Final Blog, Final Thoughts

Time for celebration! (Actually, we can celebrate after Friday…). Wow, it’s finally the end of this semester and the end of this specific journey. First, I want to congratulate all my fellow students who have stuck with this class to the end! It has been hard and time consuming work, but our dedication will pay off hopefully with the grade we want but also with the skills we have learned along the way. This class has had the largest homework load so far, I only took three classes total this semester and feel like it was one of my busiest. If this wasn’t my last semester at AVC I would have been tempted to drop this class, but I stuck with it, gave it my best shot, and now the work is almost completed (I just have one more page to write for the research paper). Diligence is one of the skills that have improved the most for me. I am already an organized person and usually diligent, but this class has challenged me more than I have ever been with diligence. Even now I am tempted to just watch a movie and then take night quill (for my cold) and get a good night’s sleep, but this is the last blog and I have made the decision to push through and finish well!

The part of this class that I have enjoyed the most is our readings and your blog posts. The reading in our Exploring Language textbook introduced me to topics that I was not too familiar with, such as propaganda. The thinking critically questions forced me to digest and think deeper on subjects that I would have been to lazy to think about on my own. The reading I enjoyed most and learned the most about was “Reading Lolita in Tehran.” So much is going on in the Middle East but I did not know much about the culture and way of life over there. “Reading Lolita in Tehran” has given me a glimpse of what life in the Middle East is like for women. It showed me that there are unique individuals in Iran who do not conform to the social norm, it helped me understand some of the struggles women have over there.

I have also really enjoyed reading all your blog posts. It was good to read my fellow classmate’s thoughts on topics that I thought about that week, it gave me new perspectives to read your blog posts. This class has taught me that I do not despise all forms of writing. I still do not like or enjoy formal papers and essays but I almost enjoy blogging! This is huge for me, to almost like any sort of writing! Although this is my last blog post for this class, it will not be my last blog. I have decided to keep a blog during my stay in Thailand this summer. So I’ll be staying in the Blogging community! Alright, I guess this is goodbye. So have a wonderful Summer and enjoy your break!

-E

Improvements? I think so

This class has been a challenge, but without being challenged it is hard to grow in any area. A person who wants to build muscle will not achieve that goal by lifting weights until their muscles start to hurt, they need to “pump iron” past the pain. A pro surfer started off on the small waves, but they had to gradually be challenged by the bigger and bigger waves to get to the spot that they are at. I am not a “pro” writer after taking this class, but I do feel that through the diversity of challenges in writing and critical thinking, I have made improvements.

This is a writing class but the majority of writing each week was not formal essays. We have had writing assignments in the form of critical thinking questions from our book, blogging, discussion boards, and blog responses. I think that I have improved the most in thinking critically and then clearly expressing my formulated opinions and thoughts. One of the hardest things for me is to clearly express my thoughts on a subject, it takes time. In this class I have had lots of practice in forming an opinion on a topic that I might not have been too familiar with and then expressing those opinions in the form of writing. As the semester has progressed, I have become a bit faster at putting my newly formed thoughts into the written word. I have also improved, I think, in providing thoughtful responses to other people’s blogs and the minimum word requirement has been a major part of that. When responding to your blog and group posts, I usually say all I want in a response within 100 words. To get full credit I need 200 -250 words but I don’t want to meet the word requirement with nonsense. This has challenged me to process your blogs and group posts more deeply and formulate a meaningful response that is long enough for full credit.

The area I have grown the least in is in essay writing and it is my own fault due to laziness. I do not enjoy most writing and for some reason essay and research writing is my least favorite. It takes me forever to finally force myself to sit down and start writing an essay. I save it till the last minute and get burned out with it. Then when I have enough pages I am over writing and say that I’ll work harder on the revision but then save that till the last minute too, so I have not spent as much time as I should (except with my 2nd essay) with working on making my essays the best that they can be. The result is that I have not grown and improved too much in this sort of writing. I do have more English classes to take though so maby for those classes it will be a different story!   : )
-E

Journey to the Mountain aka research paper

I am currently driving through the Mojavi Desert on my way back from skiing in Mammoth (hey, there has to be a time of enjoyment in the midst of final projects and research papers, right?). As I drove up to Mammoth yesterday, I had to first drive through the desert, then through the green valley with the ginormous glacier carved mountains looming over me (with snow clouds over them). After the valley I finally drove up into the mountain and was able to ski on the mountain (my quads are going to be so sore tomorrow!). I feel like my journey to go skiing is similar to my journey to completing this research paper.

The desert part of the drive was the past two weeks. From the time that we got our research paper assignment till last weekend, I was dried up with ideas. I had a hard time picking a specific prompt because the inspiration and ideas were dried up, my thinking cap was flat like the desert floor, and the possibilities of specific topics to write about were wide open. When I drive through the desert, it feels like I’ll never drive out of it and with trying to decide on a research topic, if felt like I would never get out of that dry stage, but I did!

Last weekend I finally decided on a specific topic to write about, I did much of the research and even now as I am driving (actually, my dad is the one doing the driving right now), I was typing up possible quotes from Reading Lolita in Tehran. This research stage is similar to driving in the valley next to the giant Sierra Nevadas. The research stage is a bit more inspirational and the research paper (the Mountains) is in sight, but it still seems like such a great task. As I am collecting all of my research and trying to organize it and develop the outline for my paper, ideas and inspiration are more alive, are being narrowed and are taking on more focus, like the valley contained by the mountains on either side.

The research paper is like a mountain of course, it is ginormous and overwhelming. I have not started writing the paper yet, I rarely start writing a paper till a few days before it is due, but I do think about it and gather ideas long before the paper is due. Whenever I see the mountain of a paper, I always think, “It’s too much work, I’ll try climbing that mountain tomorrow.” So I procrastinate with the writing portion of a paper till I know that if I wait any longer it will not get done. It is somewhat comforting knowing that it is only our first draft that is due Sunday night, but because I know this I have procrastinated longer than normal for I know that I will have another week to work on touching up the paper and making my thoughts more clear and organized. I am a bit stressed about the paper, but it is my own fault for not writing it sooner, I know it will get done, but I’m not looking forward to the next three days…

-E

Sayin What Needs To Be Said

Online there are many different ways to communicate with others: email, social networks, and instant messaging. I personally think that a hand written letter is nicer than online communication and I do write letters occasionally, but online communication is very convenient and is often quicker. What is my online communication style? Well, how about you tell me? When writing blogs, an email, or a facebook message, I usually am very brief and to the point. I usually do not elaborate much in either phone or online communications, I like to say what needs to be said and then I’m good. My writing is usually very concise and I confess, I often have trouble meeting word and page requirements because I feel that I have already said everything need on a topic or sentence when I realize that I still need to write two more pages or one hundred more words. The only time when my communication style is more detailed and descriptive is when I am tired or creatively inspired.

When I am tired I often do not say much verbally, but if I am online and am tired, my thoughts flow in a different way than when I am awake and alert. I have a greater tendency to ramble when I am tired and this works good in certain situations, such as writing an email. When I write personal emails to keep in touch with close friends, they usually want to know more than a fact sheet of what’s going up or down in my life. When I am tired I will go into more details and share more thoughts and feelings which is more interesting than I did this and that this week.

The other time when my communication style is different is when I’m feeling creative. The computer screen is not a very artfully inspirational environment. When writing a letter outside under a tree or by candle light, my creative side kicks in and I write in a different style. I am the sort of person who enjoys “setting the mood” as my Mom always says. If I need to relax I turn on that classical piano music and light a candle, if I need to be energized I put some upbeat music on and open up the windows to let the fresh air and light flow in. My moods are easily influenced by my surroundings and environment. For me, the computer screen does not usually inspire me to write in more detail and in a creative way, but on the rare occasion when it does, my writing style is noticeably different. This is a reflection of who I am. I am a very practical person and I like to take care of business right away, I do not like to procrastinate, but rather get what needs to be done quickly. And with that said, I think that’s all that needs to be said on this topic! ^_^

-E

The Cartoon and Gas Prices

Editorial Cartoons have the ability to make a bold statement about a current problem or event with a picture and few words. What makes the editorial cartoon impactful is that they are often so true and will bring humor into the often serious problem. As you are all aware, gas prices have been rising and cartoonists have ‘risen’ to the occasion. There is a plethora of cartoons making statements about the rising gas prices, about what it is costing people, what people are doing to save on gas, and opinions on the ‘morality’ of gas prices.

 This cartoon is a bit morbid for my taste but it makes its point well. It is obvious that this is a drawing of a gas station. If the ‘Pay for GAS here” sign is not obvious enough, we have other give away signs indicating that this is a gas station. Out the window we see a car and gas pumps, in the station is the cashier and the LOTO sign that is always a part of any gas station in America. It is crucial that the viewer understands that that the man holding his arm is paying for gas. This cartoonist is relying on the fact that it’s viewers will be familiar with the phrase “It cost me an arm and a leg.” In this cartoon, it is literally costing the man his arm and leg to pay for a tank of gas. While this is obviously not the case in real life, the saying is to true for many people.

This next cartoon is cute. From the dialogue between this man and boy, we learn that the little boy is walking to school and was probably complaining about walking which leads to the dialogue which we as viewers are able to see. I am able to relate to this cartoon because I’ve been told the same thing. My mom and Grandma have told me of how they had to walk miles to school and for my Grandma, she too needed to walk through snow. Even if a person has not had this experience, they can still get the humor in this cartoon. The humor is in what the boy says, “so your parents couldn’t afford gas either…” The message in this cartoon is that people are having to get around the old fashioned way in order to save on gas, and this poor little boy is paying for it. The cartoon is demonstrating one way in which real people are trying to save on gas.                                                          
 
This final cartoon assumes that all its viewers are aware of police artist sketches. The suspect is the gas pump (the word GAS is even on the pump just incase someone doesn’t recognize the pump), and the crime is robbery. This is a rather bold statement, that the high gas prices are robbery, in other words it is unethical. This cartoon is challenging the government to “arrest” this suspect and bring it to justice.

How High Can a Ceiling Be?

As always, America is concerned with money-with the economy and with the budget. Now that concern has taken Americans to a new debate over raising the debt ceiling. The debt ceiling is the maximum amount that our nation is allowed to borrow. It is no news that our nation is in debt and that our economy is sunk in the economic sea, one way to help raise the sunken ship is to raise the debt ceiling; according to Obama and some other politicians. The final decision about the debt limit will be up to Congress, until they vote on this many Americans will be debating from different points of views whether this will have a positive or negative impact on our economy.

Like many political issues or any debate for that matter, there are two main positions on the debt ceiling: 1) Raise the debt ceiling 2) Do not raise the debt ceiling. Of course there are many different angles and sub topics to this issue, but these are the two main stances. On both sides of the issue, politicians and supporters argue with logical reasoning and with propaganda. In the essay entitled “How to Detect Propaganda”, propaganda is defined as “expression of opinion or action by individuals or groups deliberately designed to influence opinions or actions of other individuals or groups with reference to predetermined ends” (496).

I found a video clip of Sarah Palin talking about the debt ceiling in an interview with FOX news. In this video Palin clearly says that she does not support raising the debt ceiling. Palin’s position is why increase our debt when we already have so much debt? Instead of digging ourselves in deeper, we should work on paying off the debt that we already have. This makes sense, if a person has reached their debt limit on one credit card why would they get another credit card to put more debt on? Borrowing more money will only increase our debt: ok, this is an easy idea to grasp. In this video interview Palin says, “I would say before you think about seriously voting to increase the debt limit and incur more unsustainable, immoral, unethical debt that is really going to ruin our country to continue down this path”. Do I detect a bit of name calling here? According to the Institute for propaganda Analysis name calling plays on people’s fears and uses bad names to encourage the listener to form judgment without looking at the facts (497). Palin calls this debt by the names of “immoral” and “unethical”. Palin does not go on to explain how the debt is immoral or unethical, these words allow the listener to assume the worst about the debt and she goes on to play on every American’s fear that our economy is “going to ruin” and this will surely happen if the debt ceiling is raised.

Now for the other side. Their main argument is that we are on the verge of a financial crisis (haven’t we already reached that point?) and that raising the debt ceiling will prevent this and help our economy get out of this recession. In an article in The Atlantic entitled “Why Are Democrats Playing the GOP’s Game With Debt Ceiling?” the author Derek Thompson states, “There is a consensus on the debt limit among the most important people in Washington.” In making this statement, Thompson is using the propaganda device called transfer. Transfer carries over the authority of some esteemed person or group according to The Institute for Propaganda Analysis. In saying that the most important people in Washington agree that the debt ceiling must be raised, the author is implying that we should take their side, after all, they are the most important people in Washington and they know what their talking about, right? Thompson also uses the name calling devise in calling the people who oppose this “wacky”….really? Isn’t that a bit childish?

We need to remain aware of the different propaganda devices and hear both sides of an argument before we form judgment, otherwise we may fail to think for ourselves and blindly believe one side based on their deceptive devices.



-E

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/04/democrats-catch-debt-ceiling-fever/238077/

Blog 10: news source

I am sure you can all relate to a time in class where the professor mentions a major world event and sarcastically says, “You all do know that we are in a war” or “Were you even aware that an earthquake hit Japan last week?” In making these sort of sarcastic comments, the professor is referring to the fact that many young people are not aware of what is going on in the world. In his essay Are We Reaching Da Youth?, Danny Schechter says that mainstream news media ignores the youth and in turn, youth are ignoring the mainstream media. On page 419 Schechter says, “They [the youth] now get their “news” from late night TV, Comedy Channel or The Onion. Attitude is what excites them, not information.” I suppose this may be true for the majority, I don’t know, but it is not true for me. I do not watch late night TV or the Comedy Channel, and what is The Onion? I may be the black sheep here but I actually am interested in information, contrary to what Schechter says.

I think it is important to know what is going on in the world, small local news is usually of no interest to me. Being a busy college student who also works and has other obligations, I do not have time to sit down and read the news whether it be in the paper or on-line. My dilemma is how to find time to become informed with events of national or world significance. I actually get most of my news through my Dad’s influence.  In the evenings and mornings when my Dad is home, he always turns on the news (at this minute he is in the next room watching the news). Or when we are going on a trip or running an errand together, he has on his radio talk shows (usually about politics) or the news. My Dad provides an easy opportunity for me to be informed about what is going on in the world. Since my Dad already has the news turned on, I will sit down and watch the news with him while I eat my breakfast or dinner. As I think back on major events such as 9/11, the earthquakes in Hattie and then Japan, the Egyptian uprising, I was first informed by the television news, it is my main source of information. When I want to know more about what is going on I do usually turn to news on the television.

I am aware that news is biased, that they do not always report the whole story, and that they report and focus on the dramatic news. As I said before, I do not really have time to check on-line for extra information to cross reference in order to find out the whole story or to see what is reliable. I believe that in being aware that there is always another point of view and that the entire story my not be covered, I am able to discern what is reliable.

-E

I "just don't get it"

I think that Robin Tomach Lakoff has a point in saying that groups or individuals that do not have a history of hearing hate speech “just don’t get it.” I have been having a hard time connecting with some of the essays in this chapter of our readings. I have also been having a hard time processing my own thoughts regarding hate speech and I shall attempt to explain why.

I have personally not been a victim of hate speech so I do not know by experience the damage done by hate speech and I confess, I do not fully “get it.” I understand that words can be hurtful and I have been hurt by words before. The people that are closest to me have the greatest capacity to hurt me though; it is because I have made myself vulnerable to them in opening up to them.  When I hurt or am hurt by a friend, the problem is resolved by us talking through it, not by the offender being punished. I would not wish restrictions on what my friends say to me, human relationships often involve us hurting each other unfortunately, and that is often due to misunderstanding between one another. The beauty of hurtful words between friends is the ability to work through those situations and the result is often (but not always) a closer friendship.

I care about what the people close to me think. If and when a stranger insults me I do not care what they say or think about me, their words are like droplets of water that roll off an oily surface. The words of a stranger do not penetrate, therefore they do not have the chance to wound me. When hearing and reading about “hate speech,” I think of it as a similar situation, as a stranger saying offensive and hurtful words to another stranger.  When thinking about hate speech this way, I “just don’t get it” because I do not understand how the words of a stranger can deeply and even mentally wound a person. I think, “just don’t let it bother you;” but it obviously is something more than this and can damage a person or a group of people. In the Greek language there is a word “ginosko”  that can be translated “know by experience.” There is a difference between knowing something in your head and knowing something by experience. I do not understand hate speech and the apparent harm it causes because I have not experienced it for myself, I do not “ginosko“ it. This is not to say that I do not wish to understand though. If any of you have been the victim of hate speech I would appreciate hearing how it has affected you. It is hard for me to sympathize with someone or a group if I do not hear another’s personal experience. I think Lakoff summarizes my thoughts on this issue well in saying, “So if our group, or you as an individual member of that group, have never been subjected to epithets in the past, no words directed at you, however irritating, can have the full noxious effect of true hate speech” (437).

-E

"It's all about respect": Blog 8

“So many of his [James’s] protagonists are unhappy in the end, and yet he gives them an aura of victory. It is because these character’s depend to such a high degree on their own sense of integrity that for them, victory has nothing to do with happiness. It has more to do with a settling within oneself, a movement inward that makes them whole…What James’s characters gain is self-respect” (225).

     So many people are searching for happiness, their goal in life is to be happy. The problem with this is that happiness is an emotion and it is not lasting. The Webster’s Dictionary defines happiness as, “The quality or state of being delighted, pleased, or glad, as over a particular thing.” We can all remember happy moments in life such as a birthday, buying your first car, weddings, ect., but did that happiness stay with us continually? Did it last up to this point? No, it drifted away and was replaced with depression, frustration, or some other emotion; this is part of life. Happiness is based on circumstances or possessions. Circumstances change and possessions get old and overused. The fact that happiness is not a lasting state shows why people are always seeking it. Perhaps there is something better in life that we can not only seek but obtain.

     Nafisi says that most of James’s protagonists end up unhappy, but the reader can be satisfied with the ending of his stories because the protagonists are victorious despite their unhappiness because they gain self-respect. It is hard to live with ourselves if we have no self-respect. As a child I often played the game “would you rather” where a friend would give me two options and says would rather ’this’ or ’that’.  In the prompt for this blog I was given two choices: happiness or self-respect. If I had to live with only one of these, I would take self-respect over happiness. I choose this not only because I think that self-respect is more important, but also because I could not be happy if I had no self-respect. When one can esteem himself or herself, that is a lasting state that is not swayed by constantly changing emotions, like Nafisi points out it is a sort of victory in life.

     When I was waiting to get on a bus in Oahu I observed two local guys in line who appeared to have just met each other. When they were ready to enter the bus they turned around and said to me and my friend, “You ladies get in first” and the other replied, “Yah, that’s how to show respect, it’s all about respect man”.  I remember those two guys sitting in the back of the bus together, talking about respect for the next three stops. They kept repeating the phrase, “It’s all about respect”. In a way they were right. When people are searching for happiness they can do so by dishonest means and hurt people along the way, but when a person can live his or her life in a way that they can respect and that others can respect, that is a state of being that no one can take away.

Blog 5 - English and Globalization

In her essay titled “What Global Language?” Barbara Wallraff says, “Whenever we turn on the news to find out what’s happening…anyplace, local people are being interviewed and telling us about it in English” (par. 2).  Today when I was watching the news broadcast on the earthquake in Japan, a Japanese man visiting California was interviewed and spoke in perfect English. No one can deny that English is a global language. English is being learned and spoken by people from all over the world and this will have some effect on the development of English.

Language is constantly evolving. The common way to speak hundreds of years ago is demonstrated in Shakespeare plays and in the Old King James version of the Bible, but reading these now is difficult because the English language has evolved. People are often afraid of change but life is about change, if babies did not change by growing we would not be here today. In reading the different essays in chapter 3 of Exploring Language, many of the writers expressed concern (theirs or others) about the way that English is changing due to globalization.

In paragraph 38 of her essay, Wallraff says, “More and more people who speak English speak another language at least as well, and probably better…This is bound to affect the way the language is used locally.” Wallraff is referring to people who speak English as a second language. In countries where English is spoken as the business language, the locals still communicate with each other primarily in their native tongue. My friend went to Costa Rica for four months to learn Spanish. While she did succeed in learning Spanish fairly fluently, she mainly speaks English and only speaks Spanish when she must. Because English is still her main form of communication, she does not contribute to much change of the Spanish language. In a similar way, when English is only used for business, I do not think that it will evolve at an alarming rate. When English is used around the world for business communication, it must be basically the same for clear and proper communication. I think  that the globalization of English will have less impact on the language than the regional evolution of English.

English is noticeably different in different regions of native English speakers. While living in Kauai I noticed that English was spoken differently. Pigeon is spoken by many of the locals and its phrases has joined with English (which is interesting since Pigeon is a combination of English and other languages spoken by earlier people). Not only are pigeon phrases spoken, but Hawaiian words are commonly used in the local language as well. When I visited Wales I noticed not only the obvious difference of spoken English by accents, but there were words and phrases used in England that I had never heard of before. A simple example is that when I wanted chips from a restaurant I received French fries. 

English differs greatly from country to country and even from different areas in a country, but this gives each place more culture and gives a traveler one more cultural difference to appreciate. I do not think that the evolution of English is something to be worried about, the changing of our language is what makes it alive.

The Influence of Description

A Favorable Description:

My African Safari Tent

 While attending Bible College in Kauai, I lived in a deluxe African safari tent ‘on campus’. My tent was surprisingly spacious and contained two bunk beds, a table, two chairs, and it even had a lamp powered by a solar energy unit that one of the students put together.  The canvas tent was located on a raised wooden deck with a small porch included. From this porch you could see the faint outline of the ocean. The canvas sides of the tent would gently be nudged by the wind and the sounds of nature would easily drift inside to sooth me to sleep or give me a calm, peaceful feeling while I did homework. I felt more in tune and connected to nature while living in my safari tent. Kauai is a warm and humid place but the numerous screen windows would allow the cool breeze to blow through my tent. The screen windows and doors did let bugs in occasionally, but it was part of the experience. One time my roommate (tent mate is more accurate) left our screen door unzipped at night with our lamp on inside. When we came back, our ceiling was the hang out spot for the native bugs. We had a grand time in creatively getting rid of them and learned to never keep the screens unzipped at night with a light on inside!

An Unfavorable Description:

My Canvas Tent

While attending Bible College in Kauai, I lived in a tent ‘on campus’. This canvas tent was large enough to contain two bunks, a table, two chairs, and a lamp; but it was not large enough for a closet (or wardrobe in this case). The clothes for four girls were hung on plastic racks in plain sight where the entrance flap was, this made the room look constantly cluttered and unorganized. The tent was on top of a wooden deck so you needed to take an extra large step to get up on the small porch. The sides of the tent were always loose so I could never lean against the ‘wall’ near my bed.  Because the sides of the tent were so flimsy, the wind would constantly make them flap obnoxiously. There was no barrier of sound for that tent. I could hear everything including the loud crowing of roosters that roamed the island and the conversations of students in neighboring tents. Kauai is a warm and humid place so we often had to spray our walls with cleaner to keep mold from growing on the damp canvas. The tent did have screen windows to let the occasional cool breeze to blow through the heated tent, but when those windows were down, it was easier for the creepy crawlers to invade. One night my roommate (or should I say tent mate?) left our screen flap that we called a door unzipped with our single lamp on. When we came back our ceiling was covered with bugs. It took me and my tent mate close to an hour to get rid of all those bugs. We learned the hard way that it is not bright to leave a screen unzipped at night with a light on inside, but we never made that mistake again.

p.s. I loved living in my safari tent, the first description was easier to write!

Blog 3: Indifference

       “We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people”.  In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King, Jr. brings to our attention the sin of indifference. King is implying that  the silence/complacency of good people is just as bad as the actions of bad people driven by hatred. Noble Peace Prize winner Elie Weisel takes this idea one step further in his 1999 speech. While King is addressing a specific example of indifference in regard to the civil rights movement, Weisel addresses the general indifference of Americans in his speech.  Weisel states that anger is more commendable than indifference because anger can be creative in moving a person to action in one form or another while indifference is to have no response. When reading this I have a mental picture of the indifferent person as a couch potato with a blank face void of emotion, watching the world fall apart on the news as he drinks his Pepsi; as though it were simply a movie. The indifferent person will watch the misfortune or suppression of others with mild interest and go on with his/her life unaffected. How can this be? Weisel says, “Indifference can be tempting -- more than that, seductive. It is so much easier to look away from victims. It is so much easier to avoid such rude interruptions to our work, our dreams, our hopes. It is, after all, awkward, troublesome, to be involved in another person's pain and despair”. This is true. It is easier to ignore the problems of others than it is to help them. Helping another person who is a victim of war, a natural disaster, injustice, or any other misfortune will take our time, emotion, and possible our money.   
       Weisel makes a profound statement when he says, “In a way, to be indifferent to that suffering is what makes the human being inhuman”. I know what it is like to be indifferent, I went through a season where I just did not care about anything; I was void of all emotion. That season of life was so strange, it was as though I were dead. I am thankful that it was a short season and it taught me how dangerous complacency is.
       When King is addressing the silent Americans, he presents their argument that civil rights will be received in time. This is another mindset that is dangerous and King replies by saying, “We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right” (paragraph 26).  If everyone were to put off action (whether it is for progress, stopping injustice, helping someone in need) for a more convenient time, nothing would ever get done. The time for action is now because we do not know what the future holds and if we will have another opportunity to act. All of our esteemed heroes of history are remembered for being men of action, not men of silence and indifference. What will you be remembered as? Do you want your life to be indifferent and silent, for an indifferent life is silent. I want to be a person of action and if my actions influence the life of just one person for the better, then it is a life well lived. 

-E

A wold of silence: Blog 2

When I was in third grade, a missionary who worked with mute, deaf, and blind children in Mexico visited my Sunday school class. I clearly remember the missionary teaching us a few signs and I was captured by the realization that people could fully communicate with their hands alone. I also remember going to a concert where there were two ASL interpreters, the entire concert I watched the graceful and expressive movements of the signers and have been fascinated by sign language since.

There is not a wealth of information on the origins of American Sign Language (ASL), but I was able to gather some basic information of the beginnings of ASL from different web sites. ASL started to develop as a language in the early 1800s when a public school for the deaf was founded. Up to that point deaf Americans had some basic signs that they used to communicate with the people around them. The basic signs differed from region to region. The school that was founded for the deaf in the 1800s based its sign language on the sign language used in France. As students came to this school from different areas of the United  States the language began to adopt the signs from the different regions and developed into its own unique language. American sign language is a relatively new language and like any other language it is still developing as new words are added and older words are lost as they are no longer used.

ASL most definitely qualifies as a language.  ASL is a form of communication for many people in America. Before I took an ASL class a few years ago I thought that ASL was simply English where the words were replaced with signs, but I was wrong. ASL has its own grammar and sentence structure that is very different from English which qualifies it to be considered a language. Some people might think that ASL is an inefficient way of communication because tone, speed, and volume cannot be discerned in signs. While this is true ASL makes up for these in other ways. Like spoken languages, sign languages  communicates not only by the signs themselves, but by body language, facial expressions, and the way in which the signs are made. I have noticed that deaf people have extremely expressive facial expressions which communicate the ‘tone’ that they are signing in. Signs can also be communicated in a slow graceful way or in a quick and rough way to express feelings behind the signs. ASL is a very dynamic and expressive language that is beautiful to observe.

ASL has radically changed the lives of nonhearing people.  It was once believed that nonhearing people were unintelligent but they just lacked a form of communication. ASL opened the door for deaf people to communicate with each other and also put their thoughts into words. In Helen Keller’s autobiography she tells her readers how she lived in a world of darkness due to the fact that she had no language to process her thoughts. Have you ever tried to think without words? It doesn’t work well. It is hard to imagine growing up without any way to process feelings, emotions, and life situations. Helen describes when the “mystery of language” was revealed to her. She says, “That living word awakened my soul, gave it light, home, joy, set it free!” I believe this is what sign language has done for deaf people throughout the world. ASL has opened the doors for nonhearing people to put their thoughts and feelings into a language. Without a language one cannot be educated and in America one cannot succeed without any education. Because of American Sign Language, deaf Americans have the opportunity to have a good education and find a good job. The American Dream has become an attainable goal for the deaf and hard of hearing. ASL has made it possible for a world of silence to find a voice.

Critical Thinking: A Workout for my Mind

     Critical thinking is not just accepting what I read or hear but it is looking deeper than the surface and questioning myself as to what I think.  Critical thinking involves careful analysis of a subject or an issue and requires looking at that issue from different angles.   When it comes to reading and thinking critically, I am rather lazy. For me when I hear ‘critical thinking’ I think of a brain workout and I’m not always in the mood to exercise.  When I read to learn I like to simply be told what the truth is and then accept it, however, I know that to do this is foolish because there are lots of opinions and biases even in sources that are supposed to be objective.  
     Whenever I come upon an issue that I question, I ponder it for a bit and then my mind wanders and I don’t return to analyze the issue in-depth.  This habit of dismissing analytical thought is found in almost all areas of my life.  When a critical thought enters my mind when reading a book I jot it down in the margins or on post-it-notes and continue reading, I almost never go back to explore those thoughts later unless I have an assignment related to the book. When watching the news I often wonder if there is more to the story than they are telling or I wonder what the other side is, but my thoughts stop at the wondering stage and never make it into the analysis  stage.  I do not like politics much therefore I do not spend too much time thinking about political issues and debates; however the dishonest reputation politics have has made me very critical of politics and I question the arguments, statistics, and sources that politicians use. When it comes to politics I would rather analyze the actions and results rather than the arguments and words.  
     In writing this, I have had to analyze what my critical thinking habits are and have made some self discoveries about how inadequate my critical thinking skills are. I now realize how lazy I am with deep thinking and know that I have a lot of room to improve. I expect this class to challenge me to go beyond casual wondering and really spend time discovering what I think about different topics and issues brought up in the books we will read and in the discussions we will have. I can’t say that I’m looking forward to this semester of critical thinking because I know that my inactive thinking muscles will get sore (who likes sore muscles?) but I am looking forward to the outcomes of the challenges that await me. 

-E