction:

High School vs. The World is basically an essay about how children are heavily influenced by the world, and because of this teenagers have no chance to discovers themselves, for it is only what society sees them as. My goal is for the reader to understand my points, and really connect to what I am saying. I am proud of my topic, I really liked it in a way that was close to me personally, but I don’t think I did that good of a job describing everything I was saying.


Advanced Essay:

My high school experience is just like any average high schooler, surrounded by the bullies, temptations, and popularity that they encounter, but throughout my observations with my friends and others around me, we all seem to have a different way of interpreting high school. Our understandings of high school seem to be so exotic to each other, but it all comes back to the part of our lives where we are in the middle of childhood and adulthood, and it's not easy on anyone. We are all teenagers, and it is obvious that none of us truly know about the real world, and although people try to explain it to us, we are still ignorant as to what is going on. For this reason, we should stick together and try to help each other succeed and strive towards greatness, but what we actually do is separate ourselves.The physical and mental feeling of separation and isolation is detrimental to everyone, especially high school students.

Separation has become a normal thing in American society, proven by the numerous examples in any history book ever made. Historical events like: slavery, deportation, etc are all topics that demonstrate America’s track record with isolation. These history books have been seen by millions of high schoolers around the world, and it has managed to turn into an acceptable topic. Teenagers don’t have a good example set for them, we only have the example set by society, which affects us everyday, in the worst way. Teenagers are still children, we still are in the process of developing into society. Because of society, children can’t see themselves the way they want to be seen, but only as the world sees them. It is too early for a child to learn the rules of society before they are able to even understand what it all means. In this day and age, being categorized by race, religion, social class, and anything else is ordinary. It has led to children to form social groups in schools, and these groups contain people that are similar to each other, according to their class. This split of kids can almost always have a negative effect, just like in the history books we observe everyday. For instance, social groups often have ranks, and that means that there are kids at the bottom of the ranks. If anything else, groups can personally offend people, making them feel bad about their lives, and the situation they are in. No one is able to determine whether or not they fit into a “group” in high school, let alone the real world. It’s not anyone’s fault, and no one can change it. It leads kids to believe that they don’t belong in a place they should feel comforted in if they don’t have a place in society itself.

I was raised by my mother, who always sent me to Catholic and Christian schools. I grew up thinking that most children are the same as me, and therefore I could only be friends with people who were African American and middle-class. My first year at a public high school, I instantly made friends with other African American children, but I had no other friends. People whose hair wasn’t a natural color freaked me out, and people who weren’t middle-class made me uncomfortable. My second year at high school was a game changer, as I didn’t have a lot of black kids with me in my classes, and my upbringing made made me skeptical of merging social classes and races to make more friends. These ideas were considered radical to me, different theories of life were planted in my head for years by my community, one small group inside an even bigger one: the world. It was just then that I popped my enclosed bubble, and was introduced to society. I wasn’t separated anymore, and it was the first time in my life that I had felt alone, unwanted. I had to teach myself how to let go of the ideals I had held onto for ten years of my life, the ideals that I picked up from my original American society.

High schoolers know identity is a struggle, for most of us haven’t found it yet, and maybe never will. Figuring out who you are is hectic, and no one can do that themselves anymore, for they assume that the world has to do it for them. Life is hard to understand, and not everyone even realizes how much they are truly separated because of this society. It depicts one’s entire life, from young until old. In fact, Morgana Bailey, a speaker for a TED Talk convention and a human resources professional, admits that she and many others like her were "hiding her true identity for so long, that she became paralyzed by her fear of not being accepted". The initial reaction is to become themselves to fit into the "preferred” group by changing who they hang around or learning from past experiences, but it usually ends terribly. There is no use in trying to change who we are, as long as society is involved and in action. It’s interesting that we try to take the past and actually use it to their advantage in not making the same mistakes, but history with social systems continue to repeat history. This makes me question how future kids are supposed to attempt to break a system that hasn’t been broken for centuries. Kids and adults shouldn’t have to give up their true identities to society anymore, without even knowing them, but what can we do to regain them back?


Works Cited

Bailey, Morgana. “TED at State Street London.” TED. TED at State Street London, 9 Mar. 2018, London, England, www.ted.com/talks/morgana_bailey_the_danger_of_hiding_who_you_are/transcript.


Advanced Essay – One Goal and Conflicts of Interest

Posted by Nile Ward in English 3 · Block · E Band on

Introduction

In this essay, I wanted to learn about how even when a group of people have a common goal, there are still separations. In this case, I look at activists' ideas during the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements – ideas from Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X – and see how they shaped their identities based on one goal. Additionally, I wanted to find out how these identities were destroyed by an even bigger force – the government itself. I am proud of my analysis – this is an area that I usually have a harder time doing in other essays. In my next essay, I will try to be even more specific and focus more on certain people or in a more specific point in time. I would also like to write better conclusions and make them less abrupt.


Advanced Essay


In the United States, the fight for Civil Rights has been a continuous fight. From the fight for citizenship of black people after the Civil War, the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Power Movement – each of these fights led to changes in the way society viewed black people. Black people wanted to have justice and equality. However, in a society where white power has dominated in the government of this country, these calls for rights were turned to deaf ears. Each of these struggles showed how this society prevented black and brown people from belonging in it and creating identities for themselves – culture, governments, and education.

The 1960s and 1970s saw the Black Power Movement. During this time, black Americans were fighting (again) to have justice, freedom, housing, and education. Black people felt that the black power movement would help create a new identity for black Americans – an identity that involved self-sufficiency and the celebration of black culture. This movement was created in response to not just the major political and social issues during this time, but also in response to other Civil Rights leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose approach to gaining Civil Rights was peaceful protests. In fact, Dr. King condemned the ideas of Black Power as a solution to the issues regarding Civil Rights. In a document by Dr. King, titled "It is not enough to condemn black power" in October 1966, he talked about the dangers of using the ideas of Black Power in gaining Civil Rights. October 1966, importantly, was also when the Black Panther Party was founded by Bobby Seale and Huey Newton. "The slogan was an unwise choice at the outset. With the violent connotations that now attach to the words it has become dangerous and injurious." This quote represents the fears of going to, what seemed to be, extreme measures in fighting for civil rights in the 1960s and 70s. Dr. King felt that using the "Black Power" term would have changed the way black people were viewed by society – that black people would have been viewed as violent people rather than peaceful people. He felt that using violence was not and should not have been used to win the civil rights struggles because it would tarnish his ideas of how black people should craft their identities – peacefully and civilized.

From the perspective of the Black Power Movement and activists such as Malcolm X, Huey Newton, and Bobby Seale, they felt that the peaceful approach to gaining civil rights in the United States would not be enough to force lawmakers and society in general from changing its views on Civil Rights for black Americans. They felt that the identity that Dr. King wanted to create – peaceful protests leading to social change – was being taken advantage of. They felt that this identity would just be brushed to the side, and that the fight for civil rights would not be as productive as if they became more forceful with their protests. The ideas of the Black Power Movement represented a more aggressive tone, to show that they would not be taken advantage of and pushed around. The ideas of this movement influenced other organizations with the same aggressive ideas to take shape such as the Black Panther Party, which performed community service and armed patrol of police in black communities. A document from the Black Panthers lists out all of the things they wanted, and all of the things they would fight to be changed. "We want education for our people that exposes the true nature of this decadent American society. … We want bread, housing, education, clothing, justice, and peace." These initiatives showed how the fight for rights took a turn following a whole different approach. While the initiatives of activists like Dr. King were to have integration, where black and white would be equal and work towards gaining civil rights together, the Black Panther Party wanted black Americans to be able to sustain themselves.

These goals changed the national attitude towards the Black Panthers and black Americans, as they no longer were just protesting. They were working towards these goals, regardless of the criticism from a society built on racism. This progress was not met with widespread approval. In 1956, the FBI launched a counterintelligence program called COINTELPRO, aimed at investigating "'radical' national political groups," according to PBS. A year after the Black Panther Party was formed, COINTELPRO shifted most of its attention to investigating Huey Newton and the Black Panthers. Also according to PBS, out of 295 documents outlining actions against black groups, 233 of those documents specifically targeted the Black Panthers. As a result, the organization began to lose its footing, and officially closed in 1982. The swift action of COINTELPRO in shutting them down showed how the deep-rooted racism influenced the government and their institutions. It showed that the identities that black people wanted to create for themselves during these movements were not socially accepted because of their race.

One group of people with a common goal create different identities based on their general ideas of how society is run and how it should be changed. In this case, the identities that were created by those who followed in the footsteps of Dr. King and the identities of those following the footsteps of Bobby Seale seemed to be conflicting identities. They were working towards a common goal – to have Civil Rights – but there was disagreement on how that goal should be achieved. Nonviolent activism was an identity that was accepted by some black people, but unaccepted by other black people, and vice versa.


Sources

  • “The Black Power Movement.” The Black Power Movement | DPLA, dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-black-power-movement.

  • “Black Power.” Ushistory.org, Independence Hall Association, www.ushistory.org/us/54i.asp.

  • Rethinking the Black Power Movement, exhibitions.nypl.org/africanaage/essay-black-power.html.

  • Black Panther Party | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed, www.blackpast.org/aah/black-panther-party.

  • “The Black Power era.” SocialistWorker.org, 13 Mar. 1970, socialistworker.org/2011/10/25/black-power-era.

PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/hueypnewton/actions/actions_cointelpro.html


Advanced Essay: Primal

Posted by James Adams in English 3 · Block · E Band on

Intro: I wrote this essay to explore the ideas of the abnormally large amount of gay slurs and homo phobics that appear in sports. I am proud of how I tied it together but my grammar could have improved and the middle sections of my essay could have been better.



Homosexuality is something in society today that people are slowly coming to accept however there are still outliers such as the Westboro Baptist Church and other hate groups set out to oppose homosexuality. Sports are a huge part of society especially in the United States. When people think of an athlete who plays sports they will most likely think of a masculine, muscular figure, which is a trait and body composition commonly associated with playing sports. Most people will not think of someone flamboyant which is a trait commonly associated with gay men. The homosexuality bias that occurs in sports does not stop there, gay slurs and dissatisfaction towards gays are abnormally high in the sports communities compared to other groups. The reason for this bias comes down to the fact that people do not like what they are not used to. The majority of sports players are testosterone filled men because testosterone fuels muscle growth, but the overall amount of testosterone in a person's body does not just have that one affect. Testosterone also causes hyper competitiveness and aggressiveness. Maybe there are not more people who are homophobic in sports but more people that speak their mind and tend to be insensitive when playing a competitive sport.


Bill Kennedy is a gay NBA referee and basketball is the second most popular sport in the world. When a gay referee is put in a spot where the whole world can see what he's doing it does not always end up with a person saying something positive. ‘‘I am proud to be an N.B.A. referee, and I am proud to be a gay man. I am following in the footsteps of others who have self-identified in the hopes that it will send a message to young men and women in sports that you must allow no one to make you feel ashamed of who you are’’(Morris). Through the limelight Bill Kennedy has become a figure head for the LGBTQ community, what he says matters, it has impact and effects the NBA as a whole. Bill Kennedy Later says something that provides a great insight into sports culture and its homophobic tendencies. “The stigmas are different for gay male athletes, in part because men have made intolerance and slurs a lasting feature of sports culture. And so, tribally speaking, for a star — a male star — to say ‘‘I’m gay’’ is, in a sense, to place himself above the culture of the team”(Morris). The point Kennedy brings up is something important to the reason why sports has a abnormally high rate of homophobic reports. Culture is the deciding factors in these types of situations, the culture of a team is different then the culture of the world that is ever changing.


The culture of the world has changed immensely, but evolution has not caught up. Humans evolved to live in hunter and gathering societies, we are now removed from this scenario. Humans evolved so that men are the ones to hunt and women are the ones to take care of the home, Now gender roles in society are generally open and not conflicted. The male female behavioral differences were pushed further apart by things such as estrogen and testosterone. Testosterone is known to contribute to aggressiveness, competitiveness and muscle growth. Testosterone gives athletes major advantages in sports because of its association with muscle growth. This could be a major factor in the cultural capital of sports, when a homosexual male or women comes into contact with a place that is fueled by primal human instincts due to the excess of hormones they effectively isolate themselves from the rest of their team. There is no science to prove that homosexuals have a different hormonal balance but their difference is seen as a challenge to sports.


Obviously sports culture is something that needs to be changed. The fact that professional sports players like Kobe Bryant and others can yell out racial slurs and only occur a fine is unacceptable. “Bryant stormed to the bench, hit his seat before sitting down, threw a towel and then yelled "Bennie!" toward referee Bennie Adams. Bryant then leaned back and muttered a gay slur”(ESPNLA). Bryant later received a 100 thousand dollar fine that he appealed. Bryant showed no remorse, he apologized but still went for an appeal. The NBA needs to hand out stricter punishments for these incidents Bryant should have received a league suspension, however in a culture such as professional sports the straight owners would not ask there straight coaches to suspend or trade their straight players. The only way I can see something changing is through time, whether that be cultural change or biological change.

Morris, Wesley. "Why ‘Self-Identifying’ Is Different From Coming Out." Nytimes.com. N. p., 2017. Web. 10 Mar. 2018.


Simpson, Connor. "Kobe Bryant Takes One Big Leap For The NBA On Gay Slurs." The Atlantic. N. p., 2013. Web. 10 Mar. 2018



Advanced Essay #3: You Are Who You Remember

Posted by William Huang in English 3 · Block · E Band on

​Introduction

I wrote this essay to explore the way our memory affects our identity, a relationship that is almost obvious but rarely discussed. My essay does a good job of implementing quotes from outside sources, but could have better flow and deeper analysis.

Advanced Essay

History is a man-made record of the universe. It is a way for people to remember and carry on the knowledge of those before them and things they discover in their own life times. As a species, we have the extraordinary ability to not only learn through our own experiences, but also to learn from the lives of others. History however, is often told in the very general sense. It is a broad overview of past events, where only the ideas and overarching themes of an event or a time period are taken note of. It is often about “what happened?” rather than “who were affected?” Very rarely are the specifications and fine details of the lives of those who lived in a time period well documented. Personal accounts and diaries are by far the best resources we have to understand a person’s life. Just as historical documentation is a way of recording things that happened, a person’s memory is also a way of remembrance—only on a more personal level.

Our memory is our personal record. This record makes us who we are, and is the sole basis of our concept of identity. Susan Krauss Whitbourne writes in an article that “You are able to have a sense of identity because you know that you are the same person you were yesterday and will undoubtedly be the same person tomorrow” (Whitbourne). Our memory is the foundation of our identity as our experiences, or the ones we remember, shape who we are as people. People learn from past mistakes and adjust accordingly for future occurrences. People also learn to empathize with certain groups based on previous experiences with them or of them. Memory, however, is also volatile and ever changing, meaning one’s identity isn’t always the same. Whitbourne states that “the content of your self-defining memories may vary according to your age and current life concerns.” According to psychologist Jefferson Singer, older adults tend to come up with more general memories and feel more positively about their self-defining memories, even if the memories were of events that were negative in nature. Whitbourne explains that “older adults have found ways to make sense out of their life stories. They convert memories of troubling events into stories of redemption in which they make peace with their past struggles.” When people reflect on their memories, sometimes it is hard for there to be consistency in the recollection of events. Our attitudes toward certain events may change over time, as it gives people the chance to accept them.

Memory isn’t permanent either. As such, our identities are not permanent and can change. In an article written by Alan Lightman for the New York Times, he writes about a trip back to his childhood home after the passing of his second parent. Upon arrival, he comments that, “The house isn’t here. There’s a hole in space where the house used to be...Something is terribly wrong. I feel as if I’m not in my body any longer. My body is a distant, cold moon” (Lightman). In that moment, Lightman was in a state of confusion and disbelief. He feels disconnected from reality, as if he were no longer in his own shoes. He states that “Some careless god has cut the ribbon of my life...The piece that was the past has slipped away into black eternity, or perhaps into nothingness. Until this moment, I was sure that the past was still present...” (Lightman). This home, the place of his childhood, the “meals of fried chicken and mashed potatoes,” the “cops and robber games with my brothers,” and the “evenings watching TV” all seemed to have vanished out of thin air. These memories that he held on to, years after living on his own, this essential piece of his identity, felt like it never existed, just like the house that once stood there.

In an article written by Liz Frontino, a student from Bryn Mawr College, she defines memory as “the ability of humans to recall and conjure long-ago specific events from our lives” (Frontino). According to her, things like Amnesia and Alzheimer’s give perspective on memory’s importance, as the loss of memory is linked to the loss of identity. She claims that “Those suffering from amnesia are at a loss of identity, having no memories to draw back on” (Frontino) The disease only affects long term memory, but the effect of this is that “Those suffering from Alzheimer’s have to be told about their interests, hobbies, and favorite people. They are not aware of who they are as individuals because they do not have the memories of their life to draw back on” (Frontino). The loss of memory is directly associated with the loss of self and identity, and belonging.

Memory is the very framework of a person’s identity. It is a record of our experiences, our beliefs, and the story of how we became we who are today. It is our memory that tells us how to respond in different situations and how to behave around people. While it is volatile and everchanging, the loss of memory can very destructive to our sense of self. Without memory, we would not know who we are.

Works Cited

Lightman, Alan. “Opinion | The Ghost House of My Childhood.” The New York Times, The New 
York Times, 22 Aug. 2015, www.nytimes.com/2015/08/23/opinion/the-ghost-house-of-my-childhood.html?_r=0.

Whitbourne, Susan Krauss. “What Your Most Vivid Memories Say About You.” Psychology
Today, Sussex Publishers, 20 Nov. 2012, www.psychologytoday.com/blog/fulfillment-any-age/201211/what-your-most-vivid-memories-say-about-you.
“Who am I? An Examination of Memory and Identity.” Who am I? An Examination of Memory 
and Identity | Serendip Studio, serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/lfrontino/who-am-i-examination-memory-and-identity. 

Advanced Essay #3: The Digital Memorial [Antonio DeRock]

Posted by Antonio DeRock in English 3 · Block · E Band on

The Introduction For The Digital Memorial

My goals for the audience when reading my paper is for them to understand where I am coming from. Introducing my ideas have always been a struggle. My peer reviews believe that my introduction started off strong so I’m glad of that. Being able to find a way to incorporate a memory that is more recent is something I am proud of. In previous essays, I could only think of memories from long ago that I can’t describe as clearly. Another thing I am proud of is the ideas and thoughts that I developed throughout. I need improvement in how I word those ideas and my analysis paragraphs in general. I don’t practice them enough so properly analyzing can be quite challenging for myself.


The Digital Memorial

Death is a part of all of our lives, and how do we go about coping with it? We keep it a secret from the world and make it seem like it is confidential. Societies all around the world have their own means of going about death. In our lives, we tend to not talk about it and don’t accept the reality of the situation. Grieving over something that most of the time is uncontrollable is understandable because it's not easy to hear, especially if they are close to us. With our society heavily based on technology, we have social media and other forms of communication that cause people to lose their social skills easily.

In my life, I have experienced this in the flesh. A few weeks ago I took a leave of absence from school for personal reasons. My grandfather on my mom’s side had passed away. I was unable to accept his passing all the way until the day of the funeral, which was as cold as Antarctica and felt like a part of you was ripped out. The people around us make up a part of ourselves, and he was a part that I didn’t get to see a lot. I haven’t been to a funeral since 2007 when my grandmother and cousin passed away. This all resulted in me not being able to communicate my feelings to my best friend Amaris in person. Every day we went to clean out his apartment along with my brother Jc. This is significant because my mother had to tell him not to post anything on social media since she thought he would be the one to most likely post personal matters.

Ghosts in the Machine is an article that I came across written by Jenna Wortham about how she believes death is perceived in society and how we respond to it. Jenna had a similar story when her father died in 2011 and she didn’t know how to tell others. She froze in the familiar fashion as I did when hearing the news. She believed social media would be the easiest way to spread the news even though she knew this wasn’t the best way to go about it. She stated “Social media seemed to be the quickest way to let people know why I had disappeared and why I would continue to be a ghost in my own way. But it felt wrong, even ghoulish, to announce the death of a parent in the same venue I might a new job”(Wortham "Ghosts in the Machine" 2015).  Businesses and jobs now offer communication behind the screen such as video chats or messaging. When Jenna told people, nobody was gloomy or seemed in the least bit affected by it. People joked around and posted songs which were inappropriate for the situation. Knowing it was odd to post on social media was recognizing the norms that were emplaced upon us when it comes to the topic of death.

Society has grown to the point where we who make it up are unable to express these things that seem so personal to others. I agree with Jenna when she says “The near pervasiveness of social technology has delivered death back into our daily interactions”(Wortham "Ghosts in the Machine" 2015). The problem with this is that it has to be behind a screen. The new norm is to find out about death where we find out the latest fashion trends or he score of sports games. This doesn't seem as prevalent in other countries. The culture in the United States is different, and so are our responses to situations. We all have these norms based on society, especially when it involves a serious matter such as death. Only those who stay to their families’ culture and religion go beyond the norm. Other parts of the world have access to the technology we possess, but they still remember one important thing and that is to have social skills to the extent of expressing important news to family and friends.

As we grow, changing the very society we live in every day, we need to value the moments that are precious to us. If someone passes away we should be able to speak about it and discuss it to live a more positive life. Society currently isn’t at that point, and we don’t know if it will be at that point ever. In the end, we know that our norms for responding to death have been based on our society and those who surround us. Social Media has changed the norms of society for responding to death.


Bibliography

Wortham, Jenna. “Ghosts in the Machine.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 23 Dec. 2015,

www.nytimes.com/2015/12/27/magazine/ghosts-in-the-machine.html.


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Advanced Essay #3: Addiction does not discriminate

Posted by Messele Asfaw in English 3 · Block · E Band on

​Introduction:
When I first started writing this essay, I was not really clear as to what direction I wanted to take it in. As I wrote and researched more and more, I started to develop an idea for where I wanted to take this paper. The goals for this paper were to inform the reader of the possible misconceptions they are having and how misconceptions in general could be effecting their actions and choices. Although it was specifically centered on people in lower socioeconomic statuses, that wasn't really the main focus of this essay, and if I had more time I would have changed that. One thing that I am proud of this essay for is being complete. 

Advanced Essay:

As big and “grand” as a country as America is, there are downsides to it. One of the inevitable downsides to a nation such as ours is the socio-economic hierarchy associated with it. Known as the land of opportunities and the home of the free, one of the biggest negatives about American society is the large number of people categorized as lower class. We, as American citizens, treat these people unfairly because of preconceived notions that they deserve it or that they put themselves in that situation. Because of that there are better options and better surface level thoughts about people in higher social classes and they are viewed in a more positive light. Resulting from this lack of opportunity and disadvantages caused by lower economic status people, this situation heavily encourages continuous substance abuse within people in this class.

We can’t pinpoint the exact reason drug abuse and misuse occur at such a frequent rate in more poverty stricken areas, but an article on the National Council on Drug Abuse sums the situation up pretty clearly. “Drug use and addiction have no single cause but the risk factors for drug use include poverty. A person in an impoverished situation may abuse drugs or alcohol as a way to cope with the dangerous environment she lives in, a way to deal with her financial stresses or a way to cope with physical or emotional abuse.” One of the biggest reasons that these people do drugs is because it’s an escape. It’s an escape from reality, and an escape from their situation. An escape from their lives so they can feel happy, and not think about what they’re doing. Because it is in such an impoverished area, drugs are easier to get access to. With that said some people even sell drugs in hopes to climb their social class and make a living out of it.

As of 2011, 22.5 million americans age 12 and up had used an illegal drug or misused a drug in the past month. This study was taken by the Nation Survey on Drug Use and Health, and it further digresses to say that regular drug abuse and misuse was almost double that of employed compared to unemployed, from 8.4% vs 17%. The types of things that stop middle class Americans from doing drugs does not exist, or has a far lesser influence. Things like family, a stable job and/or, a stable position in a community. This only further backs the points I was talking about earlier, that having a lower socioeconomic status has less advantages and encourages substance abuse. As a part of an article from the Guardian states, “Addiction does discriminate.”

As Dr. David F. Musto stated in his interview with the New York Times, “''The question we must be asking now is not why people take drugs, but why do people stop,'' Dr. Musto said.”. And that truly is the question that needs to be asked. The thing is, it’s already been answered. Part of the answer to that is that it’s just harder in general for poor people to recover from substance abuse. There are less options available to them, the social stigma is higher, etc. “The member of a middle class family who has become addicted to alcohol or drugs has a number of options for recovery. The same person in a poor family has far fewer options. In fact, if they admit their addiction, they risk losing the benefits they currently have. The average cost of a medical detox is $1,707 per day. Insurance may cover $14,000- $20,000 of that amount, but over 25% of Americans do not have health insurance.” From the information we have, we can make the statement that detoxification is a luxury privilege that most Americans cannot afford. Even with the numerous facilities or rehab centers that offer free or reduced treatment, the time taken only disadvantages people because that time is being used for work or the transportation there costs money only digging a deeper hole for these people. This only increases the social stigma that comes along with substance abuse while being poor.

Misconceptions, bias, and stereotypes are everything. They shape how everything and everyone is perceived. The impact of how impoverished people are viewed is far more influential when you also consider the ones that suffer from substance abuse and misuse. One of the misconceptions about drug addicts in general are that they are all poor. This is false as the amount of alcohol and drug abuse spans across almost all the social and economic classes, from the rich to the poor. It’s also more visible and portrayed in media that it’s higher there. Another difference also being that people in higher classes are way more likely to stop as well as having more opportunities and chances to stop. When people are not educated and base all of their decisions and judgements off stereotypes and misconceptions, it’s a recipe for disaster. We start to trust and listen less and we all start to become a little less human.

The impact this has on American Identity is that which needs a lot of work to be reversed. For example, in 2012, in Utah, state Republicans passed and enacted a law that mandated drug testing for Welfare recipients. This wouldn’t be a problem unless you actually take time to know what you’re talking about and what you’re voting on. The overall incident rate for those applying is less than 3.6% for recipients that were actually affected by this law. Similarly, for food stamps, the percentage was also very low. This is all a result of misconceptions and stereotypes of drug addicts and impoverished people. In order to have a society which functions optimally, we need to help the people that are worse off at the bottom. This isn’t really achievable with the way we perceive people that are poor as well as abuse drugs. One could say that this is the way American society behaves and if we change it, then it wouldn’t really be American society anymore. But nonetheless, the point still stands that because of the disadvantages people in lower socioeconomic classes have, it encourages people to stay addicted to drugs and to also try them in the first place.


Bibliography:


Smith, Paulette. “Drug Talk.” National Council On Drug Abuse, ncda.org.jm/index.php/publications/drug-talk/66-poverty-a-drug-abuse.


“Truth #6: Alcohol and Drug Abuse Spans All Classes-the Rich, the Poor, and in between.”Voices of Welfare, blogs.elon.edu/voicesofwelfare/truth-6-alcohol-and-drug-abuse-is-a-problem-that-spans-all-classes-the-rich-the-poor-and-the-people-in-between/.


Kerr, Peter. “Rich vs. Poor: Drug Patterns Are Diverging.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 29 Aug. 1987, www.nytimes.com/1987/08/30/us/rich-vs-poor-drug-patterns-are-diverging.html?pagewanted=all.


Szalavitz, Maia. “Addictions Are Harder to Kick When You're Poor. Here's Why.” The Guardian, The Guardian, www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jun/01/drug-addiction-income-inequality-impacts-recovery.


Bouie, Jamelle. “The Myth of Welfare and Drug Use.” The Daily Beast, The Daily Beast Company, 30 Aug. 2013, www.thedailybeast.com/the-myth-of-welfare-and-drug-use.


Advanced Essay #3: Unconscious Idenity

Posted by Jason Chen in English 3 · Block · E Band on

​Introduction:
My goal for this paper was to digged deeper into identity with how it is interpreted and relate it to everyday lives. Something I would like to improve more on is adding more quote. Overall, I'm proud of completing this paper because I feel like Identity is a strong topic.

Essay:

Identity is defined as the fact of being who or what a person or thing is according to the Dictionary. But, there is more to Identity than just its definition. This word can be interpreted in many ways, such as your very own identity, how you look at other people’s identity, what identity you take on, or how your identity isn’t sometimes decided for you. With all of these types of ways this word is interpreted has its own very meaning to it. But most important society plays a huge role as it shapes people’s identity. Society has its way of persuading people to be a certain way, and it can be presented in things such as media.

Think about when you first started to question things. Question things such as why people act a certain way? What makes a person look another way? How to act a way where you fit the social standards. Typically we’re all born into the world as a baby and when you are you’re given an identity. It could be your name, date of birth, skin color, and more. But as a baby or a kid, they grow up copying or taking in what others do. You can say they take on other identities unconsciously. And this new identity could potentially become something you like to do. But no one really explores their identity, or embrace it, not when you’re a baby. Not until that day comes, until you encounter something that will make you start to question things. This first experience can be anything. It can be your first day at school, first time encountering racism, first time introduced to a culture, or even when you first have to put your big boy/girl pants on.

I remember my very first time I started to think more about the world. It was my first time going into the outside worlds, typically I always played around in the house with family. I never really explore or adventure into the outside world yet. But when it was time, my mother told me to not hang out with a certain group of kids and I always wonder why. As I start to think about it more and see these group of kids, I started to see why my mother told me that. It became a part of my identity of how I view these people. Experience after experience I started to avoid them, but I soon realize that not everyone's the same. They all have their unique identity which makes everyone different. I realize that not everyone would act like the way they do, but I only saw it that way because my parents influence the idea of me.

Identity may be acquired indirectly from parents, peers, role models, and even the media. Children come to define themselves by what surrounds them. This can be how their parents see them. If their parents see them in a negative way, they will come to define themselves as a negative person. And generally, negative words tend to stick more than positive words. Children can also define themselves by the media, in today's society technology has become a thing, mainly for children. “Media plays an influential role in shaping how we think about and enact race in our everything lives” according to the Critical media project. To me this is mainly for children, for someone who is attached to media will start to change. Media is filled with different aspects of identity that can influence someone to dress or act a certain way. It is mainly filled with social norms, which can have an immediate effect on one’s perceptions of social reality.

This is a world where we will continue to advance forward, ask new questions, and discover new things. For Identity it is never “final,” and it will continue to develop throughout your lifespan. Anyone can change, and it can be based on factors like where you live, who you hang out with, and your experience with the outside world. People are changing their identity by the everyday thing they do. Everyone is unconscious changing and shaping their identity because of how society set standards. But people should start to understand Identity as a conscious thing, we should be able to make choices ourselves rather than let society make our identity. It is only a benefit to recognize what to happening or changing your identity.


“Race & Ethnicity.” Critical media project icon, www.criticalmediaproject.org/cml/topicbackground/race-ethnicity/.

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