What makes a perfect parent?!

My first reaction after reading this chapter was that I definetly didn't enjoy is as much as I thought I would from what I got from the title of the chapter. I mean, don't get me wrong, there were some interesting parts, but overall, I did not enjoy it that much.

The chapter dealt with analyzing what made people good or bad parents. He said that fear is a major factor when it comes to parenting, and with this I totally agree with him. Just from what I have learned and saw over the years. The one part that I found interesting in this chapter was how he compared two things and the one that seemed more dangerous was the one that was least dangerous. As when he compared a young girl Molly not being allowed to go over to the house with a gun, but allowed to go over to the house with the swimming pool. The statistics to backup his information was that in a given year, there is one drowning of a child for every 11,000 pools in the US, and there is 1 child killed by a gun for every 1 million-plus guns. So therefore; children are more likely to die from a swimming pool than a gun, but why do we think of a gun being more dangerous to a child? I really like how this situation made me think...I found it very interesting.

Now the downside parts of this chapter for me. Overall, I just thought that this chapter was a lot of common sense and things that I already knew, and/or could figure out on my own. The whole part about things that do and do not strongly correlate with test scores, I knew which ones did and didn't affect them. Around this time in the chapter I found it a little hard to read and get through so this is the part that I struggled with.

All and all, the major thing that I didn't like with this chapter is his whole basis of the chapter...what does and does not make a good parent. NO ONE is a perfect parent, there are no perfect people, therefore; no perfect parents that create perfect children. I understand with all the different information out there on this and books and everything that he was trying to analyze it and break it down, trying to find some underlying reasons, but overall I just didn't really appreciate the chapter. I guess because I think it's pointless to talk about what makes a perfect parent, because there is no such thing as one.

Steph :)

Chapter 3: Freakonomics

This chapter was more interesting to me than the second chapter!

I thought, just like the other titles and questions risen about certain topics was very interesting in this case. "Why do drug dealers still live with their moms?" I love how the author takes such simple questions as of this, and makes your really think about it and even does some background research on it. These so simple questions that I even sometimes think of, REALLY make me THINK as to WHY.

One thing I liked about this chapter is that since I never grew up in these types of communities, it really gave me a slight insight on how people feel about living in there, such as when Sudhir Venkatesh went around to Chicago's poorest neighborhood to see how the children thought about living there. It was interesting that his choices he had for their answers were not suitable for their liking, instead they wanted every negative answer rather than a positive one. Now I never grew up in a really nice and rich neighborhood and never had the nicest things, but then again I never lived like some of these children. It really made me think about how grateful I am and how lucky I should be. Anyways, enough about me, and back to the chapter. I always assumed that the higher you went on the chart when it came to drug dealing, the better off you were with money, but never knew that some people got paid extremely as low as they did for how much they are risking their lives. Even though I was always aware of how much drug dealers made, I was shocked at how much once they got way up on the charts.

I feel bad for some of the kids who are drug dealers because from this reading in some cases you can sense that this is not the life that they want to live. The one section gives some statistics about the children living in the ghetto, "56% of the neighborhood's children lived below the poverty line. 78% came from the single-parent homes. Fewer than 5% of the neighborhood's adults had a college degree; barely one in the three adult men worked at all." These statistics really blew my mind and kind of gave me reason as to why these children are in these situations.

The other section that I didn't know some about was the introduction of crack cocaine. As naive as this may sound, I always just assumed that cocaine and crazk cocaine were the same things. It was interesting to read about the difference and how crack cocaine came about. I never knew that one was known to be cheaper than the other. Like when they talked about cocaine was white, pure, and beautiful, while crack cocaine was for more of the poor people and not seen to be as "beautiful and pure" as cocaine.

This reading really made me think, once again. I enjoyed it a lot :)

How if the Ku Klux Klan like a group of real-estate agents??

Since I loved the first chapter so much, my hopes were up very high, but this chapter did not appeal to me as much as the first one. It was definetly hard to read through, but there were some parts of the chapter that I did enjoy!

I found the beginning of this chapter kind of boring when they were explaining the Ku Klux Klan, but it was some what interesting so that part wasn't too hard to get through. I did find it interesting how Kennedy got into the secrets of them and figured out things to announce to the public over the radio. I thought it was clever of him to break into their group and release all this secret information to everyone, and through this, separating them and started to break them apart.

The part I found more interesting is when they started talking about the internet and how many people can find out SO much that they should not even know because one person releases all this information on a website. I never really thought about the internet this way, I just always took for granted that you could go onto Google and type in anything and you will get hundreds and hundreds of links to click on to find exactly what you are looking for! It is crazy to think about. I really liked one of the quotes said in the book, "Internet has accomplished what even the most fervent consumer advocated usually cannot: it has vastly shrunk the gap between the experts and the public." It is so true when they use the example about people wanting to buy a car and after going somewhere to look for one, can go home and take the price they were offered to buy the car, find a website, and see if the price is reasonable, and can find out much more than just that!

The other part that really interested me was when dating internet sites were discussed. It is crazy to think that some of the most viewed and visited sites are dating sites! It really made me think about society and how people are supposed to be viewed and liked. I say this because it says that almost everyone on their profile say they are really skinnier then they are, especially women. It also talks about men won't look at profiles with girls who have a very low finance, but then again when it is a lot they are often intimidated. And girl's look for guys who have a lot of money. Many of people say they do not look for people of the same race, maybe to seem "open-minded", but when actually researched, almost every person looks for someone who is of their same race.

There are some things that still really made me think in this chapter, but it didn't grab my attention as much as the first chapter is. Although, I am still very eager to read on and see what else the book has in store for me to really think about!

FREAKONOMICS: CHAPTER 1 :) :) :)

I have to say that this was the most interesting reading the whole semester! And after reading several others blogs I can see that I am not the only one who thought this!

I found the opening of this chapter to really grab my attention when it talked about day care, and how they started charging parents $3 every time they picked up their child late. And the thing that got me, is more and more parents continued to pay the $3! I thought for sure that it would have went down. This just showed me how much parents do not realize how important it is for them to be on time for their children, and to me it seemed as if they cared less about their children since they would rather spend extra money they be with them on time. It made me really start to think about incentives, and the three basics of them: economic, social, and moral.

The second thing that really grabbed my attention was when they got on the topic of who all cheats. I like in this when he states, "Cheating may or may not be human nature, but it is certainly a prominent feature in just about every human endeavor. Cheating is a primordial economic act: getting more for less." This to me is VERRRYYY true! I enjoyed the different examples of "cheaters" and the different scenarios in which cheating can occur. Even though sometimes one cheating may seem more wrong than the other, they really are ALL the same. This book really boggles my brain and I like it! It was really cool how they talked about teaching and how it deals with cheating because I am going to school to become a teacher. I liked how they showed the different examples of cheating and how they described to you the differences and how to look for the pattern that they marked in bold.

When they go into the topic of athletes with cheating, it really made me think because in high school I played several sports. And it really raised a good question in my mind-is it better to cheat to win or cheat to lose? I never thought about cheating to lose until after reading this chapter, but since it's not winning, it's hard to think that it is wrong, even though it is.

I also enjoyed how they talked about cheating and stealing. In class we talked about if we would walk by money on the ground would be pick it up if it wasn't ours? Or would be steal and cheat more if we wouldn't get caught and didn't have consequences? Well honestly, I would be lying if I sat here and said that my answer would be no. Not meaning that I definetly would all the time, but it would definetly give me more to think about, which I think it would give many other people the same thoughts as it did to me.

This first chapter REALLY got me into this book..a lot more than I thought it was. I am honestly not one who enjoys reading and does it often, so I was worried about having to read this book, but it is VERY good to read. It makes me think about a lot of things how I never thought about them a lot, and I cannot wait to read the rest!

Steph :]

I Robot, & Star Wars

I Robot

For the most part, I have to say that I did not enjoy this reading as much. I realized that I'm not a big fan when it comes to analyzing movies, especially a movie about something like this, which I have no interest in. Therefore, it was hard for me to read this. What I got out of this was that there are many underlying messages to every single part to a movie. Silverman talks about the story rules, how it more then just entertainment, business rules, tricks, reading some books, and etc. He talks a little about the background, and how I, Robot, began as a screenplay called Hardwired. He says how when we watch a movie there is way more to it when we think, every scene has so much to go into including camera angles, effects, lighting, and music. Silverman thinks that when dealing with all of these things that I, Robot was a highly proficient movie from technical standpoint.

Star Wars

I have to say that I was not so much interested in this reading as well, but I found it a little more interesting than the last one just because I have seen it once and the reading was a little better to read, in my opinion. It discussed even though Star Wars was based on a far off galaxy, the fundamental basis of the movie was a classic. They realized this because it dealt with the usual story of good against evil, even if it is not in the normal setting. Another conflict between two things was with nature versus technology. It resembles misused power and a warning against change. As Black said in the final paragraph, the film's message is clear, "Hold fast to the present way of life and the future will be saved."

Why Are All the Black Kids..., The Sports Taboo, & Censoring Myself

Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?

After reading this article, I could definetly relate to it. I could relate to it because all my life the schools that I have went to have been mixed with black and white children. When the author was talking about all the black kids sitting separate from one the white kids, it brought me back to my high school. In my high school there were a vast amount of white and black kids, and event though we all interacted with one another, of course there was always some sort of segregation from one another. My junior year of high school I walked down to the one lunch and noticed most of the black kids were sitting together...so this article reminded me exactly of that moment. I never really thought about how many racial problems start mostly due to puberty, and really growing up and becoming a young man or woman. This definetly makes more sense to why things are why they are.

The Sports Taboo

In the first section of this article, they are trying to take the difference of blacks and whites when it comes to sports. The author is saying how in most cases it is clear that African Americans are faster and known more in some sports, but whites are known just as well in others. Gladwell tries to figure out why people don't just say that blacks and whites are made different, especially when there were studies done that showed some differences. I think that there definetly are some differences when it comes to the differences in the bodies, athletics, and physical appearance. He talked about how you always see blacks winning races more, and it is true. He compares many things between blacks and whites in this article he wrote, but I really don't see the problem with there being differences. I like it because I feel that if we were all the same at everything, no one would be more athletic, smarter, faster, etc. It all makes us who we are and gives us something unique about each and every one of us. And I like that. :)

Censoring Myself

Chapter 4: Race & Ethnicity (pg.267-273)

I liked reading about these topics because this is something that is very controversial in our world today. The author's purpose in this chapter was to make us more sensitive readers when it comes to race and ethnicity. I definetly agree with the author when he says that many people determine how a person is because of how they look on the outside, aka their color of skin most of the time. Whether we like to admit it or not,I'm sure we have all done this, and sometimes without even realizing we are judging them. Today's society has many people thinking about people from different races are "certain ways." I believe that if this was not the case, more people would get along, I know that sounds stupid, but I believe that.

I do think that over the years many different ways people view one another have changed. Some in bad ways, and some in good ways.

I think there are several stereotypes for all different sorts of people, and i think this is due a lot to the past. Beliefs get carried on from generation to generation, and many people are stuck in their beliefs to the past rather than accepting the future. Even though things have changed, people still dwell on the past, and whether we like it or not, some people always will. With the mix of your personal relationships and political affiliation, can cause several people to feel or believe a certain way.

Black Bart Simpson & The NEXT Plague

"Black Bart" Simpson

I can honestly say that I have never watched one single episode of The Simpsons, so therefore I do not exactly konw each and every thing they discuss when they are talking about the show. Although I have never watched the show, I definetly are aware of SOME things when it comes to the Simpsons, due to all the media talked about in the book that publisized the show. I thought this reading showed how the Simpsons portray a typical American family. Overall I was confused at exactly was he was talking about in the text, and hopefully will understand better from the class discussion.

The NEXT Plague

This was definetly the first reading that really triggered my interest in it. I think I had an easy time reading this because i watch MTV so I can relate to what the author was saying about all the shows since I watched them at one point in time. When talking about the show Next, I do believe that it portrays women in a negative way, but I can't feel sorry for them at the same time. The women know what they are getting themselves into when they are going on these shows, and they know how they are going to look to the public. The bottom line it is all comes down to money and fame. That is what many things in this world revolve around most of the time. Although shows like this portray some women like this, it does not mean it is how all women are. I know I would never go on one of these shows. And when it comes to the men, I don't believe that this is how all men are, treating women like objects. Some men may be like this, but not all.

Chapter 2* (pg. 116-124, plus Life According to TV)

I have to say that this was the first reading that I was truly into! It's so much better and easier when reading about something you find interesting :) I never realized how much TV really does to us. When I think about it, it is true though that we are in a sense "told when and how to laugh" at things. TV definetly has more of a strong hold over us and our beliefs then many people realize. When I think about how much the text says reading and television differ in so many aspects, I never really realized how true that is. It now makes sense when you think about which television series are more popular and have been on the air longer, and why other ones have not.

It is so true...we have Comcast, and when I think about how much we would not have to spend if we didn't have it..it would cut downt the costs a lot. But I guess I never noticed it before.

Visual media definetly takes an important part in the shows. I know that it's even true for me when I watch a show, just by how they portray someone or something I feel like I know exactly what they are like. It's wierd to think about how all of that is so obvious, but a theme is not the most important thing when it comes to a tv show.


Life According to TV

This article was written by Harry F. Waters about George Gerbner exploring with different people who watch television and seeing what kinf od affect it has on them in their real life. He took people from all different sex, age, race, health, and crime. It was shown that is affected all of these different types of people in one way or another. Gerbner came to a basic conclusion that all of these people who watch TV have their lives influenced in one way or another!

Have a good weekend! :)

pages 26-72

The reading first started out talking about different approaches and lenses when you are writing. It describes lenses as putting on a certain point of view for a certain topic that you are writing about. It discussed different examples from the Simpsons, Lost, and Office Space and how they are all different lenses to look through for your reading. The explained how two people may be writing about the same topic, but if they have different backgrounds then they may have wrote two different papers. The is because of different experiences that people go through in life, and you can see in their writing how it affects their thoughts and opinions on things.

The next section went into talking about your writing process that everyone goes through. As we discussed in two classes ago, you first have to understand what you are writing about. Second, are freewriting and brainstorming, then outline, and then constructing a good thesis. A good thesis is a complete short sentence that is stating your opinion/argument. You then have to write an introduction, bodies, and conclusion. After you draft and edit and revise your paper you just have to wrap all the pieces together.

Next the book discussed pathos, logos, and ethos. I always had a hard time understanding these definition, but because of how well you and the text explained them I fully understand. Logos is the reason you are writing something, pathos is like your "passion" for writing, and ethos is the credibility.

Basically, this reading taught us how to look into our writing and make it better. It wanted to teach us ways to write and that it's normal if your paper may be completley different from someone elses even if they are on the same topic. I feel much better going into writing my final draft for our narrative paper!

:]

The World is a Text (pages 1-21)

In the introduction of these pages, it talked about how many people do not look into what the text is really saying, but rather just read to get it over with. I will be the first one to admit that when it comes to reading I hope to get it down fast. And I also wander off into some world when I'm reading and before I know it I am finished reading but have not really analyzed what the text was saying. So hopefully I will learn to become a better reader and really process what the words are saying.

After reading the section, Systems of Reading: Making Sense of Cultural Texts, it made me think more into the many different meanings there are to just one word. Like in the example in the book, it said what do you think of when you hear the word pan. Since I think of something you use when you cook, I just assumed that's most common and everyone would think of that, but after reading this I saw how Spanish people may think bread. It's interesting to think that all words have different meanings behind them when talking about different cultures.

When talking about Rhetoric's, I honestly was confused in what exactly how they were explaining it and what they were all trying to say. I did like the quote from Kenneth Burke, "use of language as a symbolic means of inducing cooperations in beings that by nature respond to symbols." I like how he worded that to get across his definition when it comes to Rhetorics.

All and all, my favorite favorite favorite part of these pages were the font pages. First of all, I love allllll different kinds of fonts and and more into that then what is actually written, which is not a good thing obviously, lol. But it was interesting to me to see what is it all saying and how they went through some different fonts and when talking about Beverlys. That was by far my favorite part because I love designing things and making them look cool.

Steph :)

Why My Name is Stephanie

Even though both of my parents chose my name and my older brother and sister's name, my mom had more of a say on their names and my dad did on mine. My mom wanted my name to be Marion, which was my grandmother's name (my dad's mom's name), but my dad didn't want that to be my name. My mom didn't like the name Stephanie, and to this day she still doesn't but she has grown to like it more. Since my mom and dad did not agree on what to name me they found a compromise. My dad chose my name to be Stephanie, and my mom chose my middle name to be Marion.