To Hear or not to Hear

After watching the film Sound Of Fury I was very enlightened. I had never considered deaf culture, or how much it means to people. Since I can hear it is hard for me to understand that being deaf is viewed as a gift in deaf culture. I don't agree; however, with not giving a young child a cochlear implant. I think that a child should grow up learning both deaf culture and hearing culture. In the movie Peter and Nita Artinian are very proud of deaf culture and don't want their children to grow up missing that part of their life. They want their children to have opportunities, but they think deaf culture is more important than hearing culture. On the other hand Chris and Mari Artinian can both hear and want to give their son who was born deaf a cochlear implant to make life better. 

Personally I think both sides are wrong. Why would they want to keep their children boxed in one Discourse when they could be in both. I think that a cochlear implant would be wise to give when a baby because it would be easier to learn and grow with one that young. I think that they should educate their children on both aspects of life by teaching them both sign language and speaking. I think that people that completely isolate their child from another world is a little dramatic. I would want to offer my children both worlds and let them pick, if any side, what they wanted to associate more with.

If you really think about it, giving a child both worlds and opportunities to grow up with is even smarter in the grand scheme of things. They can work in both the hearing world and the deaf world. They can give both worlds equally as much attention instead of being completely isolated with only one way of doing things. That to me seems like a more well rounded and cultured person. 

Fear of Chapped Lips

It's the time. You can smell his pungent cologne. His eyes are big and blue. He's breathing heavier and so are you. He proceeds to say: "I had a really nice time with you tonight." You reply politely thanking him for the dinner and movie, but as you reach to open the Lamborghini door he pulls you back. He looks deeply in your eyes and smiles as he goes in for a goodnight kiss. BUT WAIT. Once he smiles you see the unsightly cracks on the skin of his lips. Huge ridges cover his lips like a 12 mile deep crevasse in a glacier. Your mind goes to the worst hallucination possible: blood starts spurting out of his parched lips as dead skin pieces fly all over covering your face and hair. He is kissing you with his sandpaper lips and it's contagious. Your lips are slowly shriveling up like your sinister partner's. They feel like a raison shrinking and cracking in the sun. Finally you snap back from your dream. Your date is still going in for a goodnight kiss, and you let out a shriek. Quickly, you bolt out of the car, unlock your door, sprint to your bed, hide under the covers, and apply copious amounts of chapstick. Crisis averted.

Wikileaks. Friend or Foe?

Do we deserve to know the truth? Personally I am all for Wikileaks. The population should know what their governments are actually up to. Julian Assange created something that could ultimately help the world. We can't trust the media or our politicians; they would lie in a heartbeat to keep civilians as calm and uneducated as possible. With Wikileaks people can see the facts without the fluff. Assange explained that governments and corporations are spending money to keep things that are being leaked a secret. Why would something that is supposed to help the population keep secrets from the population?

Assange doesn't really consider how illegal Wikileaks can be. He seems to be hiding and traveling around to avoid getting into trouble. People in charge are not happy that their information is leaking out into the public, but then again it's the truth. How can someone punish others for giving the public the truth about what is going on in the world.
 

Maybe I'm just a skeptic and buy into the conspiracies of government too much, but I think that the governments of the world are highly corrupt and secretive. I think that free speech definitely applies to Wikileaks and it isn’t illegal in anyway. If governments are truly for the people then these documents should be able for the public to see anyway. Clearly some information should not be in public domain for the safety of the people but the truth on many issues should be. I have always been all for the truth and letting the public be involved in everything that our country is doing. Without truth we are just puppets they can use and program anyway they wish.

Voting for Race...

For my second found essay I read another article from slate.com called "Why Do White People Think Mitt Romney Should Be President?" by Tom Scocca. The whole article went on saying that republicans only try to get the "white" vote and that many republicans are white men. Even though I did agree with the article I still thought it was a little bias. Clearly Scocca is heavily liberal and will never even consider voting republican. To me being a liberal still means trying to reason with the opposite side. In my opinion democrats should be accepting and willing to listen, that is why I never say anyone's political views are wrong. There is no such thing as wrong.
After reading the article I was a bit scared. I do see Mitt Romney as a fake image that is trying to portray the "white" ideals of America, but I don't think this just because he is a republican. The majority of youth today are becoming more liberal than previous generations, and I think that is making the republicans scared. By advertising more of a "white" image they can gather all of those people that would never vote for any other race. Unfortunately to me this presidential race hasn't been about politics. It's been about does America want white or black and that completely disgusts me. I've never been one to like politics at all, but if I want to make a difference in society I have to pick a side. So maybe neither of the candidates appeal to you but the fact of the matter is we have to live with one of them for 4 more year. Race shouldn't be a factor.

Sexuality and Growing Up

For one of my found essays I decided to read an article by Allison Benedikt from slate.com. The essay was about John Schwartz (a reporter from the New York Times), his family, and his gay son who attempted suicide. Schwartz's son Joseph came out at school as a thirteen year old and tried to kill himself that night. After years of listening to society's negative attitudes about gay lifestyle and his own self hate he attempted to take his own life. John Schwartz wrote a book called Oddly Normal explaining raising his son knowing he was gay including every detail about his childhood.

Personally I think it is awful how society portrays gay lifestyle. Even if families raise their children in a loving manner that accepts them for who they are society still interferes. Children grow up seeing the hatred people in society have for the homosexual population and it is very sad and discouraging. I hope that in the future people will start being more accepting and understanding. I'm sure there would be less attempted suicides.

What Are You Truly Eating?

For the nonfiction assignment I read The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan. The book was about the secrets behind what we eat in America. The book was split into four sections each explained the different food chains; Industrial, Industrial Organic, Local sustainable, and Hunter – Gatherer. Overall I truly enjoyed the book, mainly because Pollan and I share the same thoughts on what average Americans eat everyday. Reading this book supplied facts that supported my beliefs even more, which I liked. The whole main idea of the book is to encourage people to understand what they’re eating and where it comes from. In today’s society most people are unaware of how, when, and where the food they are consuming was made. Food is no longer a major part of our culture, and people only seem to care that the food they are buying is cheap not healthy.

I really enjoyed that Pollan went on a journey in each food chain. He started with the Industrial food chain because that is what the majority of Americans consume. Industrial food is anything found in a supermarket or a fast food restaurant. I learned about how there is so much corn in the processed foods and meat we eat. The most disturbing part about this chapter was that instead of letting animals like cattle eat what is natural for them (grass), we force them into eating corn because it is cheaper for us. This makes the animals sick since it’s not natural for their bodies’ to digest corn, but since it makes them fat in a short amount of time people don’t seem to care. I also learned about all the harmful pesticides and chemicals sprayed on all of the vegetables grown for supermarkets. It’s crazy how toxic these chemicals are, but we still eat the produce because we aren’t educated on where our food comes from and what people are doing to it.

Pollan then journeyed into the Industrial Organic food chain. The majority of the facts in this section surprised me completely. You would think that all of the food you could get from a Whole Foods or an organic supermarket would be free range, clean, and happy. Unfortunately that thought isn’t entirely correct. Organic vegetables are grown in a separate field right next to the non organic vegetables. The only difference is that the preservatives and hormones are not added to the organic produce. The chicken you think is free range has been locked in a cage for five months until it’s so fat it can’t walk, so when they open the doors to let them roam they can’t. The beef you think is happy is still locked in its own manure; the only difference is it isn’t fed chemicals. The organic image people think of isn’t what it truly is.

My favorite section of the book was the section about Local Sustainable. Pollan went to a farm in Virginia called Polyface. Polyface raises happy grass fed animals they way they’re supposed to be raised, with respect. Reading this section I decided this is how I wanted to get my meat and eggs when I’m living on my own. It is a lot more expensive than food in a grocery store, but it’s all natural. People that buy from local farms like Polyface develop a greater appreciation and relationship with their food and who is growing/raising it. Food is more than just something we eat, and personally I think people need to develop a different sort of relationship with it.

The last section was on hunting and gathering which was very interesting to read about. Not many people hunt and gather all of their food. Pollan went on a journey to make a meal out of food he either hunted or gathered which was hard work and took a long time. The section inspired me to maybe one day make a meal out of things only I killed and found. I presume that it would be a very rewarding and fulfilling experience. So many of us take food for granted, I think that people need to understand what they are eating, and how it’s being made.

The Never Ending Battle of the Sexes.

Personally, I am all for feminism. But unfortunately reading Mary Wollstonecraft's essay about women's rights was a drag. The first six or so pages were insightful and I enjoyed reading them, but then her writing started getting redundant and boring. After a while I lost interest and felt as if I was reading the same things over and over again.
Luckily I felt that for the most part the problems Wollstonecraft came up with were no longer a problem in today's society (yay). Even though sexism still exists, it has gotten so much better over the years. for example she says: "Women are told from their infancy, and taught by the example of their mothers, that a little knowledge of human weakness, justly termed cunning, softness of temper, outward obedience, and a scrupulous....." which I find is not in our society anymore. All children seem to be taught obedience, but not just girls anymore.
After a while I felt the essay grew to be more of Wollstonecraft complaining and not taking action. The only things she truly suggests are education, but that can only go so far. What about giving women jobs and such? Even though this was written in 1792 I still feel like she could have come up with more creative ideas to help women succeed.
I really liked the vocabulary that Wollstonecraft used, because it helped the whole argument. Overall I thought the points she made were valid, but she seemed to drag the whole essay on. I think it would have had a greater effect on people if the whole essay was shorter and to the point.

Is Google Making Us Stupid? (I Hope Not)

After reading Nicholas Carr's article I realized that many of the things he said happen to us while reading long articles in this age apply to me as well. After about two pages of reading I noticed myself drifting and losing focus. I was able to re-focus and comprehend what I was reading, but I thought it was funny how these things were happening to me. The quote "Now my concentration starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do." was almost identical to what I was experiencing as well.
This article scared me a bit. It really got me to thinking that websites and search engines like Google could be out to get us, and here to hurt us. After reading I thought the best thing for people to do is stop using the Internet all together, but that is virtually impossible. Carr definitely gave the idea that the Internet is ultimately bad news and that our minds are slowly becoming artificial and need immediacy. The story that really scared me was when Carr talks about his friend Scott Karp admitted to not reading books anymore. "I was a lit major in college, and used to be [a] voracious book reader." Karp said. It seems that the Internet can erase years of education and change people's minds quickly.
The article also explains that the brain is malleable, but I feel that once one reaches adulthood that the brain loses its flexibility. It scares me that if we figure out that the Internet isn't something we should be using, that our brains wont be able to mold to a new system. I wish that my generation had the opportunity to grow up without the use of computers. For most of my life I have had the ability to get any information I need in a matter of seconds. That idea sounds amazing, but after reading this article I can't help but think it's hurting our society. I don't want artificial intelligence.
This article also got me thinking about texting and how it is affecting relationships not necessarily for the better. Constantly texting/talking to someone isn't natural and I think can hurt people's relationships for good. Being able to constantly interact with someone and not hear their voice, or see their face is almost frightening. How can you build a relationship solely on text and not human interaction? Technology is almost scary, and even though I don't like it how are we supposed to untangle ourselves from its web?

Total Eclipse

The essay "Total Eclipse" by Annie Dillard seemed a tad odd to me. I found Dillard to be a bit overly dramatic about a natural occurrence. Throughout the essay she acts as if the world was ending, but it was only a total eclipse. Besides that point I thought it was a fantastically interesting essay to read, because I most likely will never be able to view a total eclipse. The descriptions were really interesting to imagine especially when she starts talking about things starting to look like a movie filmed in the Middle Ages (although there were no cameras whatsoever in those times). The quote: "The hillside was a nineteenth-century tinted photograph from which the tints had faded" really allows the reader to understand what it was like to be in that moment. While reading the essay I kept questioning if Dillard was the only one who was feeling this way, or if everyone thought that this occurrence was awful? Personally I believe if I had the chance to view a total eclipse I would be more happy than distressed. Science interests me and I think it scares Dillard for the most part. I was also wondering what her husband thought the whole time and after. Did he feel the same way, or did he think it was the coolest thing he had ever seen? Overall I really enjoyed the essay and I liked how I could almost picture what it was like to be viewing the total eclipse in 1979.

Talk of the Town Articles--My Thoughts

The first article by John Updike reminded me of what my Aunt Debi went through on September 11th. My aunt was in a meeting in a building nearby and actually saw the first plane smash into the tower. It was interesting to read these articles because I was so young at the time and it seemed that adults tried to sugar coat the truth a little bit so we wouldn't be scared. Now that I'm older watching documentaries and reading articles about the tragedy really help me understand how bad and eminence the whole thing was. I especially understood this quote: "this was not quite real; it could be fixed; the technocracy the towers symbolized would find a way to put out the fire and reverse the damage." When emergencies happen people can't help but think that everything can be fixed and nothing bad is going to happen ; everything will be alright. Sadly that feeling is rarely right, we cling to the tiniest bit of hope there is. I liked that the article was written by a bystander who witnessed 9/11 first hand, it helps explain the whole story in depth in a way that someone who wasn't there can understand.

The second article by Susan Sontag bashes American officials and the media. I agree with Sontag about the fact that everything wasn't ok, but of course the officials and the president is going to try to keep America calm and not shaken. If the leaders of our country gave up and became scared and stoped believing in America, we would have been in more trouble. After such a tragedy a country as a whole has to move on like normal and not show weakness. I appreciated how Sontag included the question: "How many citizens are aware of the ongoing American bombing of Iraq?" There are always two sides.

All About the Mysterious Kate Zobel

I am a very active person, and I enjoy many things. I have been on our high school swim team for the past three years, I participate in musicals, I work at the pool, and I am very involved in choir. Staying busy is important to me, and it keeps me sane.
I love all kinds of music and I enjoy discovering new bands and creating my own music. I try to get involved in as many music camps and choirs that I can so I can expand my knowledge. I also am fascinated by art and love coming up with my own creations.
I hope to attend UW Madison to study opera, and possibly some form of theater or art. I am very excited for AP composition and for my senior year!