Gender

Male Privilage Checklist

“If I’m careless with my driving it won't be attributed to my sex" (pg. 537).
I’ve noticed that when people see one girl driving bad it’s blamed on the fact that she’s a girl. there is a lasting stereotype that women aren’t very good drivers. I’ve also noticed that if a man is seen driving recklessly on the freeway, or anywhere else, comments are only made on how crazy that guys is. I don’t think I’ve ever heard it said the same way that it is about girls. People just comment about the one guy, and not the sex.

Media Portrayals of Men and Masculinity

"The Joker is a very popular character with boys, perhaps because laughter is part of their own 'mask of masculinity.' A potential negative consequence of this stereotype is the assumption that boys and men should not be serious or emotional. However, researchers have also argued that humorous roles can be used to expand definitions of masculinity." (pg. 539). picture of somebody that has a role like that.

Jim Carry, Bruce Almighty


"The Jock is always willing to 'compromise his own long-term health; he must fight other men when necessary; he must avoid being soft; and he must be aggressive.' By demonstrating his power and strength, the jock wins the approval of other men and the adoration of women." (pg. 539).
300 Spartan

"The Strong Silent Type focuses on 'being in charge, acting decisively, containing emotion, and succeeding with women.' This stereotype reinforces the assumption that men and boys should always be in control, and that talking about one’s feelings is a sign of weakness." (pg. 539).
Hitch

"The Big Shot is defined by his professional status. He is the 'epitome of success, embodying the characteristics and acquiring the possessions that society deems valuable.’ This stereotype suggests that a real man must be economically powerful and socially successful."(pg. 539).
Zucherburg, Facebook owner

"The Action Hero is 'strong, but not necessarily silent. He is often angry. Above all, he is aggressive in the extreme and, increasingly over the past several decades, he angles in violent behavior.'"(pg. 539).
Hulk 

"The Buffoon commonly appears as a bungling father figure in TV ads and sitcoms. Usually well-intentioned  and light-hearted, these characters range from slightly inept to completely hopeless when it comes to parenting their children or dealing with domestic (or workplace) issues."(pg. 540).
Raymond

All images were retrieved from Google Images. 


Looking for my Prince Charming
This piece of literature written by Shalmali Pal simply illustrates the way of life for a single girl. She’s looking for the perfect one, but has specific limitations to the one that will be hers. Is she too critical to have a set list of things that she prefers? I don’t think so. I think it’s great to set goals or standards because they are the one you will be spending a lot of time with so they better fit something you like! I wonder what it is like to attend BYU where there are people like this all over the place that are just ready to get married. She points out that it’s been two years that she has “phoned, e-mailed and dined with three potential ‘ideal husbands.’” Seems to me it’s a bit exhausting to be a bachelor/bachelorette and find that Prince Charming. 

Diversity: Race

Graduation

This excerpt from “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”, written by Maya Angelou, gave me some interesting new insights on how life would have been while separate was equal. Being so close to graduation it definitely applies to me. Even though in the book she is talking about her 8^th grade graduation, I still would have reacted the same to the speakers that she did if something with the same type of insults.

Angelou writes, “The white kids were going to have a chance to become Galileos and Madame Curies and Edisons and Gauguins, and our boys (the girls weren’t even in on it) would try to be Jesse Owenses and Joe Louises.” (pg. 616) Even though the speaker was trying to tell them that they could become like this “idol”, they also did the opposite. Those who are not athletic or not male have no chance to become what they viewed should be their example. It was interesting to me when she talked about how she responded to the quote, “to be or not to be”. She stated that they just told her that she COULDN’T be, so she doesn’t even have that choice.

Two different songs were sung at the graduation. Because of this separate anthem for the country America, I thought about “I, too, am America” from the Langston Hughes poems on page 594.  Are they acknowledged as Americans if they are to sing a different anthem for their country?

Selected Poems

“I, too, am America” is only one of the many poems selected to highlight Langston Hughes’ poems. It really is my favorite as well. I like how he describes the day when he will gain his rights as a citizen. He talks about how nobody will tell him to eat, breath, or basically do anything somewhere else, and that they will be ashamed because they once did. This poem is also quoted in “The Great Debaters”. I believe that people really did quote him to keep each other strong. His works must have influenced many.

The Shocking Story of Approved Killing in Mississippi

I am having a hard time responding to this article by William Bradford and I’m not sure why. I guess it could be because it really is a “shocking story”. This is the first time that I learned about the things that people got away with in those days just because they did it to a black man, especially murder. Its crazy to think that there were no penalties for things that were done in that time of our history.

Our discussions in class about the incident in “The Great Debaters” where a scholarly and very wise black man is still trumped by scraggly, farmer, white men made me think about this a lot. They could have killed him and his whole family right there and gotten away with it. I think the father knew that. That would be so stressful to know that at anytime somebody has the right to kill you.

Of course in this story, Emmett Till did make a choice to go and get himself into trouble. I’m not sure that he understood, at the time, that he really could be killed for doing what he did to that girl. I wonder if he ever fully thought about that.

Passion and Romance

The Art of Courtly Love

Now days, there really aren’t any set rules about love. It seems that in the past love was a simple thing. You didn’t have to wonder what to look for, you just were surrounded with your options in your rank. And if there was an exemption, you followed those rules. It is amazing to me how much this ideal has changed over time. 

We have worked around these rules and found out a way of living that permits the opposites. TV has definitely played a huge role in deciding our society’s views about love. The way Males and Females interact now is completely different. It is less strict. There used to be very set rules on the way gentlemen had to treat women. We here about how knights used to be punished for not doing sertain gentlemen-like actions.

The idea of “Courting” is almost nonexistent nowadays. When my brother was going to school at Murray High, I attended the musicals that he preformed in. One of which was Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. I remember loving this musical and the music. The song “Going Courtin’” made me a bit confused though because I had never heard of such a word. I even asked my mom what it meant. It just goes to show that “Courtly Love” is no longer an “Art”.

Sonnet: Love Is Not All

There are people who are bitter towards love. I believe that this author is either bitter or have done experiments with other people that are bitter about love. She explains that love isn’t everything, just by giving a few small examples of things that love cannot fix. 

I think the most interesting line written in this poem is, “ I might be driven to sell your love for peace, or trade the memory of this night for food.” (page 320) It definitely explains deeper than the words alone. It is different for me to hear about love in a negative way. We often hear about how the love of the beloved is peace and everything to those that feel of that love. Maybe thats how people feel when they are in a poor relationship? They probably feel as though they would feel more peace if they were not with a certain person. 

This poem puts love on a smaller scale. When reading you realize that the things the author explains it cannot fix really are true, but why does love make us feel like it does fix everything, and is everything?

Symptoms of Love 

I love the name of this poem. It gives another way to explain the common phrase, "Love Sick". When you hear about an illness, you also look up what symptoms to look for to diagnose the problem. That is the same with Love and this poem.

Something I can definitely relate to is "Listening for a knock, waiting for a sign" (page 318). Sometimes I literally stand next to the window waiting for him to get to my house. I feel anxious and excited to see him walk up and knock on the door so that I can open it and see him there. Just hearing the door knock and knowing that he is there is a real exciting thing for me! I get butterflies! It's the same feeling I get when I hear his ringtone, telling me that it is him calling. The waiting is the hardest part. And I think that is where the "migraine" comes in to play. Sometimes worrying about your loved one, for me, is the most nerve-racking.

It was funny to realize that people really can tell when you are giddy about somebody, just by the way you act. There really are symptoms of love.

Creative Writing Response to Passion and Romance

Creative Writing Response

To Passion and Romance

           

            “Love calls for guts and initiative.” (The Art of Love, p. 295) To obtain a long lasting love, there is a hard work involved others could not imagine if they hadn’t gone through it before. It takes a leading action, readiness and ability. But once your whole self is out there, you are the happiest you’ve ever been before. No regrets.

           

I know that there are doubts and fears put into the things we care about the most and in our greatest strengths to stop us from progressing and achieving. These can be overcome and the progress desired will be obtained. Something people need is the guts to communicate. I struggled with this. I never trusted myself to say the right thing. But I’ve learned that that doesn’t matter. It’s the extra work you put into that has got to come through face-to-face, positive communication and more personal talks. It takes the sharing of everything, your whole heart and soul, in trust and unconditional love. It never slows down. The love and support can’t be held back. Your hopes, dreams, desires and needs all should be verbalized and confided. The only change you want in your love is just to love more and more. It truly is a joyful work. I’ve learned that it is better for my desires to be known, than regret ever expressing them at all. He would never know. And I wouldn't be as happy as I am now. Everyone has the opportunity or big growth. Make the most of it!

           

“Love has no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything. Love still stands when all else has fallen.” I don’t need to define love to know that I feel it. I’ve never had to work for something as hard as I have for the Love I belong to today.  I can’t believe the guts I had to tell him how I felt and wait to see if he would accept what I had to say. The passion is in the risk. I think about where it’s got me. That was 7 months ago, and now he is my everything. I am grateful for the initiative I had in that critical moment. If you knew me before, you’d understand that I would have never thrown myself out there like I did. I love the way we talk to each other. We can work through anything. But the greatest part is that we haven’t had to work any contention out of our relationship because we work on avoiding it together by the way we treat and speak with each other. There has never been a time that I have been angry with him. I know that it will take continuous hard work. But it is worth it to get to that attachment stage, where you are with that person in old age and still wonderfully in love. I don’t think people realize the work that goes into it. There is no destination in love. It is a constant journey. You always work toward something.

            This is the greatest work anyone could ever do. I’ve been seeing the world in new light and can see the joy from the effort.  I love how determined people in love are. Only people who are in deep sincere love would go through some of the things they do. There are guts involved, thats the first step. Love is not a destination. It’s a journey worth every risk that comes with it. It takes guts and initiative.

The Symposium

            The word Symposium is defined as a group of people coming together to discuss ideas. This philosophical dialogue by Plato, deals with ideal love and the vision of absolute beauty. The dialogue expresses the discussion between Diotima and Socrates. Socrates believes that love is absolute and the ideals are perfect, whereas Diotima explains that love shouldn’t be black and white, or perfect.

           

my little sister :)

            Our discussions in class about the different views of love between men and woman were very interesting. Something someone said they had heard before was very true. She said, “Women wear makeup because men fall in love with what they see. Men lie because woman fall in love with what they hear.” Every person has a unique way that they attract people they are dating, or crushing on (some more noticeable and obvious than others). What are we most attracted to about love? What makes us want to go the extra mile for that love? For some, it is just the possession of it, and others just the other’s want of possession of them even if they don’t want to possess. There are people who love and pursue towards people, but then won’t take possession of them in return. They just like to be wanted. “Then love, may be described generally as the love of the everlasting possession of the good?” (p. 286). In many cases, this is very true. She goes on to say that this ties in to procreation, where love becomes of immortality. It becomes lasting and creates generations.

           

During the discussion Diotima points out Socrates’ mistakes and errors in his theory about what love is. I thought this was the most interesting. She explains that he has confused Love with the Beloved. “For the beloved is the truly beautiful, and delicate, and perfect, and blessed; but the principle of love is of another nature” (p. 287). She describes how love isn’t described as one thing or another. It’s between “ignorance and knowledge…wise and foolish…mortal and immortal.” Perhaps this is why love is so impossible to describe as just one sided.   

To His Coy Mistress

To His Coy Mistress

         

            To His Coy Mistress took a lot of thought to get through. I had to read it a few times or more. But the more thought I put into it, the more understanding I got out of it, even though I still don’t understand it fully. I like how poetry does this to you. It stretches ideas so that they are not as clear as the rest of literature is. It has a message that has to be discovered.

            Coy means to be shy and reserved, so I believe that the narrator of the poem is speaking to his Lady to get her out of her shell, because their time to love is short. I may be wrong on my interpretation, but that was my thought process.

The author, Andrew Marvell, states “The grave’s a fine and private place, but none, I think, do there embrace” (p. 310) and then proceeds to say that before we end up in the grave and while we are in our youth we should “sport…while we may.” Ages go by and “beauty” slips away, so there should be a time in our lives where we should be making the most of it because we won’t be cuddling in our grave with our Love for eternity. Time is running short for all of us and while we are living we should Love before it dies.

           

                                           

2nd Annual Favorite Poem Project

Poetry Reading Review

1.       Rachel Voorhees

Class period 3

2.       Name of the poets:

There were many poets that read at this event. Some of their names were Marene Holter, Florin Nielson, Kirsten Scott, Peter Saunders and many others.

3.       Location and date of the reading:

The reading took place on April 25^th at the City Library.

4.       Organization sponsoring the reading

This event was sponsored by the Utah Humanities Counsel to provide for the continuation of the Annual Favorite Poem Projects. This was the 2^nd.

5.       Find out as much as possible about the poet of poets presenting the reading before you go. If possible, read some of the poetry by the poet(s). Tell me what you found out and what you thought of the poetry.

All of those that read were either very experienced and famous for their poetry and other writings or they were making their first poetry reading appearance. I did not know who was going to be reading before hand so I wasn’t able to research their works before going. But finding about what they each have accomplished before they read gave me a larger appreciation for them and I found myself more into listening to them because I realized that they were professional and passionate about poetry. It must have taken a lot of dedication and hard work to get where they are today.

6.       Discuss the kind of poetry the poet writes. What themes are important to his/her work? Are there images that recur in more than one poem? What is the tone of the poetry? What sort of formal devices (rhyme, rhythm, figures of speech) does the poet use?

There are scenarios and similarities in why they read the poem that they did. Some would reoccur through out the poetry that was read. I think it is interesting that many of the poems were about animals. I think that people connect with animals. These types of figures of speech describe feelings from another prospective. Sometimes stories are implied but not bluntly stated. Each poet spoke rhythmically and gave each poem a new mood. For example there was one read by a girl named Claudia Bilingnal. Her poem was about how language doesn’t need to be a dividing power. It was about a father that wanted Spanish to be spoken in the home, and English to be left outside of the home and the frustrations it caused for the daughter. The way she read portrayed the emotions of anger and frustration. Different culture’s poetry was also read, which I thought was very interesting to listen to and try to understand.

7.       Comment on how the poet’s reading contributes to your appreciation of the poetry. Does the poet emphasize the rhythmical or musical qualities of his/her poetry in the oral interpretation?

I loved the creativity in the way a poet speaks. It flows beautifully and its almost like singing. The rhythms go faster or slower and is always moving. Poets know exactly when to read quicker or slower. Their pauses enhanced the poem. The way they read is very much like music. The musical terms “phrases”, swells and crescendos, rests and rallentandos all apply. While these things turn notes into music, they also turn words into poetry.

8.       If the poet comments on the poems, discuss how those comments illuminate the poems.

Because this event was all about people’s connection to certain poems, the comments that they made were the reason for the whole event and were very important. These poets connected with the poems for many different reasons. Everyone’s life is different, so a poem could mean the world to one person and won’t mean anything to another. Poetry connects to you because of memories, profession, your children, grandchildren, culture, and anything else you experience. One poet read about a pig, and connected it to her son whose favorite animal is a pig. Another read about the anatomy of a frog and said it grabbed his attention because of what his profession was. All of their comments just proved the fact that poetry can run deep in individuals because of they way their life has gone.

9.       If the poet is available after the reading, try to ask him/her an interesting question or two.

I wasn’t able to stay after the reading, because I had to rush somewhere right after, but I would have liked to talk to the girl who was in 6^th grade that read. I wanted to ask her how she got so far in poetry and what sparked her interest. I think it is great to see kids get into poetry because it seems to be something not very many people are interested in anymore. I hope that schools like hers are teaching about poetry.

10.   Go back and read the poet’s work again. How did the poetry reading affect your understanding and appreciation of the poetry?

Instead of looking up a particular poets work, I looked up Florin Nielson, because I was interested in what he does for a living. He teaches the writing of poetry class at the Mount Olympus Senior Center. I thought it was great that he helps people find guides for their lives through poetry. It shows how influential it can be. He said that his youngest student is 65 and his oldest is 95.

11.   If you use quotes or paraphrases form outside source in your review, document them according to the MLA Style.

Information about Florin Nielson- http://www.deseretnews.com/article/660220179/Senior-writers-have-winning-way-with-words.html