Essay #3 Ideas

1.) I Won’t Say the Lord’s Prayer– The Wonder Years (conflict with religion, growing up religiously vs. choosing to eliminate religion)

2.) The Guardian (shows the “ideals” of what a serviceman should be, success story that seems unrealistic to most)

3.) Breaking Bad (identity crisis of main character)

4.) Heart Shaped Box– Nirvana (conflicts of love, feeling trapped)

5.) Skinny Love– Bon Iver (discusses a love that is not enough, dissatisfaction, struggle to be happy in a relationship)

6.) Yankee Stadium (classic/traditional outer appearance, filled with modern technology)

7.) A Lack of Color- Death Cab for Cutie (living a life that should be full of love and excitement, but seems dreary and dilluted)

8.) Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (9/11 shown through the eyes of someone with a social disorder, attempt to understand why and who would commit such an act)

9.) Millstone– Brand New (letting go of old identity and adopting a new one, accepting disappointment from others)

10.) Who Says– John Mayer (going against the “norms” of society, questioning why they exist in the first place)

Integrating Quotations

1.) In her short essay Virtuality and Its Discontents, author Sherry Turkle describes the effects social media has on the lives of people throughout the world today: “Technological optimists think that computers will reverse some of this social atomization; they tout virtual experience and virtual community as ways for people to widen their horizons” (Turkle 1996, 90).

2.) Turkle is skeptical about how these online communities and how they will affect the way we socialize in the real world. She says, “But is it really sensible to suggest that the way to revitalize community is to sit alone in our rooms, typing at our networked computers and filling our lives with virtual friends?” (Turkle 1996, 90

3.) Many people see these MUDs as an escape from their harsh realities. It gives them an opportunity to experience success and happiness in a virtual world. Many people, such as Turkle, believe otherwise. In their eyes,  those who “sit alone in our rooms, typing at our networked computers and filling our lives with virtual friends” (Turkle 1996, 90) are not helping their real life issues.

4.) Those who visit MUDs on a regular basis believe that these games will provide players with “virtual experience” as well as giving them a way to “widen their horizons” (Turkle 1996, 90)

5.) Although many technological optimists believe that computers allow users to gain virtual experience and widen their horizons, others believe that those of us who sit alone in our rooms, filling our lives with virtual friends are deprived of real life social skills (Turkle 1996, 90).

Virtuality and Its Discontents

In Sherry Turkle’s short essay Virtuality and Its Discontents, she describes the modern day virtual worlds spread across the Internet also known as MUDs. This stands for “multi-user dungeons”, as described by Turkle. In these MUDs, players throughout the world can log in and open up a completely new world at the click of their mouse. Players begin by creating their own character, choosing each feature and trait for them. Once the character is created, players can start to control the lives of their character through interaction with others, building, and even making money. These MUDs allow players to gain experience and become successful, almost as if it were a real world career. This sense of control is fulfilling for many people during these harsh economic times.

A large number of us have become curious about these MUDs at one point in time and decided to log on for ourselves. Many of us even choose to make regular visits to these dungeons. Regardless of how frequently we log in, those of us who have decided to take a look at these phenomenons know the feeling of having these virtual worlds at our fingertips. MUDs allow people and their characters to do things that are impossible in real life, whether that be superhuman powers or even endless cash flow. It is a fantasy in which people can immerse themselves in, which is why Turkle asks readers “Would you rather see a Disney crocodile robot or a real crocodile?” (Turkle 90) We are all familiar with Disney and it’s magical reputation. Its films and theme parks take people away from the real world temporarily and transport them into a world of wonder and fantasy. This is not so different from MUDs, in which many people can escape from their real world problems until it’s time to log off.

Turkle describes her experiences meeting two young men, Josh and Thomas. Both men are in their early 20’s, college graduates, and struggling to provide for themselves. Josh and Thomas are stuck in dead-end jobs and cannot find better work even with college degrees. Similarly, Josh and Thomas are both heavily involved in online gaming through MUDs. In describing Josh’s experience with these games Turkle says, ” Josh’s life inside MUDs seems rich and filled with promise. It has friends, safety and space.” (Turkle 92) This young man who seems to be at a dead-end in the real world is exceeding in a virtual one, and this becomes his hope for a better future. Thomas, a political science major in college, even goes as far as describing his interest in MUD politics. “Can there be a democracy in cyberspace? Should MUDs be ruled by wizards or should they be democracies?” (Turkle 92), he asks. This goes to show that even if people cannot seem to get on their feet in the real world, MUDs give them a sense of hope that allows them to push on until they can one day reach their goals outside of the virtual world. 

Designer Genes

Thesis: Germline genetic engineering is simply a continuation of the attempt to create a better future generation, and should be taken into account by all parents for the benefit of their children.

Claim 1: “Anyone who has entered a baby supply store in the last few years knows that even the soberest parents can be counted on to spend virtually unlimited sums in pursuit of successful offspring.” (McKibben, 73)

Claim 2: “The vision of genetic engineers is to do to humans what we have already done to wheat, pine trees and tomatoes. That is, to make them better in some way; to delete modify, or add genes in developing embryos so that the cells of the resulting person will produce proteins that make them taller and more muscular, or smarter and less aggressive, maybe handsome and possibly straight.” (McKibben, 72)

Claim 3:  “Ads started appearing in Ivy League college newspapers a few years ago: couples were willing to pay $50,000 for an egg, provided the donor was at least five feet, ten inches tall, white and had scored 1400 on her SAT’s. There is, in other words, a market just waiting for the first clinic with a catalogue of germline modifications…” (McKibben, 73)

The Media’s “Perfect Voice”

In the short article The Perfect Voice, author Carl Elliot discusses the topic of accents and how they affect who we are. Accents are universal, something that we all carry with us whether we are aware of it or not. They range from every country, state, or even town for that matter. It’s a way for us to identify with others, and even give us some idea of their backgrounds. Elliot says, “An accent is not a part of the self that sits silently in a room. It is a part of the self that is presented to others.” (Elliot, 62) This simply means that one’s voice and accent are not features that go unnoticed by others, they make a statement about a person’s identity. 

In Elliot’s article, he discusses his visit to an accent-reduction clinic, called “The Perfect Voice”. Being that it is located in North Carolina, the clients of The Perfect Voice are usually seeking out a way to reduce or even eliminate their Southern accents. According to Elliot, many Southerns are not as proud of their accents as they tell the world. “Most Southerners, when they talk to Yankees, will defend a southern accent as the most beautiful and melodic of all American accents, but deep down we are not really convinced this is true.” (Elliot, 62) This raises the question; Why are we so ashamed of our own voices? As Elliot points out, many Southerners feel that they do not sound educated because of the draw in their voices. This is all just a stereotype, started in the media with TV shows like The Beverly Hillbillies or even The Dukes of Hazzard. Both of these popular shows depict Southerners in a generally negative context, which causes the viewers to associate this behavior with all people who have a Southern accent. This is not limited to just Southern accents, it happens with just about every race, religion and culture. Television producers and writers will always find a way to grab peoples’ attention, and many times it is at someone else’s expense. Although this is how our society functions, that does not make it right.

Throughout television and movies, there is an ideal of how we should speak. Elliot describes this as an “unspoken convention: If you are on TV you talk like a Yankee. Everyone does. If you don’t, you sound like a hick.” (Elliot, 63) Next time you turn on the news, take notice of the reporters voice and accent. It almost sounds obsolete, like they don’t identify with any part of the United States. This is what Elliot is pointing out in the previous statement. It’s impossible that these television icons didn’t grow up somewhere. Wherever it may have been, why do they feel the need to hide it? This goes back to the media, and it’s strong influence on our ideals of the “perfect American”. We are a nation of 50 states, all united yet still so different. We have different values, foods, music, and especially accents. Being the global power that we are, we should take more time to embrace our voices for what they are instead of trying to hide them. In order to do this, the media must first take the stand against it. If the people we all look up to begin to take pride in their identities, the everyday common people will be able to do the same.

 

Split at the Root: A Phrase for Identity

In the essay Split at the Root: An Essay on Jewish Identity, author Adrienne Rich describes her experiences of being a Jewish girl during the late 1940’s. Adrienne was a young adult in the years following the Holocaust, attending college in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1947. In the years previous, her Jewish heritage never played much of a role in her day-to-day life. Her father, Arnold, was Jewish and her mother a Christian from the South. Being that her mother was a gentile, Adrienne never considered herself to be a Jew despite her father’s background. They didn’t carry out Jewish traditions or even celebrate Jewish holidays in her home. “The social world in which I grew up was Christian virtually without needing to say so- christian imagery, music, language, symbols, assumptions everywhere” (Rich, 54) Adrienne states, in describing the environment she grew up in. It would be incredibly confusing to a young girl growing up in an essentially Christian home to identify herself as Jewish. This leads to Adrienne’s further identity confusion in her college days.

Upon starting college in 1947, Adrienne began to become more exposed to other Jewish people and the Jewish heritage itself. She even refers to her new friends as “real” Jewish students, in comparison to her unsure self. Their knowledge of the Jewish lifestyle makes her question herself even more, wondering why her father never made it a point to teach her about his background. Upon asking her father, he expressed his true feelings on the matter. “You know that I have never denied that I am a Jew. But it’s not important to me. I am a scientist, a deist. I have no use for organized religion. I choose to live in a world of many kinds of people. There are Jews I admire and others who I despise. I am a person, not simply a Jew.” (Rich, 57) were her father’s words. Although it may not seem like much more than a statement, these wise words are what opened up an entirely new outlook on life for Adrienne. Through her father’s advice, she was able to see that there was so much more to the her identity than what religion she associated herself with. She was a human, not simply the face of a religion. Religion may hold more significance from one person to another, but with Rich’s fathers’ insight the world may be a much more peaceful place. If we are willing to accept the differences of others and their beliefs, we can be sound within ourselves and will be more likely to be open about who we are. Adrienne was able to let go of all of her apprehensions about religion, personal identity, and even her sexuality. She became the woman she was so proud to be, all because of her father’s words.

Coming Together: Notes of a Native Son

In the short passage Notes of a Native Son, author James Baldwin paints a vivid picture in the reader’s mind of what life was like in the early 1940’s. Not only life in general, but life as a black male. America was still heavily segregated at this time, and Baldwin describes some of the hardships that both him and his father faced. So many of the things that we take for granted today were not open to the black population at the time. For example, when Baldwin and a friend attempted to order a hamburger at a diner the counterman simply replied, “We don’t serve Negroes here.” It’s hard to imagine living in a society where such limitations exist for specific races.  Despite all of the separation happening all around Baldwin, something else was taking place, something much more powerful than the racial divides. People were coming together. “That summer I saw the strangest combinations: large, respectable, churchly matrons standing on the stoops or the corners with their hair tied up, together with a girl in sleazy satin” (Baldwin, 596). Baldwin was shocked by these unlikely groups beginning to form in his neighborhood, but even he knew that there could only be one explanation: The war.

A war as large as World War II requires a lot of soldiers, meaning that many sons, husbands, and friends were sent away to fight for their country. These loved ones left behind had no way to tell the fate of their soldiers, and without the media technology that we have today it was much more difficult to keep up with the latest war updates. In these hard times, people began to lean on those who were faced with the same difficulties. Both the churchly matrons and the young sleazy girls alike were faced with the reality that their soldiers were likely to not return home from such intense battle conditions. As a person who has experienced this feeling, I think it is very powerful that such different people are able to come together in rough times such as these. Being close to someone in the military is not easy, and having others to lean on in times of worry is essential. Not everyone knows a soldier, but war affects everyone. Many small things can separate us, but when wartime is upon us we are able to come together in ways never thought possible. This is clearly represented through James Baldwin’s experiences in Notes of a Native Son.

The Role of the Women in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

In The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, masculinity is a predominant theme. The narrator, author and even several main characters are all men. Some carry a strong energy, such as Yunior. While others do not have such a masculine presence, such as Oscar. Despite the male majority in this novel, there are many strong female voices that are crucial to this story. La Inca and Belicia are both tough, substantial women who have overcome great hurdles in their lifetimes. Their roles in this story pave the road for the future generations of their family to be just as rigged and strong as they were- this being Belicia’s daughter, Lola. This young girl makes some of the boldest decisions of the entire novel. She completely goes against her family’s vision of the ideal Dominican daughter and girl, almost without fear. She is basically the keeper of their home, doing all of the cooking and cleaning starting from a very young age. She takes brutal emotional abuse from her mother, as she constantly puts her down and belittles Lola’s character. Lola, being as brave as she is, wasn’t going to let this morph her into a bitter woman like her mother. She completely defies her mother by cutting off her hair, wearing dark clothing and even begins to listening to rock music. In a Dominican household, this was completely unacceptable. Lola knew this, but that did not stop her. She finally made the decision to run away with her much older boyfriend, Aldo, in order to get away from the toxic home environment she was living in. Although things did not ultimately work out with Aldo, her ability and courage to leave home despite the fear of her mother’s reactions is a true representation of her strength.

Unlike the male characters of this novel, the narrator chooses to represent the strength of the females in a different way. Rather than physical strength being the focus, he narrows in on the emotional strength that these women hold throughout all of their hardships. Though there may have been blood, sweat and tears these women still held themselves together during unthinkable situations. For example, when Belicia was taken and beaten by the Secret Police on behalf of her Gangster’s wife. Her mother, La Inca, provided the strength that Belicia needed during this time even though she could barely handle the sight of her daughter’s battered and broken body. That type of strength is a great representation of the women of this novel, and how they strongly influence the other characters in it.