Brian Walborn Blog #8

The poem "First Writing Since" recited by Suheir Hammad was extremely powerful. She most definitely used ethos, pathos, and logos to get her voice to be heard, processed, and perhaps most importantly, understood by the audience.
Throughout her poem, there are many instances where Suheir Hammad utilizes ethics, emotion, and logic. The ethics, or ethos, that she uses come out clearly when she says: "God, please, don't let it be anyone who looks like my brothers" (Hammad). With this statement, she is first saying that she believes in God, and second that she knows there are stereotypes out there when it comes to people of middle eastern origin and terrorism. Pathos was clearly applied the entire time she was on stage reciting the poem. She gives a clear sense that she is very emotional about the subject based on the language she uses. She sometimes cusses, which blatantly shows she feels very strongly about the topic and views she is trying to convey. She uses logos to contradict  the idea that a good amount of people believe that because of the way someone looks, they have certain goals, like terrorism for instance. She goes on to say: "...assume they know me, or that I represent a people, or that a people represent an evil..." (Hammad). This statement is Hammad saying that just because there are some Palestinian or middle eastern people who are terrorists, doesn't mean that they all are. She also points out that a lot of people are ignorant of the fact that just because it was middle eastern people who did it, doesn't mean there weren't middle eastern people that were working in the World Trade Center, for instance, when the attack happened. She points out the innocent people of middle eastern background who were killed. This argument is the sole reason I find this poem to be so persuasive. It really does make you think twice about stereotypes you may have towards a certain group.

Brian Walborn Blog #7

The first major element of writing an exploratory essay that I came across was: "The essential movie for exploratory thinking and writing is to keep a problem alive through consideration of multiple solutions or points of view" (Pearson 107). The reason I believe this is one of the most important elements to creating an exploratory essay is because you have to keep the oppositions point of view in mind to keep the reader interested. It's very easy to write an essay with a bias, but it gets more difficult when you take into account the opposition. This is always a great way to compose a much better essay.
The second element, to me, that is crucial to take into account when you're composing an exploratory essay is underneath the section entitled "Revising" in this chapter. "Often drafts need to be pruned to remove extraneous details and keep the pace moving" (Pearson 115). I personally believe revising may be the most important element in creating a successful and enticing essay. The revision of an essay can remove worthless things or even add more important facts that are critical to the essay as a whole.
The third and final element that I came across was the "Questions for Peer Review" section in this chapter. The question I found particularly important was: "In the introduction, how has the writer tried to show that the problem is interesting, significant, and problematic?" (Pearson 115). The reason I think this is the most important question is because the introduction isn't attention grabbing, the rest of the essay doesn't mean anything. A lot of times people will stop reading on account of a bad introduction.

Brian Walborn Blog #6

The first "hotspot" that I noticed in Chapter Three of Guyland by Michael Kimmel was the section entitled "Being a Man Among Men." This particular section of the reading really stuck out to me because most of these experiences that these 20-something year-old kids have had, I have also had. I grew up with two older brothers just like Drew from the reading. I feel like my older brothers most definitely shaped the person I am now. They way you are raised can easily shape the person you become, whether you are raised with brothers or raised with only sisters, the outcome is usually correlating to how you grew up. I can also relate to Don, the football player. "The first thing I think of is my coach" (Kimmel 47). I definitely agree with this statement as well. I played football in high school, and the most I can say about it is that it was both the most fun I've ever had, and sometimes humiliation from the coaches. A lot of times the coaches would get in your face, you just have to learn how to deal with it.

The second "hotspot" I ran across was the section entitled "Violence as Restoration." "Violence is how they [men] express all that disappointment" (Kimmel 55). This quote is extremely true for me. I couldn't tell you if it was the way I was raised or what, but I have an extremely short temper when it comes to a lot of things. A lot of times I will find myself getting mad at my girlfriend over absolutely nothing, realizing it later, and then feeling like a complete idiot. I obviously don't physically abuse her, but when I get heated, I begin to feel violent (wanting to hit things). I think it's a large part of just the nature of man.

Brian Walborn Blog #5

The first video I watched was Doofy Husbands: Target Women. Although it's quite obvious that the video is a complete joke, I found this video to be on the verge of degrading to men everywhere, even those who aren't necessarily husbands. The video basically states that men, once married, are good for nothing. One "hotspot" that I noticed was when Sarah Haskins said: "These commercials prove to us that husbands just...can't do stuff" (Doofy Husband: Target Women). I believe Haskins is very wrong in saying this. Husbands can do many things, just maybe not the things that you're expecting us to do, like cook for example. Just because a male isn't the best cook, definitely does not mean that he's worthless in any sense. Another "hotspot" I recognized was when she said: "...you need them around to do three things: to barbecue, breed children, and take care of the lawn..." (Doofy Husbands: Target Women). Again, I am not personally taking offense to this, but Haskins seems rather shallow. She should probably realize that men can do a lot more than just three things and maybe give them some respect.

After watching the second video, Tropes vs. Women: #1 The Manic Pixie Dream Girl, I realized this woman was an extreme feminist. The first "hotspot" that stood out to me was when she said "...that we [women] can go fix these lonely sad men so that they can go fix the world" (Tropes vs. Women: #1 The Manic Pixie Dream Girl). This statement, in my opinion, is attempting to make it seem as if women are degraded by being a pick-me-up to men. This is not true. If a girl wants to talk to a guy, she will. That's her own decision. It's not like men force them to make them happy. The second statement that stuck out to me in this video is when she said: "You might not know this but we [women] are full and complete human beings with our own troubles, interests, and creative endeavors. So hows about you stop using us as your muse, and start writing us as real people" (Tropes vs. Women: #1 The Manic Pixie Dream Girl). This statement, to me, is also false. There are plenty of movies out there that utilize women in a complete different way than being a "Manic Pixie Dream Girl." I would say that there is even more movies where there isn't one of these than movies where there is.

Brian Walborn Homework #5

In Eugene August's essay entitled "Real Men Don't" he goes very in-depth about how he believes that the English language makes you believe that women are treated as inferior when men are as well. From a neutral standpoint after playing the believing and doubting game, I can definitely see where August is coming from. In the essay, August says: "A boy quickly learns that, while it is usually acceptable for girls to be tomboys, God forbid that he should be a sissy" (August 132-133). This quote resonates with my own personal experience because I grew up with an older sister who was a "tomboy" and would often pick on me and call me words similar to "sissy." I had it imbedded into my head that girls were allowed to act like boys, but to be called a sissy was a terrible thing. This essay contradicts my personal experience when August says: "The law has been particularly obtuse in recognizing fathers as parents, as evidenced by the awarding of child custody to mothers in 90% of court cases" (August 136). I had a friend whose parents unfortunately went through a divorce. His father was awarded custody of him because his mother was "unfit." Initially, I was extremely convinced by this essay, but after taking a step back and looking at both sides, I am pretty much at a neutral area on this argument.
In Deborah Tannen's essay quite a few things jumped out at me. One of these things that resonated with my personal experience was when she was talking about seeing the women at the conference and, for lack of better terms, judging them. I have often found myself thinking of the same exact thing: Why do girls have to wear make up, do their hair, and so on, but men don't have to worry about any of that. It is an extremely thought provoking topic. As for the contradiction of personal experience, when Tannen says: "There is no unmarked woman" (Tannen 142). In my personal opinion, it's very simple for a woman to be unmarked, they just have to try a little harder to not stand out than a man does (make up, hair styles, etc..)

Brian Walborn Homework #4

The essay "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan contained what I believe to be both open and closed prose forms. The reason I believe she uses a somewhat open prose approach toward the essay is because the essay doesn't seem to have much structure. Tan sort of just expresses her thoughts in the order she recollects them, without much "set" structure. Also, Tan speaks using "I" and "me" which are some aspects of a narrative, which is open form. I also did find some evidence of closed form as well. She followed a specific order of her stories. Kind of putting them in order from how they related back to the original point which was basically that you usually begin to speak how the people you are raised around speak. Although the target audience for this essay isn't extremely clear, I believe the audience could be people who have been influenced by their mothers. Tan states how she never realized it before, but when she was in the presence of her mom she always caught herself becoming aware of the English she was using. "Just last week, I was walking down the street with my mother, and I again found myself conscious of the English I was using" (Tan 113). I think this particular story does indeed have the qualities of the essay genre. The reason I believe this is because she is telling the story from her point of view. Aldus Huxley was quoted saying an essay is "a literary device for saying almost everything about almost anything, usually on a certain topic." In this essay the certain topic is that people tend to follow after the people they are around as a child.

Brian Walborn Homework #3

One of the "hotspots" that was extremely clear to me in this section of reading was when Wendy Bishop said: "Because I was neither forced, nor restricted in my education, my drive to obtain a better understanding of all subjects has been fueled by my intrinsic motivation" (Melzer, Coxwell-Teague 67). The reason this statement from Wendy Bishop really stood out to me was because I can definitely relate to this. My sister being a math teacher in a low income school in North Carolina, I understand that people who are raised differently than I was have less motivation to do well in school. For me, I was raised in a completely different area, and I have been motivated to excel in all subjects, similar to Bishop. Another "hotspot" I stumbled across was under the "Putting a Pen to Paper" section. The section that talked about opening a blank document and free writing for 20 minutes caught my attention. I feel like sharing the history of your literacy and trying to remember the first time you read or write could come in handy when attempting to improve your writing skills. Knowing the history of where you learned to write can greatly improve your writing skills.

Brian Walborn Homework #2

In Chapter One of the book Everything's a Text, one of the things I personally found extremely interesting was how the Coca-Cola ads changed through time due to the change in social context in the different time periods. The thing I found particularly interesting was the drastic change of the aim of the ads from the two separate time periods. The book states that "The way the woman is portrayed in the ad, from her elaborate clothing to the delicate way she is posed, reveals the social context of gender roles in the early 1900s" (Melzer, Coxwell-Teague 23). The ad from the 1980s makes it clear that it is attempting to show friendship between races. Another thing I found especially interesting was the way Malcolm X changed his persona with the different audiences he was speaking to. For example, when he spoke in front of the Civil Rights group in Detroit, a low income area, he used a much more casual persona than when he spoke in front of Harvard Law School, a generally high-income white community.

In Chapter One of the Pearson reading, concept number two really came across as interesting to me. The statement that good writers address problems rather than topics seems like can definitely turn a good writer into a great writer. It is saying that a thesis statement comes from a thesis question which is the authors question about the main topic of the paper. Another thing that really stuck out in the first chapter was concept number three. This concept states that you have to think about what your readers want to hear and what they already know about the topic you are writing on. It's extremely important to know this so your readers stay interested.