Responses

A Few Words About Breasts: I enjoyed this short story because it was extremely relatable. Almost every girl goes through what the author goes through so it was easy for me to imagine the situations she was talking about, and understand what point she was trying to make. However, at one point i found myself wondering why some of the detail she put in there was neccessary, i started to lose track of the story when she weighed it down with some details i felt weren't important too it. Otherwise, i enjoyed it but mostly i feel because i was able to identify with the author so well and because her use of humor and rhetorical questions kept me interested.

The Androgynous Male: I really enjoyed this story. Although i could not relate to it as much at first, i liked the way the author presented himself, and the details he gave promoted the story along with giving me insite into his thoughts to why he wrote this story. Also, i never really thought about how males try to conform themselves to roles. The fact that this author didn't makes me admire him and trust him more as an author. He really opened my eyes and convinced me of his arguement, by using details that are all around us and in his personal life, to support it. His closing sentence really makes you think, and want to change how the world is making gender roles.

MiniVan Motoring: I really also liked this story, the author builds his credibility quickly by talking about how many old cars he has owned and gone through. He also uses easy to understand language that seems to relate to our age group. He also uses facts and details from credible sources, other than himself to build his credibility and prove his point. I also like how he switches up topics, but still keeps the same general overview of coming back to his van, it keeps my attention and keeps me interested in each new experience he is writing about. The idea that he is able to do this while still tying is all back to the van is interesting. He also will sometimes hit you with a crazy fact that you werent expecting, such as hitting the deer. My only problem is that I wish he had finished the story a little bit more, and talked about what happened with the van in his conclusion.

Surviving the Mustard Lid Days: The first paragraph immediately draws you into the story and makes you want to keep reading it. I can also relate to what she says about memories, because that actually is what it is like, so it builds her credibility for me knowing i can relate. I liked how she used phrases like "killed us with kindness." Sometimes however i feel the author threw in facts unneeded for no reason. She builds her credibility again by tallking about how values are fused into her character. I liked how she talked about emotion and how it forced her to write, it was very detailed and interesting to read. That sentence was just really good. I didnt really like how it was almost like she wrote a concluding paragraph, and then kept going. Lastly, the two final paragraphs really really touched me as a reader, because it was almost like you could see in the words how much she loved her grandparents, and how much they effected her life and choices.

Brainstorming

Stem Cell Research:

Pros: Help solve diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer’s Disease, strokes, diabetes, birth defects, spinal cord injuries.
-Useful for research, gives insights about body

Cons: ethical issues, egg is a human life, should not be compromised

Argument

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/opinion/15kristof.html?em

This opinion article is about how it is wrong that the government is allowing slaughter houses to administer antibiotics to their livestock. Because of the antibiotics and the fact that we are eating them, we are becoming immune to their effects, and therefore can't be treated when we need to be. The author appeals to us by using facts, such as when he says "Five out of 90 samples of retail pork in Louisiana tested positive for MRSA — an antibiotic-resistant staph infection — according to a peer reviewed study published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology last year. And a recent study of retail meats in the Washington, D.C., area found MRSA in one pork sample, out of 300, according to Jianghong Meng, the University of Maryland scholar who conducted the study." He also appeals by stating strong arguments and opinions and backing them up. He stands strong by his opinion and appeals to our ethos by working on our fear of being contaminated. He is on one side of this argument and only shows his side by criticizing the government, and meat industry harshly.

Ideas Critique

Edmundson presents many claims in his essay. One of them is that college has become a consumer driven establishment. He says how people are buying education as entertainment. Well, even if that is true, college has become an extreme money drain. If we are paying that much for an education, we shouldn’t be spending money to sit there all day and be miserable. He is a teacher, of course he wants the power to be back in his hands, where he can’t be judged by the student, and students have to listen and learn no matter how they present the material. Another one of his points is that students have become afraid to take risks, and are in specific majors just to get a good job in life, not to learn. The world has become a tough, money based place. For many people, money can buy happiness and make life a lot easier. Therefore, of course we are trying to get into the occupations that can help us live life to the fullest. We may want to learn about things that we can use to our full potential because of our individual skills, but we are thinking of the future. Mark Edmundson is not a student; he has his occupation set and his future set. Students are going out into an economy that is becoming more and more difficult to live in. He is considering his part and how the new consumer culture is affecting his world. However maybe there is good reason that students are becoming this way, because we need to survive the future.

Rhetorical Analysis Edmundson

In this essay, Edmundson uses many rhetorical devices to get his points across. I believe he uses all three of the appeals throughout his essay. He uses pathos by appealing to the audience of parents who went to college at the same time that he did. He can also appeal to students at universities currently by painting the picture of what we all went through senior year of high school, and now freshman and sophomore years at college institutions. He is able to prove his points by writing the truth and proving how it is affecting the current college student. His point is that the current consumer culture of America is causing universities to in a way, cater to the student. I believe he also appeal to ethos by establishing his credentials as a college professor and otherwise someone who is in the perfect position to make these observations. He states his points directly and it is easy to understand what his point is throughout the entire essay. He also uses statistics and details to support his points, which makes them easier to relate to. He uses phrases that appeal to the reader and metaphors to make his speech more interesting. Overall I really enjoyed this essay which is saying something because it was extremely long. He made it very easy to follow and understand.

Edmundson Summary

Edmundson begins this essay by portraying the scene of teacher assessment day, by depicting the student as a consumer. Throughout most kid’s lives, they have been taught to live with a consumer mentality, even in the classroom. This point is supported by the facts, that kids are able to assess the teacher with such “calm consumer expertise,” which is easier for them they writing a paragraph. The students say that they like him as a teacher because he makes the material interesting to them. This leads to the next main point which is how our culture is becoming primarily entertainment driven. There is no more passion or enthusiasm in students because they have been taught that calm is “cool”. They have been taught that in a perfect life there are no outbursts of passion, and no deviations from the norm. Lastly, they have been taught that if you were to deviate from the standard, and you don’t blend in, you will be excluded and snubbed. Another point is how equality has become the new stand out. Students have been sheltered and made to believe that the best thing is to be like everyone else. They don’t want to take chances because they fear that failure could completely mess up the future that they are supposed to have. Edmundson states that in order for a student to be different, or excellent, they have to work to go against the conformity. They have to try to be strange. However, another point of Edmundon’s is that it’s not the students fault. Universities everywhere are conforming also. College is becoming motivated by the customer and starting to reach out to students to see what they want. Students are now given more and more choices, and entire departments of schools are loosening to give students an easier time. Students are given power over the teachers, while teachers also have power over the students. This makes both parties unwilling to take chances in fear that they could somehow offend and put themselves in jeopardy. Teachers are making entertainment take the front seat over learning by conforming to the student’s wishes that it be that way. Edmundson’s last point is the outcome of skepticism over genius. Students have no opinions, just want to have everything be easy, don’t want to take chances. Therefore, the thought of genius is disappearing because it is opposite to what the consumer culture kids are exposed to is teaching. It is no longer commended and no one cares because they don’t want to take chances anyways. But what is the solution? Edmundson states that the solution lies in the individual students, they alone must decide to go against the conformity in order to renew the thought of genius and passion.

On the Uses of a Liberal Education

I actually really enjoyed reading this essay. It gave me a little bit of a scare because it was 15 pages, but before i knew it i was on the last one. Edmundson was able to completley relate to how colleges really are nowadays. I love reading this because everything he said was true. Even though i am a college student and i am reaping the benefits of all these changes, it was good to be able to see the other side of the arguement. College really is becoming all about making us happy. It was brave of Edmundson to write this essay because it was him taking a chance. People reading it are going to realize what college has become like. It has become hard work for them, and easier for us. Colleges are beginning to want us more than we want them, and because of this they have to change everything to make it more appealing to future students. Even as this is great for us, i have to admitt that i do see how it could become a problem when were are going out into the real world. People aren't going to be as nice, no one is going to cater to our every need. And now that college is becoming more relaxed, we arent going to know what the real world is like, and we arent going to work harder than we have to. If the colleges continue at the rate in which they are changing, the future of all businesses and work places are going to get into trouble.