11/26

Catastrophe and the Media: A Case Study

Today we will familiarize ourselves with the story as it has been told in the newspapers you’ve researched. First, exchange your set of articles with another group member, then read them in their entirety.

When you have done that, write a synopsis of the event in a few paragraphs (more than half a page, less than an entire page), based only on what you can glean from that particular set of newspaper articles.

Then, write a short (more than one sentence, less than four) answer to each of the following:

1) Who does the audience seem to be? Give one quotation which you think indicates that audience and why it does? (Things that indicate an audience: references understood only by that group, word choice, etc).

2) Who are the ‘villains’ in the story? Do villains appear even when the event is natural (in the case of Katrina, for example, the head of FEMA became something of a villain as the story went on).

3) Who are the heroes? What sort of people are they?

4) What are the main differences between this newspaper’s telling of the story and the other newspapers? (Spend some time with this one, it is critical to our work over these last few weeks). What moments are described differently? More generally, are causes and effects described differently in one newspaper rather than another?

You’ll need to do this for each set of articles. After you’re done, type up these answers, bring them to class and add them to your binder (more on this in a moment).

For Wednesday, find one more ‘in-depth’ article about the event. This would preferably be a scholarly article, but it could also be a magazine feature of some length found in a magazine you might think of as more ‘intellectual’ than a newspaper. Some examples: Harpers, The New Yorker, The Economist… Bring that article to class.

11/20

Final Project: Part 1

During the last weeks of the term you will work with a small group on a research project which will trace a particular catastrophe as it unfolded in the media. The hope is that as a critical viewer you will be able to see not just facts but the presumptions behind the coverage. Your group will first research the story as it unfolded, then analyze the ways the story was told. Our last weeks together will involve several small projects culminating in a ‘report’ on the media coverage of your catastrophe, particularly the differences in the ways it was covered in different newspapers (in this case the NY Times, The New York Post, and one international newspaper, The Guardian).

First, you will be assigned your group. After you have been assigned your group, the next step is to choose your catastrophe. The topic can be any disaster, tragedy or catastrophe of the last ten or so years, excepting the events of September 11, 2001. This includes school shootings, tsunamis, terrorist attacks in other countries, etc. This choice must be made by the end of class today.

Your next project is to assign each group member one of the three newspapers (again, the NY Times, The New York Post, and The Guardian). Then, for Monday December 3, each group member must collect and print out every article on the event in their newspaper for the two weeks following the catastrophe. This includes news reports, but also editorials, etc. Print everything out and bring it to class on Monday.

While I don’t expect you to have memorized the articles, I do expect you to have familiarized yourself with the coverage, and to be able to report intelligently on what the newspaper reported at the beginning of the cycle and then the end of the cycle, when they presumably had the full story.

Links to the relevant newspapers:

NY POST: http://libraries.cuny.edu/resource.htm, then search under ‘Custom Newspapers’ or ‘New York Newspapers.’ Follow the instructions under Advanced Search to limit the search to the Post. Note: The Times is also available here, though the option below is more visually appealing

NY TIMES: The Times can be searched on its website www.nytimes.com, under ‘Archives.’ It also is available at ‘Historical New York Times’ at http://libraries.cuny.edu/resource.htm

GAURDIAN: http://libraries.cuny.edu/resource.htm, then search under ‘Custom Newspapers. Follow the instructions under ‘Advanced Search’ to limit the search to the Gaurdian. Note: The Gaurdian archive is also available at their website: www.gaurdian.co.uk

11/14

Just to clear things up for those who need it, regarding the executive summary: you do not necessarily have to work each article into the summary--all we care about are the indicated things (on the handout), and the emphasis on need. The means by which you achieve this is up to you: whatever is the most effective. The five to seven sources are just for the works cited page. Though of course you'll want as much research as makes your summary effective, we'll also imagine that in the unwritten essay you would have referenced every article mentioned in the works cited page.

Remember, all three parts are due as one document in class on Monday. Also, we will be creating groups for our next (and final!) project on Monday, so be sure to be there, and be there on time.

outline

1)Introduction;
a) Topic: Colleges should not allow race or ethnicity to affect the admissions decisions in either a positive or negative way. Students should not be kept out by the color of their skin but they shouldn’t be able to have an immediate acceptance just because schools want to have more diversity in their student body. Students should be accepted based on educational merit, and neither race nor ethnicity should limit or enhance their chances of acceptance in to a college. b) affirmative action should not be an excuse for minorities to get in to schools rather than having a equality for all students. c) this paper will try to show how ethnicity and race should neither limit nor enhance the chances for students of ethic minorities to getting in to college.
2) body:
a) paragraph1: how the article “race sensitive admissions struck down at the university of Georgia”, written in the Journal Blacks of in Higher Education, reflects on the topic of racism being seen as a limitation for students from minor ethnic groups from getting in to colleges. This article gives statistic for other reasons of rejection from colleges, such as statistics of SAT grades of black high school seniors in Georgia.
i) the facts given to prove this casts a doubt in to the minds of those who could be otherwise viewing this as racism. The school claims that there are other places that these students could go. And that they have numerous factors that go into their decisions of acceptance of students.
b) paragraph 2: how the article “Higher Education for Negroes: Challenges and Prospects”, by Kenneth B. Clark, shows how there are numerous colleges made for blacks, which are referred to in this article as negro colleges, in which more that 80% of black went to. These colleges were originally made to teach newly freed black slaves. The fact that there are colleges made for blacks makes everything segregated enough.
i) proof or this: students who start out at the same place as everyone else should have equal standards for the judgment of their acceptance to colleges. So there wouldn’t be need to segregated colleges if there was equal judgment.
c) Paragraph 3: how the article “The Language of White Racism”, by Haig A. Bosmajian, shows how racism starts with the whites in the classroom as children and how this is how they are raised. But it goes on to say how they have to over come this and how they don’t exactly know what they are doing because they are rarely tied to the racism. How the article “What's the Big Deal about Racial Preferences.”, by Terence J. Pell, shows that colleges might not keep to certain rules in order to get what they want for their student body.
i) example for proof: the college of Michigan had a point system in which many things were taken in to account but the there were also 20 points that were given at the decision of the person reading the application.
d) paragraph 4: how the article “Sexism and Racism: Some Conceptual Differences”, by Laurence Thomas, defines the differences between sexism and racism and how they are both seen as serious limitations to their prospective victims.
i) proof: men who realize that are being sexist and want to change have to go back to the beginning and change everything they learned. In stead of that whites who are racism just refuse to accept that it has anything to do with them. Women and blacks have been seen as the same thi9ng in such aspects as intelligence and emotion.
e) paragraph 5: how the articles tie together to show that affirmative action is not necessarily the best choice if we want equality. Because we see from “Assessing Affirmative Action” by Harry Holzer and David Nuemark that affirmative action is really just giving separate treatment because of race, sex, and ethnicity. Whether it is a limitation or an enhancement it is still a biased and if we are striving for equality we should not accept this.

Outline

I. Introduction

a. subject of essay: Social stratification divides and structures different people according to certain qualities they are affiliated with, therefore class systems should be formed into one solid level in society.
b. argument: Social stratification, influences people to become responsible for whatever branch of work they are assumed to fulfill and maintain a well organized and safe environment for themselves and future generations. The class of people defines their position in society whether it is looked upon as negative or positive. Therefore those of lower class should strive for more.
c. method: By using scholarly articles that provide information about class systems, i can prove the point of the necessity of upgrade in a class system.

II. Body

a. para1: Social class is necessary to define the obligations associated with each member of society.

i. Every culture defines it's social stratification based on what is most demanded by whom according to Hsien-Jen Chu and J. Selwyn Hollingsworth who studied the relationship between family-types and social stratification.
ii. Also they mention that urban and rural establishment changes ones responsibilities considering their being is either in a family or taking on the society solo. Therefore class is based on how you manage yourself in both or one of such. Extended research provides that larger families, are more likely to obtain a higher class then an independent family.


b. para2: People of different levels of class including upper, middle and lower are easily definable by others assuming intelligence and ability to work are the largest components of a class rank.

i. Earl Edward Muntz conducted a survey asking students to define social class systems according to stereotypes affiliated with knowledge and power. He asked students of different rank to participate and it showed how seemingly middle lass students opposed classification whereas upper middle class students, due to their urge to boost their rank, would react differently to this study and oppose equality.

c. para3. Children are and should be exposed to class very early with the start of school, considering education is a big part of social classes.

i. Celia Burns Stendlar explains how upper class people pertain to school as very important for social behavior and conflict resolution, whereas lower class is less complex and trains the child for adulthood.

ii. lower class children are more susceptible to outside influences and look upon success as a disgrace and work on boosting their own social being rather then their grades and thinking of their future, unlike upper class children who worry about bad grades and concentrate deeper on assignments.

d. para4. Ethnic background and race contribute to class as people of African or Hispanic cultures are stereotyped and affiliated with the lower class.

i. attitudes to ethic races are correlated with lower class according to Paul Haut. Minorities are rarely or never affiliated with upper or even middle class due to their past especially in American culture. The surveys provided show how biased students are and how upper class is significantly favored as a comparison to African Americans, Jews and foreign born peoples, who are even categorized below lower class.

e. para5. Affirmative action is a system that eliminates social class for minorities to simplify their success and help bring them up in the class system.

i. Affirmative action, although rather controversial between many people better. Considering it is affiliated with reverse discrimination, it is difficult to proclaim this as the best idea for minorities, but it is a start and may give out more hope and become simpler.

III. Conclusion

a. The articles i chose show how people of lower class and those associated with minorities are misrepresented through the biased nature of people of higher class as well as their own choices in a social environment. Whether it is families who guide their children in a specific way that defines them or their relative background, they are places into a specific social class according to action.

b.To improve ones stance in society it is necessary to push forward and eliminate stereotypes first, before entering into success.

Part 2: The Outline

a. Subject of Essay: The majority of people believe that depending on your social class, as well as many other factors, there won't ever truly be equal opportunity among social classes. They believe that the person you are, depends on your social class, amount of possessions, or occupation and effects your ability to better yourself.
b. Argument: Although there are different races, ethnicity's and class distinctions, there is one thing that cannot be argued against, the fact we are all human. No matter what class we may be born into, we all have the same ability to better ourselves through hardwork, dedication and determination.
c. Method by which this paper will prove that argument: By using several quotations and examples from appropriate sources, this paper will examine the main argument and support the fact that social class does not determine one's ability to achieve in life.
Body
d. Paragraph 1: Despite the fact that most people believe one's ability to achieve in life is based on their social class, the truth is that through one's determination, dedication, and hard work, they are able to better themselves no matter the situation they may be in.
i. Evidence for that point: Due to the fact that the homeless are in the lowest social class, most people believe they have no skills or ability to better themselves. However, in "Getting It Together: Social and Institutional Obstacles to Getting off the Streets" by Dalton Clark Conley, the opposite idea is introduced to the reader, "these individuals are beginning to be recognized as adaptive and resourceful. Recent literature on homeless people had depicted this population as an entrepreneurial group who engages in an every shifting combination of tacticts in order to make it from one day to the next, seeing their survival as a story of determination and resiliance." Although people may see the homeless as worthless and helpless, clearly they have enough ability and skill to survive day to day. The significance of determination is shown in this quote because it tells us that, with the help of determination, one has the ability to survive almost any condition.
e. Paragraph 2: Even though race, ethnicity, and class distinction all have an impact on the differences between people, the one similarity between every person, is the fact we are all human.
i. Evidence for that point: Donnell Alexander, author of "Cool Like Me", emphasizes this idea by addressing to the reader that we are all participants in a game of golf. He goes on to say "we're all handed the same basic tools as birth; it's up to us as individuals to work on our game. Some of us have sweet strokes, and some of us press too hard, but everybody who drops outta their mama has the same capacity to take a shot" (443). No matter how many things you may own, how high your salary may be at your job, or what social class you may be a part of, you are human and that is something that makes us all equal, despite what many people believe.
f. Paragraph 3: People may argue that equal opportunity is hard to come by, but at times you must create your own opportunities and with determination, as well as responsibility, it is possible that you can achieve this in spite of your social position.
i. Evidence for that point: Bruce N. Waller, author of "Responsibility and the Self-Made Self", explains to us "responsibility for self falls into the same category as most of the workaday responsibilities that we (as responsible individuals) exercise" (46). Any person is capable of succeeding in life as long as they are responsible of themselves and they understand that their future has the potential to be whatever they want it to be as long as they're determined, dedicated, and responsible.

Part 2: Outline

I. Introduction

a. Subject of Essay: Affirmative action is not worth the struggle.

b. Argument: Although the Supreme Court now supports affirmative action in colleges, according to Robert Shireman, the author of "10 Questions College Officials Should Ask About Diversity", there are problems in trying to keep colleges diverse because they fear accusations of reverse racism, therefore affirmative action should be demolished.

c. Method by which this paper will prove that argument: I will first explain what affirmative action is. Then I will show some examples of how hard it is to comply with the policy. After that I will say why it not worth such a struggle, of course while considering all points of view.


II. Body

a. Paragraph 1: Affirmative action is a policy that attempts to give minorities and women a better chance to succeed at things like education, or at their place of work.

i. Evidence for that point: Webster dictionary directly defines affirmative action as "an active effort to improve the employment or educational opportunities of members of minority groups and women; also : a similar effort to promote the rights or progress of other disadvantaged persons"


b. Paragraph 2: One position on affirmative action is that it needs to be used to help create an equal society.

i. Evidence for that point: "The law school's prestige in academic and professional circles grew as it
became more diverse. Affirmative action hardly diminished its stature. Rather, Boalt Hall was a great law school because of affirmative action." (Lawrence, 929)

ii. Many say that diversity and affirmative action can help make a college more prestigious although people against affirmative action say affirmative action makes a college or university less prestigious.


c. Paragraph 3: Another position on affirmative action is unconstitutional

i. "any policy that gives consideration to race is essentially a form of racial preference or quota system and is in violation of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and is therefore unconstitutional." (Rhoads, Saenz, and Carducci, 192)

d. Paragraph 4: There are so many ways people try and support this policy.

i. Robert Shireman says there are so many wrong things people are focusing that worsen the problem of diversity. (10 questions..., 462)

ii. Focusing on race alone and not just class is one big problem.

outline jason

I. Introduction
a. Subject of Essay: The poverty rate in America is between being between 11-15% which is high compared to other countries. This upsetting statistic should be a wake up call for the government to be more effective on the war on poverty.B. Argument: Americas reputation of the land of opportunity should be discredited as a result of the governments lack of opportunity for the poor. c. Method by which this paper will prove that argument: This paper will prove the argument by showing that poverty today remains a big problem and the governments methods to reduce poverty have not been effective.

II. Body
a. Paragraph 1: This article “The politics of poverty” written by David Brady talks about different causes of poverty such as single mothers raising a family, or a lack of education. This article says that left wing parties are more efficient then right wing because they have a more aggressive approach in fighting poverty.
i. Evidence for the point: Brady states“ I conclude that left political institutions partially combine with and partially channel through the welfare state to reduce poverty”. For more evidence Brady goes on to say that left political institutions reduce poverty in the marketplace.
B. Paragraph 2: This article “ Separate and unequal” written by Marian Edelman James Jones talks about American children in poverty. The article states that there are more children in poverty today then there was 40 years ago. The authors of this article seem upset by this and blame the government for not taking action against children in poverty. He wants guaranteed health care for all children as well as better food programs for children in poverty. The author also calls on the government to give better education and training for children to get good jobs.
i. Evidence for the point: The authors state “ If America has money to wage war and rebuild Afghanistan and Iraq then there is more then enough money to reduce poverty”(135). The authors are making the point that the American government as plenty of money which can be used to fight against the war on poverty.
c. Paragraph 3: In The article “Why poverty remains high” written by John Iceland lists three reason why one might be in poverty. The ways mentioned are income growth, inequality and changes in family structure. Iceland seems upset that the economy was booming and the lower class people did not benefit from the positive economy. He says that low level families suffer because they cant afford basic goods because of economic inequality.
i. Evidence for the point: Iceland explains the 3 causes of poverty he states “ Economic inequality can mitigate the overall positive impact of income growth if unemployed and low-income workers do not get the benefit from these growths”. He also states “ I found that income growth explains most of the trend in absolute poverty”.
d. Paragraph 4: Sanford Schram in her writing “Welfare spending and poverty” talks about how people may become dependant on welfare which can be bad because people don’t develop skills to make money on there own. The government by giving welfare is making an effort to fight poverty but their effort might be the wrong idea.
i. Evidence for the point: PhD Sanford Schram states “ The new consensus on welfare expresses the idea that the major problem in social welfare is dependency not poverty”. She seems to be implying that people have to take action gets jobs instead of sitting back and relaying on the government. The Government might be at fault here.
e. Paragraph 5: “ Having global poverty” written by Timothy Besley and Robin Burgess discuss how if the economy is efficient poverty can go down. If the economy is doing well there will be higher paying jobs. This seems to imply that the government has to go ahead and do it all it can to improve the economy so all people will be better off. i. Evidence for point: The authors state “ The main sources of economic growth are accumulating human capital, physical capital and technological change, growth from these sources can help the poor directly and indirectly”.

I. Introduction:
Subject of essay: In the past century there have been millions of people who have emigrated from a foreign land, to a country with a very different way of life. There are many non-natives who immigrate to the U.S. forcing them to compromise their cultures and therefore, assimilate.
Argument: By assimilation, many cultures opt to leave their old traditions and establish new ones in order to achieve conformity and unity amongst their fellow citizens. This leads immigrants to feel more comfortable and confident in their new surroundings, which will lead to emigration success in their newfound land.
Method by which this paper will prove that argument: I will prove my argument by supporting it with relative journals from scholarly professors.

II. Body
Paragraph I. The article, “Assimilation of Japanese women in an American City,” written by Melvin De Fluer and Chang-Soo Cho discusses the experience which Japanese-born women have had with assimilation in the United States. It states that “Japanese women are quite isolated and don’t assimilate because they don’t work with native-born Americans, as men do {246}.” This evidence shows that Japanese-born women do not assimilate as easily and therefore remain isolated in a segregated, Japanese community.
i. This is a counterargument to the thesis that shows that Japanese-born women that have immigrated to America have not assimilated so well. Therefore, these people will inevitably keep their original traditions from their place of origin leaving them to never feel total comfort and stability in their new home.

Paragraph II. Deborah Golden writes in her article, “Storytelling the future: Israelis, Immigrants and the Imagining of Community,” about the experiences that people had as they immigrated to Israel. She says that newcomers had a tough time adjusting to what the citizens of Israel expected of its newcomers. The article discusses that “Actions are being taken by the Israeli state and its citizens in order to ensure the newcomers welfare both materially and culturally {8}.” While the state is quite helpful to its immigrants, they still try to “guide the newcomers in a remaking of the self {8}.”
i. Although the citizens may come on strong to the newcomers, it will pay off in the long run to adopt these new traditions in order that the immigrants feel and portray themselves as more established individuals.
Israeli immigrants are being asked to remake themselves to fit the desire of the Israel State. By this request, just as stated in the thesis, although Israeli newcomers will be forced to leave their old traditions for new ones, they will achieve success by abiding by traditions of their new land, making an easier transition into a new, diverse culture.

Paragraph III. Highly Renowned Professors, Raymond Teske Jr. and Bardin Nelson discuss in their article, “Acculturation and Assimilation” that the two terms are not dependent on one another. Acculturation is “a process of adaptation to new conditions of life…as a result of contact with the culture of one or more societies {351}.” Acculturation is not contingent on a change in values, while assimilation very well is. “Assimilation is contingent on acceptance by the out-group {358}.” Assimilation is also a process that compromises ones internal and external self and involves change in values as well.
i. The authors state that Assimilation is a process that forces one to compromise their values and all parts of their being. One should be compromising only as much as they want to. One should not be forced to do things he doesn’t want to do in his country where he has freedom of rights. Again, just as stated in the thesis, Assimilation is something that will eventually force a culture to leave all its traditions however, if conformity and comfortableness is not what they achieve, then there is no point in tolerating those traditions to begin with.

Paragraph IV Bernard Wong writes about an experiment that he performed between Chinese in Lima Peru and Chinese in New York. This is written in his article, “On Assimilation of the Asians in the Americas. A Reply.” This experiment between the two Chinese groups took place in order to compare assimilation. It shows how Chinese assimilated into New York. Wong states that, “immigrants discard the cultural traits of their host country through intermarriage participation in institutions of the host society and adoption of their behaviors and attitudes {172}.”
i. Through controlled experiments Wong proves this quote about immigrants, such as the Chinese who dwell in New York and assimilation. Wong points out that intermarriage and participation in certain “American” events have Americanized the Chinese living in New York, which helps them modify themselves for a more united America.

Paragraph V. The article discusses the challenges that immigrants of America face. Many times immigrants come to America empty handed and illiterate as well. These two traits combined will leave immigrants to segregate themselves and leave little hope for a smooth transition into American society. Zhou claims that if children of immigrants are in school with native-born children great tension will be created. This will leave immigrated children to resist assimilation.
i. This is a counterargument for the thesis that assimilation will allow people to earn more status and confidence. Immigrants may feel uncomfortable with these new traditions and segregate themselves, leaving them no chance to ever assimilate into the American society. These Immigrants may never achieve total success when they feel as if their being looked down upon at all times.

Part II

Yoni Mandelbaum
Professor Henkle
English 110
14 November 2007

I. Introduction
a. Subject of Essay: Students from higher income families will do better in school than those who have families with lower income.
b. Argument: Therefore, in order to enable the students with lower family income to have the same opportunity as those with higher income, a full scholarship should be provided to the students from low-income families.
c. Method by which this paper will prove that argument: This paper will prove this argument by providing and analyzing articles from scholarly journals that support the idea that scholarships should in fact to be given to low-income families in order to create equal opportunity.
II. Body
a. Paragraph 1: This article explains that due to the high cost of college, combined with the low assistance level of financial scholarships, many low-income families are finding it very difficult to afford sending students to universities.
i. Evidence for that point: In fall 2001 Princeton got rid of student loans and instead offers scholarship grants. Since most universities are unable to do this, low-income students are finding it extremely hard to afford college, resulting in a decrease in entry and completion of college by students with low family income. Families that bring in twenty-five thousand dollars or less are considered low income, and as college prices go up it is these low-income families that suffer the most. While some financial aid programs, such as Pell Grant, can not provide as much money as is being demanded, the amount still needed after financial aid has been given is still substantial. The author concludes by advising the federal government to be more active in setting up college preparatory programs in high schools, as well as reorganizing financial aid programs and organizations in order to assist the low income families in an efficient manner.
ii. This article illustrates the major need of financial aid to be given to those with lower-income families in order to give them the opportunity to excel in college as the tuition rate rises. Although more money is demanded, financial aid organizations need to be able to provide for those not wealthy enough to fully pay their way through university. In addition, it appears that as financial grants are given, the distribution to varying income families is very important in order to ensure those with lower incomes get equal opportunity to attend do well in college.
b. Paragraph 2: This essay discusses how a higher amount of scholarship money should be provided to low-income families that need the financial help, rather than the same amount given to those families that are financially comfortable.
i. Evidence for that point: As Princeton revised its financial aid program by dropping student loans and instead offering scholarships, Harvard has joined as well by offering an additional two thousand dollars to those already receiving financial aid. This seems okay, but since black students compose seven percent of Harvard’s study body, most of this scholarship money will go to white students, as the financial help for black students will decrease. While the white students with higher income families receive the two thousand dollar bonus, so do the many low-income black families. Therefore it is unfair to those who may need more money than others do. It seems that the author is suggesting that more money be given to those with more financial need and less to those that can handle college payments without as much assistance.
ii. In order to give equal opportunity to those with lower income families, it seems that this article suggests different amounts of financial aid bonuses be given out to students receiving grants based on their own economic situation, rather than the added bonus that every student under financial aid receives. By giving the lower-income, in this article relating to African-Americans, a bigger sum as financial aid, it gives them an equal opportunity to do well in school.
c. Paragraph 3: The author of this article conveys the thought that as unaffordable as private schools are to low-income families, many of these families are finding public and state-run colleges equally financially unbearable.
i. Evidence for that point: Low-income black families are seeing private colleges as unreachable in their states due to their financial situations, and are therefore relying on state-operated colleges instead. In a study done by the Lumina Foundation, it was found that public universities were also financially unattainable for low-income families except in the states of Alaska, Arkansas, Hawaii, Kentucky, and Wyoming, where state legislature subsidies and financial aid were sufficiently provided to lower-income students. Three factors that the researchers give as reasons for why college is affordable in some states but not others include the difference in income between whites and blacks and minorities varies by state, secondly, each states has different financial aid programs, and finally, state subsidies for college also vary by state. In conclusion, these problems must be dealt with in order to educate a broad and diverse work force and to avoid social tension.
ii. The article raises the point that in almost every state in the US even public state-operated colleges, let alone private universities, are out of the financial league for many people. This article articulates the need for more financial aid to be readily available to low-income families. Therefore it seems, in order to give the low-income students an equal opportunity at a quality education, financial aid needs to be provided more generously.
d. Paragraph 4: The topic of this writing concerns how many Ivy League colleges have decided to diversify by distributing scholarships, not based on financial need, but rather for academic achievement as well as student-athlete potential, resulting in the inability to provide low-income families with the necessary proper financial help.
i. Evidence for that point: After many years of top Ivy league schools coming together in order to address financial aid policies, these meetings came to a stop. As a result it was found that schools were giving scholarships, not based on financial need, but rather on an academic achievement basis as well the wish to include a more racially eclectic student body. In result, it was found by a professor named Caroline Hoxby from the economics department at Harvard University, that “in a period when college costs continued to escalate at a rate far higher than inflation, the amount of aid available to poor students remained bout the same.” This means that as colleges were making the decisions for students to receive financial aid to, although they might diversify by choosing black students, these students will be from middle to higher income families rather than lower-income families. Finally the author concludes that black students who are academically and athletically gifted will receive more attention and consideration in the area of financial aid rather than those who need it most.
ii. Although financial aid is being given out, it is not being channeled in the right direction. The change from financial need to academic achievement based is really leaving those who need the money most at a large disadvantage.

e. Paragraph 5: In this essay, Lewis C. Solmon, illustrates his views that financial compensation should be given to low-income families in order to reimburse them with money they would have received had the child been working rather than being in school. In addition the author suggests that money on expenses to enhance the home learning environment should also be addressed.

i. Evidence for that point: A family’s income directly affects choices parents make for their kids concerning school because the money spent to send the child to school, is also money lost since the kid could be working to provide more money for the family. If the students decide to work outside of school hours, then that time that could be spent on schoolwork and studying, are instead committed to working to help support their already low-income families. The author continues and suggests: “in order to get the poor to send their high school age children to a school of any quality, the cost in terms of proportionate reduction in family income must be reduced for low income families. Perhaps directs payments to these families based on sending their children to school (rather than welfare payments based on the number of children) are the answer”(Solmon 769). In addition, Solmon writes that because of a family’s low income, it may cause the student’s home to be less resourceful and unaccommodating to their needs, thereby giving them a disadvantage compared to students from houses of higher income. The author concludes that incentive payments should be provided to lower income families to send their children to school, in order to assist in making the home an acceptable place for children to excel in their studies, and in addition to provide a higher rate of return to schooling.
ii. As the author proposed, in order to give the lower income students a fair opportunity to achieve substantially in school, payments or scholarships should be granted in order to enable this. As a parallel, my argument states that money should be distributed to those in need as a device to help spark equal opportunity between lower and higher income students to attain good grades in school.

11/13

Please note and look at Yoni's exemplary part III for Assignment 3. Not only are his citations right on, the summaries could be very helpful to many of you as a model. Here we see something very specific, clearly drawn from the articles, and dealing with the entire article. This to warn you off of being general ('the authors propose some solutions' rather than 'the authors propose X, Y, and Z as solutions') and from not indicating the complete argument ('in conclusion' is a useful phrase). Even if you can't deal with the article as fully as we might like, be sure that you are scanning from beginning to end, and indicating that in your summary.

11/10

Hope the library visit was instructive. Those of you who haven't sent me a topic and bibliography need to do so immediately. Email is fine--we need to get this set because the final three part project will be due on the Monday before break, and going on without a topic is more or less pointless.

For Wednesday, do the first five paragraphs of the outline of your imaginary essay and bring it to class. Also, post it here (I understand there may be some formatting problems) so we can look at it during class. Follow the Essay #3 instructions for the format of this part of the project. Five paragraphs will not finish your outline, but it will give us a start and something to work with in class.

Last but not least, you should receive your graded second essay tonight via email (11/10). If you have any problem opening it, be sure to let me know on Tuesday so that I can print it for you for Wednesdays class. If you don't receive the essay at all, also let me know.

I suspect some of you will want to revise your paper for a better grade, and I'd be very glad to have them (for some of you it's more or less required for passage in the course). To prevent backlog, however, I will not take any new drafts of essay 1 or essay 2 after Monday, December 3rd. This means you should be working on these over Thanksgiving break.

11/9

AND OF COURSE THE ASSIGNMENT IS STILL DUE TODAY. ANY RESEARCH HELP YOU GET TODAY WILL HOPEFULLY BE USEFUL FOR YOUR FINAL DRAFT.

Scheduling Change: Because of a conflict at the library, our library research day will be MONDAY (11/12) in ROOM 101A of the library, rather than Wednesday as indicated on the syllabus. Therefore, this Monday proceed directly to 101A, where you will learn the library research system and, we can hope, find a bit more time to work on your research for the current assignment.

Please tell anyone from the class that you might see that class will be taking place, and tell them of the venue change. Thanks.

11/7

As we discussed, the assignment for Monday is part 3 of the next project, the works cited page. In addition, if you have not given me a topic for your paper, or haven't cast it in the format we discussed during today's class, I suggest you do so via email as soon as possible. While I want the topic to be at the top of your works cited page for Monday, it would be best for you and for your research over the weekend if you have a set topic which I've seen and approved.

Note that many articles in the journals are quite long. The key here, then, is to read selectively and carefully yet quickly, but to also be sure you understand the author's entire argument and (because this will be required for the outline) know enough about it to quote from it without misrepresenting their point either generally or in the specific quotation you've chosen.

Lastly, the directions for this assignment are quite clear--look to the prompt (the handout today, but also available to the right) for all answers to how to approach this assignment.

"As, such, I'm copshow menace and a shoe commercial demigod- one of the rough boys from our " hood and the living, breathing embodiment of hip-hop flava" The paragraph above this quote described the experience an young immigrant women had in an all black Los Angeles neighborhood. The quote proves that every single black male is associated with crime of some sort, as being some kind of a gangster. They are also associated with always listening to rap or hip hop.

"Then we became free on paper yet oppressed still."

This quote best explains the fact that, yes, slavery has been abolished many years ago along with racism, but we are all very aware of the racism that still exists today, especially towards African Americans.

"We were just about all slaves, so we were all niggas"

The word slave, is automatically associated with the word nigger. White people aren't the only ones who make this association, you see this in my quote because that quote was made by an African American.

Arguable Topics

Social Class will always be a problem because there is nothing we can do to change it.

They write that no matter what we do there is a point where we identify and “agree on a rigid ‘class’ hierarchy.”

We don’t decide in what class we are but we are in the class we fit and there is nothing we can do to change it.

We will always decide by ourselves that we “fit the psychological profile of” whatever class we fit.

The only way to go is to go white.

The goal of people is to be “born white” or “achieve whiteness”. It never I want to be Asian, Hispanic or Black. Like what is so bad about that.

Arguments

The culture we are born into and brought up in influences our decisions and provides a predictable future. Certain expectations are determined based on your culture as Annie Dillard seems to explain in "How to Live" when she states "You enjoy work, and will love your grandchildren, and somewhere in there you die." Presumable predictions classify a person according to their society.





Social status of a person may be defined by their race despite the irrationality, provided that media enhances ones classification according to clothes, accessories etc. According to Donnell Alexander who wrote "Cool Like Me" being black results in an automatic classification as 'cool.' He writes, "when mainstream America looks for cool we look to black culture. Countless new developments can be called great, nifty, even keen. But, cool? That's a black thang, baby."





Social structure defines and predicts ones stance in a community as people of the upper, middle and lower class are easily distinguishable due to steretotypes associated with them according to Paul Fissels "A Touchy Subject" as he explains how the middle class has a "tendency to get very anxious...and nervous about slipping down a rung or two. On the the other hand, upper-class people love the topic to come up...proletarians generally don't mind discussions of the subject because they know they can do little to alter their class identity."

Arguments Jason

Argument 1: you reveal a great deal about your social class by the amount of annoyance or fury you feel when the subject is brought up. A tendency to get nervous is middle class. Upper class love the topic . Lower class does not mind the topic because they can do little about it.

Argument 2: Eric liu, I was Chinese and the girls were white I thought this was the sole obstacle of my advancement.

Argument 3: From How to live Annie Dillard says "any culture tells you how to live your one and only life".

Debatable statements

Environments will drive people to conform with the “stereotypes” that pertain to them.
-This can be seen throughout Eric Lui’s passage as he lists the reasons why
he is white.

Social classes are necessary in order for societies to exist.
-This statement is taken from pg. 481: “Those who sell ‘executive desks’ and
related office furniture know that they and their clients agree on a rigid ‘class’ hierarchy.” In other words, no matter how you look at it, societies will always have social classes attached to them because some people will become doctors
while others will become janitors.

Racial inequality is largely due to the problems of culture rather than innate racism.
-Taken from pg 413: “By the mid-nineteenth century, Western science and
culture…” Culture will have a great effect on the way people think which can lead to ideas of racial discrimination and such.

three arguable topics

1. Why do people these days deny there are classes in the US? People deny that there are social classes in their own town by the amount of money they have or what they are capable of doing with that money. they say that everyone is the same because they don't want to see the separation.

2. Why does certain racial and ethnic stereotyping seem humorous to certain kinds of people, but at the same time offend other kinds of people?

3. why does income determine how far one will get when it is? schools are paying class valedictorians when they should be giving more aid to people who actually need it

Topics on diversity and stereotypes

Although he supreme court now supports affirmative action in colleges, according to Robert Sherman, the author of "10 Questions College Officials Should Ask About Diversity", there are issues in trying to sustain this new found diversity.

According to Robert Sherman in "10 questions College Officials Should ask", focusing on race to solve the lack of diversity problems "may be feedingthe stereotypes"

In "Coming Into the Country" Gish Jen says, "the monent we feel certain rights to be inalienable... we become American". In other words it's saying that it doesnt matter what rituals or stereotypes your culture has, as long as you feel you are free and no one can tae that freedom, you are American.

arguable topics

Argument: Students from higher income families will do better in school than those who have families with a lower flow of income. This issue is addressed when Robert Shireman notes in his essay “10 Questions College Officials Should Ask about Diversity”, while discussing a financial aid program, “his institution actually has a large enrollment of low-income students, and it is possible that their campus experience would benefit from a larger enrollment of less-needy, high-achieving students”

Argument: Those who conform or assimilate to a culture’s customs, actually feel torn and somewhat heartbroken when they abandon their original culture’s customs. This argument can connect to the idea Eric Liu conveys in his writing “Notes of A Native Speaker” when he says, “These were the moments when I realized I was becoming something other than my parents”.

Argument: Being cool is a necessity in order to get through life. As Donnel Alexander proclaims in his article titled “Cool Like Me”, “Humans put cool on a pedestal because life at large is a challenge”.

Arguments

Social class exists even in an industry in which the jobs are the same.
A Touchy Subject 481. "In the construction business there's a social hierarchy of jobs, with "dirt work," or mere excavation at the bottom; the making of sewers, roads, and tunnels in the middle; and work on buildings (the taller, the higher) at the top."
-The relation between the argument and this quote is that even in an industry like construction, where the workers do the same thing(construct), social class of lower, middle, and higher exists.

Racism is the cause of race, as opposed to it being the product of race.
Pg 413: "If prejudice is about ideas--unreasonable judgements or convictions--then discrimination is about behavior--unreasonable treatment based on class or category. Racism is a structural problem, a form of discrimination based on group identity that is embedded in institutional process of exclusion. As such racism is a social construct, more a cause than a product of race."
-The relation between the argument and this quote is that, the quote explains that racism is an unreasonable treatment towards a certain group, by means of using a exclusion method defined by society. This shows that racism, which treats a certain group unfairly by kicking them out, causes that group to be labeled as a certain race. An example of this would be, if you were to exclude a colored person from yourself because of their color, you categorize them as black,yellow, or brown. Thus your act of racism, has caused you to label that person as a "race."

11/5

For Wednesday, read and/or familiarize yourself with pages 427-444 and 461-465 in Seeing & Writing. In addition, read Eric Liu's 'Notes of a Native Speaker' if you haven't done so already.

When you have done that, post here three arguable topics for an imaginary essay on the subject of stereotyping, racism, or class. Critically, these topics must be drawn from a question or topic found in the reading for Monday and/or Wednesday. Broad (but not too broad) questions of stereotype, racism, or class are of course fine, but there must be in your one or two sentence description of the paper's imaginary argument a connection between a quotation from the text(s) and your argumentative topic.

I am an ABC

I have straight black hair.
I speak mostly English.
I am not fluent in Chinese.
I celebrate Chinese New Year.
I eat dinner with my family every night.
I do not like math.
I went to Chinese school for 5 years.
I respect my elders.
I am becoming a buisness woman.
I enjoy watching television.

Ways to say I am Korean

-My mother owns a nail salon
-I watch korean dramas
-My house is never without kimchi
-I take my shoes off when I go inside a home
-Most of my friends are Korean
-I can game for 24 hours straight
-I am very ethnic
-I speak fluent Korean, and accented english
-I took a plane to America
-I have been asked if my father owns a deli
-I attend a church in which most, if not all members of the congregation are korean

Ten ways to say I am a B.A.P.

Here are some ways you could say I am a B.A.P.

1. Since elementary school, my social life was determined by my membership in Jack and Jill.

2. I eat fried chicken with a knife and fork.

3. Ebonics is not a part of my vocabulary.

4. When I attended Holyoke, I only dated boys from Amherst, Brown or Dartmouth.

5. Being a legacy predetermined my acceptance into A.K.A.

6. I summered at our house in Sag Harbor or my girlfriend’s in the Vineyard.

7. I know I will always find t hat perfect outfit when shopping at Lord & Taylor or Sack’s.

8. I only wear my mink at social occasions, never to work.

9. I cruise to the Caribbean in February and the Mediterranean in August.

10. My MBA in finance assures my invitation to many clubs and committees.

Ways to say I am Dominican

• I love to dance merengue and bachata.
• I eat a lot of plaintains.
• I always ask for a discount on everthing I buy.
• I travel to Dominican Republic with my baggage passed the weighing limit.
• I eat rice beans and chicken every day.
• I own a hair salon.
• I have 5 brothers, 10 uncles, 25 cousins and 1 nephew.
• I go to a school where everyone calls me "primo"(cousin).
• I usually go to family parties.
• I celebrate my birthday in my house kitchen.

I am a Video Game Addict

1. I talk about things most people don’t talk about.
2. I like computer role playing games.
3. I smell bad.
4. I look unprofessional.
5. I talk to my self.
6. I have comic books.
7. I love reading books about fantasy.
8. I not healthy.
9. I only talk about video games.
10. I sound like a nerd.

I am from the south

I work on a farm with the land and animals.
I have many different types of guns.
I am a devout Christian.
I have many children.
I drive a pick-up truck.
I wear blue overalls.
I hate city-folk.
I wake up to a rooster's call.
I have a Confederate flag.
I am a cowboy.

I am a Mexican

I am 5 feet tall
I am an illegal immigrant who hopped the border
I am a taco eater
I am a busboy,painter,dishwasher, etc.
I am a proud mother and or father of 9 children
I am a resident of Corona, Elmhurst, Jackson Heights, etc.
I am a soccer fanatic
I am very proud of being Mexican
I am frequently confused with Ecuadorians
I am a gang member

I am a teenager

I am a teenager.
I like to watch animations.
I prefer to read mangas than novels.
I like to wear t-shirts more than shirts.
I don't drink and smoke.
I like to play video games.
I like to wear jeans.
I am young.
I like to have fashionable products such as ipod and psp.
I am daydreamer.

I'm a female.

I'm emotional.
I'm dependant and unstable.
I cook.
I clean.
I make children and take care of them.
I nag.
I'm either uneducated or ditsy or both.
I get things with my outer appearance.
I am a gold digger.
I'm materialistic.
I love make-up, jewelry and fine clothes.
I'm a bitch.
I like to snuggle, share feelings and cry.
I hate sports and action movies.
I'm weak.

I am a male Asian American

I am very good at math.
I don't speak back to my elders.
I do not need to be heard.
I study all of the time.
I don't exist; rather "we" exist.
I plan to become a doctor, lawyer, etc.
I live with my parents.
I plan to support my parents until they die.
I am not very sociable.
I have slanted eyes.

I am rich

I have many maids
I get what I want, when I want it
I go on luxurious vacations and stay at the finest hotels
I recieve spa treatments daily
I am a member of a very exclusive country club
I have an unlimited credit card
I wear clothes from some of the top clothing lines
I have a mansion in Bel-Air
I have underlying confidence
I pay people off in order to get them on my side.

i am a mother

i am a woman.
i have very maternal feelings
i can feel empowered in my kitchen
i have not seen an unanimated film since before Disney's "The Lion King"
i can do more at one time than any working person i know
i have more hobbies than the average grandmother
i am forever cleaning somthing sticky off of the hand and faces of my children
i drive a minivan
i carry everything in my pocket-book, just in case
i have no time for myself or my husband
the closest i have come to a manicure in the last four years is finger painting with my children
i wouldnt trade my role for anything else in the world
i regret nothing

10 ways to say im a nerd

I where glasses
I play chess
I love science
I where suspenders
I am awkward towards girls
I have only nerd friends
I walk funny
Im part of an exclusive book club
I snort when i laugh
I watch the discovery channel

I am old

I am old.
I walk with a cane.
I carry candy in my purse.
I wear too much makeup.
I can not drive.
I like to talk to people.
I enjoy telling people stories.
I have gained a lot of knowledge.
I am wiser than you.
I get up early.
I like to watch birds.

20 ways to say I'm Italian-American

1. I am family centered.
2. I am Roman Catholic.
3. I have at least one picture or statue of Jesus in my house.
4. I eat Sunday dinner at 2pm.
5. I know how to make the best sauce and meatballs.
6. I have at least one mechanic, plumber, electrician, accountant, travel agent or lawyer in my family.
7. I have at least 5 cousins who were named after my grandfather that live on my block.
8. I lived in a small house but still had two kitchens.
9. I know how to make a meal for 28 people.
10. My mother has plastic covered furniture.
11. I’ve been to the Vatican at least once.
12. My family fights over if its “sauce” or “gravy”.
13. I’ll have 25 people in my wedding party.
14. I respect those who respect me.
15. I Respect my elders.
16. I take great pride in my nationality.
17. I have family in Italy.
18. I am artistic.
19. I am a lover.
20. I Know how to have a good time at a party.

I am homeless.

I am a male.
I am a drunk.
I am a druggie.
I will use any money you give me on drugs and alcohol.
I sleep on the train and street.
I smell badly.
I always wear old tattered clothes.
I always wear my clothes in layers.
I am mean and crazy.
I am a bad person.

I am a High School Jock

I have a 2.0 GPA
I am rude to whoever want
I have a cheerleader girlfriend
I pick on geeks
I am very popular
I have a cool car
I am full of myself
I am in great shape
I am a leader
I am shallow

11/1

For Monday, read and/or make yourself familiar with the following pages in Seeing & Writing: 407-421, 478-495. Also expect a quiz on the reading.

In addition, you'll see much of our discussion will continue to be on race, class and stereotyping. By ten a.m. on Monday post here another list of the sort we did in class Monday. Choose a ethnic or class group and, following Eric Liu's model, list ten 'Ways to say I am...'

10/24

In the hopes that it will result in finer papers, I'm assigning no reading for Monday October 29th. We will, however, be working with portions of Eric Liu's 'Notes of a Native Speaker,' which can be found to the right. If you have a chance, then, I recommend looking it over.

Reworked Quotes

Old: According to Davidson and Lytle, Saving Private Ryan would be considered an authentic movie compared to being mythical which "will always .... historical evidence" (427).

New: According to Davidson and Lytle, Saving Private Ryan would be considered an authentic movie compared to being mythical: "myths of the cinema will always .... historical evidence" (427).

Old: Again, according to Davidson and Lytle, “for Cimino, ... the war’s historical context” (418), throughout the time when orders kept changing with the captain's decision.

New: Again, with Davidson and Lytle's perception throughout the time when orders kept changing with the captain's decision, “authenticity ...the war’s historical context” (418).

Old: Davidson and Lytle wrote, “There are, of course, a number of straightforward ways to evaluate historical dramas. We can give each film a scrupulous fact-checking to determine which parts are true and which are false” (Davidson 403).

New: Davidson and Lytle acknowledges that, "there are, of course a number of straightforward ways to evaluate historical dramas. We can give each film a scrupulous fact-checking to determine which parts are true and which are false” (Davidson 403).

Old: Windtalkers has some sort of a myth Davidson and Lytle talk about called, “the American melting pot, in which immigrants from a multitude of ethnic backgrounds learn to live in a single nation” (Davidson 406).

New: Davidson and Lytle makes note of the myth of "the American melting pot, in which immigrants from a multitude of ethnic backgrounds learn to live in a single nation” (Davidson 406), which is shown in the film Windtalkers.

Quotes Updated

Original Quote:

We embraced at face value the messages of these stories and most of us, especially those of us who have never been in combat, never doubted what we saw. And why would we, these stories reinforced “our cultural ideals or gave expression to deep commonly felt emotions” (Were Trouble Comes 406).

I believe Davidson and Lytle would find that “We Were Soldiers” is the more authentic of the two movies not because it accurately portrays historical events in their entirety, after all, this is a Hollywood feature film and “dramatic films about history do not portray what actually happened in the past so much as what ought to have happened” (Were Trouble Comes 405).

As he quickly exits the compartment where a soldier is smoking a cigar, another soldier says” they sure picked a beaut’ for acting platoon sergeant” (To Hell and Back)

New Quote:

We embraced at face value the messages of these stories because they reinforced “our cultural ideals or gave expression to deep commonly felt emotions” especially those of us who have never been in combat (Were Trouble Comes 406).


A soldier who witness Murphy’s exit from the compartment where a soldier is smoking a cigar comments: ”they sure picked a beaut’ for acting platoon sergeant” (To Hell and Back).

According to Davidson and Lytle, “dramatic films about history do not portray what actually happened in the past so much as what ought to have happened” therefore I believe they would find “We Were Soldiers” the more authentic of the two movies.(405).

Old: The film starts out with a monologue by the main character, Swofford, “A story: A man fires a rifle for many years, and he goes to war. And afterward he turns the rifle in at the armory, and he believes he's finished with the rifle. But no matter what else he might do with his hands, love a woman, build a house, change his son's diaper; his hands remember the rifle”.

New: Swofford remarks in a monologue, “A story: A man fires a rifle for many years, and he goes to war. And afterward he turns the rifle in at the armory, and he believes he's finished with the rifle. But no matter what else he might do with his hands, love a woman, build a house, change his son's diaper; his hands remember the rifle”.

Old: Davidson and Lytle describe what they believe myth is through this quote, "And because myth deals with expectations rather than reality, Cimino obliged"(417).

New: Davidson and Lytle feel that "myth deals with expectations rather than reality" (417) and that is how they gauge a movie's "mythical" status.

Quote Revision

Old: Davidson and Lytle argue that, “an artistic standard of ‘truth’ that resides less in the particulars of the historical record than in rendering situations and characters in authentic, human ways” (Davidson 405).

New: Davidson and Lytle carry the message films utilize insignificant situations, exaggerate and improve them, hence converting them into important factors as they insist, “an artistic standard of ‘truth’ that resides less in the particulars of the historical record than in rendering situations and characters in authentic, human ways” (Davidson, Lytle 405).



Old: Davidson and Lytle analyze a film entitled Deer Hunter as rather mythic according to it’s “story and images” (Davidson 416), but “the dialogue is more natural, less stilted” (Davidson 416), showing factors of authenticity.

New: Davidson and Lytle analyze a film entitled Deer Hunter as rather mythic according to it’s “story and images," but “the dialogue is more natural, less stilted” showing factors of authenticity. (Davidson, Lytle 416).



Old: Davidson and Lytle clearly disagree as they show resentment towards the film as much as the setting of the film not agreeing with the actual filming area stating: “Clairton is an imaginary town, created by shooting in eight different locations spread over four states. Its imposing Russian Orthodox Church is from Cleveland and is twice the size of anything a town like Clairton might afford” (Davidson 417).

New: According to Davidson and Lytle: “Clairton is an imaginary town, created by shooting in eight different locations spread over four states. Its imposing Russian Orthodox Church is from Cleveland and is twice the size of anything a town like Clairton might afford," and this factual seting of the film does not agree with the the film itself (Davidson 417).

So this is like what Davidson and Lytle say in “Where Troubles Comes”, “, filmmakers are constantly constructing their version of history…” (409).

Davidson and Lytle also think that "filmmakers are constantly constructing their [own] version of history" and don't stay true to the facts (409).

“Jarhead noun, slang for marine. Origin from the resemblance to a jar of the regulation of high-and-tight haircut. The marines head by implication therefore also a jar, an empty vessel.” Swofford says this in the movie Jarhead

Swofford lets us know why the marines are called jarheads: “Jarhead noun, slang for marine. Origin from the resemblance to a jar of the regulation of high-and-tight haircut. The marines head by implication therefore also a jar, an empty vessel”.

Quotes

Old:
"The dialogue is more natural, less stilted(416)."

New:
Like Davidson and Lytle stated in " Where Trouble Comes," " The dialogue is more natural, less stilted(416).

Old:
"No matter how "true" a feature film tries to be to the emotions of it's characters, its makers will always place dramatic considerations above strict fidelity to the historical record(405).

New:
Davidson and Lytle agree on that, "No matter how "true" a feature film tries to be to the emotions of it's characters, its makers will always place dramatic considerations above strict fidelity to the historical record" (405), proves that even the moment of a son leaving his house because of disagreement of war issues.

Revised Quotes

Old:

"Are the costumes right? Did a historical figure do the things he or she is said to have done on screen? If the characters are fictional, are they representative of historical figures in similar situation?" (Davidson 403).

New:

Davidson and Lytle would base their definition of "authentic" on the following: "Are the costumes right?..................in a similar situation" (Davidson 403)?

Old:

"A myth, to quote one dictionary definition........deep commonly felt emotions" (Davidson 405).

New:

As Davidson and Lytle reveal, "A myth.......commonly felt emotions" (Davidson 405).

Old:
An example of this statement, is told in Tim O'Brien's "How to Tell a True War Story", he goes on to say: "A true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing the things they have always done. If a story seems moral, do not believe it. If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie. There is no rectitude whatsoever. There is no virtue " (1).

New:
Tim O'Brien, author of "How to Tell a True War Story", provides us with an example of this idea by stating,
"A true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing the things they have always done. If a story seems moral, do not believe it. If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie. There is no rectitude whatsoever. There is no virtue" (1).

Old:
An example of this would be when Davidson and Lytle, authors of "Where Trouble Comes", had said in the text "myth deals with expectations rather than reality" (417).

New:
Davidson and Lytle, authors of "Where Trouble Comes" establish the difference between authenticity and myth by elaborating on this idea: "myth deals with expectations rather than reality" (417).

Old
In the article where trouble comes by Davidson and Lytle they speak about how in the Movie the Green Barriet with John Wayne, they make the American soldier out to be a stereotypical macho man. They state, “Wayne ........... Tough" (405).

New
In the article where trouble comes Davidson and Lytle suggest that in the movie Green Barriet John Wayne is portryaed as a sterotypical American tough guy: " "Wayne.......... Tough". (405)

Old

Davidson and Lytle suggest that these movies are mythical in different aspects. They want to make the point that movie companies write their own version of the war, rather than historical facts which they call “Authentic“. Davidson and Lytle authors state, “Grant .............. happend"

New
Davidson and Lytle point out that Green Barriets, Platoon and Deer Hunter are "Mythical". The authors explaine this by stating " Grant......... happend" .

Quotes

Old:
O'Brien mentions in "How to Tell a True War Story" that true war stories often don't have a point, moral, or serious excitement (O'Brien, "How to Tell a True War Story", 174 and 181).

New:
O'Brien tells us thattrue war stories often don't have a point, moral, or serious excitement (O'Brien, "How to Tell a True War Story", 174 and 181).

Old:
They define mythical as "... a real or fictional story with a recurring theme" (Davidson and Lytle, 405)

New:
According to Davidson and Lytle "a real or fictional story with a recurring theme..." is a defintion for myth (Davidson and Lytle, 405)

Rework on quotations

Original:
Tim O'Brien, an American novelist once said in his article "How to Tell a True War Story" that "War is Hell; War is nasty; war is fun.....war makes you dead."(180)

New:
As Tim O'Brien described in his article "How to Tell a True War Story" that " War is Hell;... war makes you dead."(180)


Original:
"Films strive for an ... human ways." ( Davidson & Lytle 405)
New:
According to Davidson & Lytle, "Films strive for an ... human ways." (405)

revized quotes

Old
Thomas Hobbs...says that the human state of nature is war.
New
Thomas Hobbs insists, “The natural state of nature is war” (3).

Old
“In the end a true war story is never about war… it’s about love and sorrow” (10), says Tim O’Brien.
New
“In the end a true war story is never about war... It’s about love and sorrow” (10), reminds Tim O’Brien.

Old
O’Brien states, “You can tell a true war story from its absolute and uncompromising allegiance to obscenity and evil” (1).
New
Author Tim O’Brien recognizes that, “you can tell a true war story from its absolute and uncompromising allegiance to obscenity and evil” (1).

Old
According to Davidson and Lytle an authentic war film is one that has characters that are individual, realistic and ambiguous.
New
Davidson and Lytle maintain that an authentic war film must have individual and realistic characters: “to a historian viewing the film the characters do look less stereotyped” (416).

New Quotes

Old:
O’Brien writes, “Story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth. {203}”

New:
O’Brien argues in his piece, “story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth.” {203}

Old:
“Hollywood, an industry that markets the fantasies and fears of popular culture, inescapably finds itself in the myth business creating short stories, themes, and character types that embody the culture ideals of its audience and give expression to their deepest feelings” {Davidson, Lytle 405}

New:
Davidson and Lytle describe in their article how Hollywood constantly finds itself creating fantasies to satisfy their audience, leading Hollywod to find itself in the myth business. {405}

A)
Original
“Myth,” as described in “When Trouble Comes,” “deals with expectation rather than reality. (417)”
New
“Myth” as described by Davidson and Lytle, “deals with expectation rather than reality” (417).

B)
Original
The authors then quote New York Magazine that said: “What really matters is authenticity, which this movie has by the ton. (416)”
New
The authors then provide a quote from New York Magazine: “What really matters is authenticity, which this movie has by the ton” (416).

10/22

For Wednesday, rework all of the quotations in your essay in the manner we described today (if you've forgotten, the handout is listed to the right). To keep things interesting, you will be allowed to use the 'As (name of author) states/indicates,' or the 'According to (name of author),' format only once in your next draft of your paper.

Once you've reworked all of your quotations, post two (both the original and the new version) here on the blog for all of our perusal.

And remember, your final draft of essay 2 is due, stapled to the draft that was due last Friday (10/26), via email on Monday, October 29th.

Sources

This is the relevant information for the two key sources for the essay:

Author: Tim O'Brien
Title: The Things They Carried
Year: 1990
Publisher: Penguin
City: NY

Author(s): James West Davidson and Mark Hamilton Lytle
Title: After the Fact: The Art of Historical Detection Volume II
Year: 2005
Publisher: McGraw-Hill
City: NY

10/17

This is a long post. Be sure to read it in its entirety.

As we discussed in class, we will be working with the first draft of the second essay somewhat differently than we worked with the first. By 5pm on Friday, October 19th, you will send a copy of your essay via email to both your peer review partner and myself. Then by 10am on Monday, October 19th, email a response (the parameters are outlined below) to both the partner and myself.

The Response:

I will not be grading or commenting on this draft, which will be the only draft of this essay before it is assigned a grade. That means that these peer reviews are terrifically important: you will not just be helping your partner with what you think will improve your paper, but also what you think I will be most interested in seeing in their work. We discussed what that means in class, but to recap: the specific requirements outlined in the prompt; attention to specific detail in texts and the appropriate films; and paragraphs which consistently demonstrate their purpose, involve textual and cinematic evidence, and connect back to the overall argument.

For the review itself, first read through the essay at least once, getting a sense of the piece as a whole. Then go through the manuscript using the tracking changes tool to make suggestions about the paragraphs...

(NOTE#1: as I said in class, do not go through making proofreading changes to the sentences--this is their job. Should there be a pattern of poor grammar that you notice, be sure to point it out. Otherwise, limit your comments to 'comments': that is, what in the paragraph is working and what isn't, rather than rewriting it.)

(Note #2: You are required to have at least one comment on each paragraph. Feel free to put the comments in terms specific to me: 'I think Prof. Henkle would have a problem with the second sentence here because...')

...After you've gone through and made your comments on the individual paragraphs, write a 200 or so word general comment on the essay, in much the same way you have seen me do with yours. Do this at the top of their essay, in letter format (addressing it directly to the author). If you're using the tracking changes format, this will appear in red.


A Few More Notes:

The preferred format is MS word, which will give your reviewer the opportunity to use the 'track changes function' I demonstrated in class. (If you cannot access MS word during this time, email me for other possibilities--still, MS word is going to be very helpful here).

The peer review groups have been assigned for anyone who was in class, plus Polina (who was assigned a partner to make up an odd number of students). Contact me if you need the email address of your partner. Those of you who were not in class, need to contact me immediately to be assigned a partner. If you have been assigned but have since forgotten your group member, the partner list is to the right.

pearl harbor

The movie pearl harbor is about the attack on pearl harbor, Hawaii, by the Japanese in a pre-emptive strike, on December 7th 1941. the Japanese thought that the US was going to invade them for their oil and rubber so they attacked them first. the movie was made in 2001, and it depicts the lives of 2 soldiers who are best friends and how they split up and are reunited during the war. Randall Wallace didn't really follow the truth in the movie, instead he directed the movie toward the audience and what they would like. there weren't very many war seance. the movie starts off showing you two boys playing in 1923 showing you right from the beginning that this movie is not going to be specifically about the fighting but also about the lives of the characters in the movie. the characters are the bored antsy teenagers that wanted to run off to war. Ben Afflek volunteered for a station in the British air force. the characters seem very stereotyped and the dialogue is not really about the war. the movie has a war in it but its more of a romance torn apart by war and sewn back together very roughly. in "the man i killed' by Tim O'Brien, the death of the enemy wasn't especially victorious in the narrator's mind. he grieved over it and felt guilty, even though it was war. while in pearl harbor when there is finally a fighting scene and they are flying over japan and dropping bombs they feel no grief only triumph over the people who surprise attacked them and killed two thousand people. Davidson and Lytle would not see this movie as authentic because the fights they did have were not similar to the ones in real life.

The Battle of Ia Drang

The movie “We Were Soldiers” was adapted from the book We Were Soldiers Once..and Young by General Harold Moore and Joseph L. Galloway both who were at that battle and acted as consultants to this movie.. The movie and the book are both about the first part of the Battle of Ia Drang which took place in the highlands of South Vietnam from November 14 to 16 1965.

Randal Wallace, the director and screenwriter of this movie, went to great lengths to authentically “recreate the war’s/battle’s historical context (418). The movie opens with actual news footage after the battle in Vietnam of an interview with the Col Moore expressing his gratitude to his men for their courage and sacrifices during the battle. He tells the interviewer with barely contained emotion to “convey to the American people what a tremendous fighting man we have here. He’s just an outstanding man and…I can’t tell you how highly I feel for them. They’re tremendous.”

These are some of the many things that were done to create that authentic feeling:
They used real equipment such as military helicopters and land vehicles and real napalm.
The used the clothing of 1965 for the non-military actors and the correct uniforms of the time and place for the military personal.
The portrayed accuracy in the appearance of the characters throughout the battle; everyone was dirty and bedraggled.
They used props that were used by the real characters during the conflict such as cigarette packs, books, and field equipment.
The not only acquired the period armaments the combatants used the also built AK-47’s from scraps for the North Vietnamese soldiers.
The depiction of wives getting telegrams telling them that their husbands were killed being delivered by cab drivers.

Yes there were thing that were done that didn’t happen during the battle such as using fireworks instead of bullets and computer generated airplanes but I don’t believe they are of great consequence compared to the things that Wallace got right. Gen. Hal Moore felt that this movie accurately portrayed what happen there so who are we to doubt him?

JarHead

Jarhead is a movie that is about the Gulf War but it doesn’t really focus on the war itself. The movie is more of a story-truth than a happening-truth. This would be called a Hollywood movie and not a historical movie. The story focuses on one men and how he spends his days in the war. Even thought the movie is about the war and the soldiers that went to it, you don’t really get much information about the war and you only hear them talk about the war for small periods of time. The movie moves really fast and there aren’t that many events that happen. They stay along time which each even that they put in the movie and about two are the only ones that have to do with the war itself. They add the element of family and girlfriends which is what attracts people to what the movie and also because they put funny scenes. They show the fear that the soldiers have and how much they also want to be there. The main character doesn’t kill anyone during this movie. Is really interesting how he spend somewhat more than 120 days in the war and in the movie he says that he spend four days with four hours and one minute in the war. Meaning that most of the time they were there doing training or doing nothing at all and just waiting and they only spend so little of their time in the action of the war. He never gets to fire his gun against an enemy and never kills anyone. Davidson and Lytle would say that this movie is not authentic and it actually isn’t. Even thought this movie is suppose to be about war, is more about how the war may affect someone and how it changes the things back home because time doesn’t stop in the real world when they are at war. When it comes to saying that is a war movie it really isn’t authentic but if you talk about the meaning of the movie, you would say that even thought it may hadn’t happen that way that it is true. So it is just the truth with some exaggerations and things that may or may not have happen.

Platoon

A movie made in 1986 well after the Vietnam war, has seemingly captured a true essence of the soldiers that participated in such a task. The movie concentrates on the character played by Charlie Sheen who voluntarily chose to be in the Vietnam war for 365 full days. He quickly begins to regret it a week into his journey with the platoon as he finds himself suffering under difficult natral conditions leading him to tire faster, faint more and allowing for the soldiers with him to undermine him and attack him verbally.
The movie has a very depressing and mournful tone all throughout. There is nothing patriotic about it that flatters American decision in entering the war (especially through a very violent redneck character named Bunny, whose destructive nature emphasizes a terrible American stereotype). Furthermore we see that all the men, besides the character played by Charlie Sheen, are poor or unable to evade the war which shows how the War is inevitable for those who couldn't buy their way out of it. There is lack of pride within these men, as the men had in movies such as Green Berets, and their use of pot and deragotory speech of women show how little they favor being part of this war, hence making them characters easier to relate to and more personal. This, in turn, is the reason why Davidson adn Lytle would find this film, very authentic.
Davidson and Lytle themselves interpret Platoon as "the first commercially successfful films to look thhe war itself. to see Vietnam as history." With this quote Davidson and Lytle seem to convey the idea that seemingly historical facts within a movie allow it to become more authentic rather then a movie that prides itself on effects, just because they can use them, or the element of love to capture the audience. In Platoon there is really no sign of victory, regardless of the little missions the platoon does succeed in, theres still constant silence, with mere crickets adding to the jungle effect. The only music we hear is the solemn and depressing adagio for strings that just speaks for the characters most of the movie.
The only happiness we see in all these men is when they are diving themselves from the war entirely , just trying to escape, which i find to be the most authentic feeling. Their struggle with natural obstacles or the kidn of treatment they receive from one another consdiering the time it is based on, allow even more authenticity to pour through. EVerything from red ants, to race, to illegal killings become a dispute, which seems to me as the unhealthy animal instinct humans may have, especially trapped in such violent conditions.

Apocalypse Now - authentic

The movie Apocalypse Now, is quoted as “pretentious” (p 422) by Davidson and Lytle. The movie does not explain what is going on, but rather makes the watcher guess. This film is considered authentic according to Davidson and Lytle. This movie does not have any war stereotypes. It gives you war for what it really was. It makes war seem ambiguous. This movie has accuracy, which is needed in order for a movie to be considered authentic.

This movie is not pro Vietnam. The director of this movie wants you to think that war is addictive, that it in reality it drives you nuts. It wants you to understand that when your fighting, you want to be home, and when your home, you want to be fighting.

The movie opens up with the forest being bombed. You then see a quiet, but dark room. The only source of light entering that room is from a half opened blinds on the window. Outside of the room, it is very light. In the background nothing is heard, except a helicopter flying is heard in his head. He is at home, but wants nothing more than to be back in the forest, fighting. The music in the beginning of the movie is very peaceful. This movie makes you conclude that people at war do pointless things. It makes war seem absurd. The people fighting make a battle that has no actual gain it, other than a personal gain, which in this case would be surfing with the good tides.

Pearl Harbor

The movie of my choice is Pearl Harbor written by Randall Wallace. The movie is set during the time in which the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The movie in general is about a love story that is set during a war that complicates everything. To be more specific the movie is about a pilot who falls in love with a nurse. The Pilot volunteer's to go fight in Britain, and his best friend and the love of his life are transferred to Pearl Harbor. While in Britain the Pilot "dies". The nurse finds out and is extremely depressed but shortly after hooks up with his best friend. I can go more into detail but as you can see the movie has nothing to do with the actual bombing in Pearl Harbor. In stating that I believe that Davidson and Lytle would call the film a myth. I believe this to be true because the director choose a certain event like Pearl Harbor just to be the setting of his love story. Davidson and Lytle prove my point when they say, "Hollywood, an industry that markets the fantasies and fears of popular culture, inescapably finds itself in the myth business, creating stories, themes, and character types that embody the cultural ideals of its audiences and give expression to their deepest feelings ( Davidson and Lytle 405). The film give very little information on the actual events that took place on the horrible day. The movie could have given more information on the historical event that actually took place for it to have been considered some what authentic.

Reality in war films

It is true that almost all of the war films created so far are not 100% accurate on events telling. Even the films that provide evidences and first hand documents are not perfectly truth. Almost all of these films contain personal emotions and dramatic plots. "The historical 'reality' presented by dramatic films is radically different from that of a letter or diary." ( Davidson & Lytle 403) I agree with this statement. The film "Flags of Our Father" also supports my opinion.

"Flags of Our Fahter" is rather a personal memoir than historical presentation. But in some specific fields, it is even more accurate than those historical presentation film. Memoir as a first hand document is considering as accurate as diary and letters. The mian character in this film is a retired soldier who was once fighting for the United States during WWII against Japanese armies. When the war ended, the soldier himself is treated as a national hero because he was the one who swings the flag after the victory. Newspapers and TV shows were talking about him all over the time that put him in a position as hero. But himself, in the other hand, did not satisfied because he was not the one who bring victory to the U.S. He was a soldier that fight the war with all other soliders. Those who died in war were the heroes that sacrificed their lives to the victory. News reporters were miss reported the fact and showed no respects to those who died in the war. According to the main character and also the way i agreed that war heroes are not the one who survived in the war but the one who sacrificed their own lives in order to bring up the victory to the country.