The Melting Pot

                         The United States of America is a very diverse country.  Some of these articles portray America as this place where people Americans do not want others to get in.  America is such a great place that many different cultures can thrive in this environment.  Some of these articles I feel like tried to paint a depressing picture on a country that was built and founded on immigration.  The picture on page 531 is a perfect example.  The caption that says Anti-Immigration people are protesting, but if you read the signs they say Immigrants Yes, Illegal Immigrants No.  This caption tries to taint Americans as ignorant loathing people, but these people want diversity and immigration, but they want immigrants that want to be here to put forth effort to come here.  There is a right way and a wrong way to do things and I think that people should obey the rules in our Constitution.  The diversity that we have makes America a melting pot because in a melting pot there are a lot of different ingredients and in America there are different types of people.  I think that America should continue to diversify as long as it is being done legally in a correct matter.  America is such a great country that immigrants will move here even if they have to put forth more effort.

It's About Pride

                         I enjoyed Chapter 14 even though we had already read some of this chapter before namely the part about the soldiers.  Chapter 14 brings up some important points such as the way we view identity, society, and culture.  Our position in the world is crucial to the way we are brought up in how we decide in what ways we view identity, society, and culture.  It makes no sense to argue that our position does not affect how we think and what we believe.  We decide things based off facts we know.  We should try and learn and figure out as much as we can grasp about opposing views that may even affect our own views.  I am born and raised in the United States of America so naturally I think that certain traditions that take place in America are better than traditions form other places.  I think that culture that takes place here is better than where it is in foreign countries.  That does not necessarily mean I am ignorant because I could have looked up other countries culture’s and still have been able to form the same opinion than if I was completely ignorant.  Our position in the world makes  huge difference on how we view the world.

Effectiveness of Posters

                  The two posters on Bigger Stronger Faster are completely different.  The first poster applies to a different audience than the second poster.  I personally like the second poster better because of the appeal this poster has to a more visual audience.  I like the poster because of the lightning in the background, the American Flag, and because of the big strong guy on the front that is supposed to feature American ideals.  The first poster is a more sarcastic poster because of the fact that the movie title is plastered over the characters faces.  This lets off a different kind of snide humor that a different type of audience would prefer instead of the second poster.  I think that the first poster appeals to a smaller audience than the second poster.  The second poster visually appeals to a broader audience because of the visual quality of the second poster.  The second poster fits the mold of a stereotypic movie poster.  This style has worked for such a long time and has been so successful that I am surprised that this would be the second poster made.  I think it is a good idea to have different posters to appeal to different audiences but that the first poster is nowhere near as effective.

Social Media War

                              This article by Danah Boyd titled “Social Network Site Taste Test: Myspace or Facebook?” states something thought provoking points, but overall Boyd states the obvious and repeats herself over and over again.  I liked the part of the article where Boyd points out that two Egyptians from the same school used different social Medias based on what their friends used.  While peer pressure may not necessarily exist, it is clear that peer influences definitely do.  I feel Boyd did a bad job reaching her conclusion.  She may have a valid point in that different ethnicities prefer different social classes, but her arguing points in the middle were weak.  She focused entirely too long on the content of Myspace and Facebook which has nothing to do with how different ethnicities view the social Medias.  I also thought the conclusion did not really go with the rest of the essay.  I thought that the conclusion was kind of forced on the reader and was not really mentioned throughout the rest of the article.  I have never used a Myspace, but I do not think it was because of my ethnicity.  I was younger when Myspace was popular, but I had friends that were my ethnicity that were involved with Myspace.  I think this article is poorly constructed and her argument does not help her thesis.

Something to Lose

                                     Thought the two interviews had many differences there were a few similarities.  The first interview kept hopping all over the place.  That interview had a montage of reporters who were covering the Iraq War and their opinion on what technology brings to the way wars are covered.  Terrance Smith, the reporter, would splice in these interviews with his own thoughts.  The second interview was between two people, but the interviewer dictated which way he took the conversation similar to the interviewer in the first section.  In both interviews the argument was built up over time regardless of who spoke.  The speakers answered questions completely different however.  The first interview is spliced and the answers are very short given by the multiple different reporters.  In the second interview, the answers are all long and the man being interviewed keeps repeating all his lines.  I thought the guy’s opinion on mcdonaldization was interesting, but he was not a very good interviewee.  He elaborated too much making his interview less interesting.  Both interviews probably had about the same amount of interjections.  The difference is that the first interview the answers are short and precise keeping that reader more entertained.  I enjoyed the first interview much more than the second.

Stereotypes

                        I enjoyed the reading about stereotypes in this section.  Many commercials and ads portray athletes on TV the way that we seem to envision them.  The media forms our opinion on how athletes should look as well as what they should act like.  I believe that we should be in charge of how we view others.  You don’t have to go further than the first ad to see that.  The first ad shows a tennis pro looking at a group of girls and at first sees all Serena Williams.  Serena Williams had had a successful career, but the ad makes it seem like all tennis players need to be like her.  The ordinary girls that were actually in the commercial do not have the athletic body that Serena Williams has, but they look normal which isn’t a bad thing.  The very next article shows a man clearing a jump in the pole vault.  It looks like an ordinary man right? Wrong.  If you look closer you can see that the man is missing a leg.  As a pole vaulter in high school, I cannot even fathom how to jump with only one leg.  Most of pole vaulting is footwork and leg strength and it is incredible to see this man with only one working leg clear this height.  This guy successfully busts stereotypes that the media has forced upon the public. 

Iceberg Research

                        This chapter was very informative on the whole research process.  I feel like I am better prepared to cite my sources and evaluate my sources after this chapter.  One of the things I found interesting in this chapter was the visual on page 95.  The iceberg of research is very helpful when trying to visualize research.  The point of the iceberg of research is to show the tip of the iceberg or what you can see out of the water is the research topic.  Underneath the water that you cannot see are things you can site such as books, films, and surveys.  All these elements go into the iceberg even if you may not be able to see them from the surface.  The research paper should also have a good mix of primary and secondary sources.  While secondary sources are the most common and easier to find, primary sources sometimes offer more insight because the individual witnessed the event firsthand.  I hope I am able to find some primary sources that will improve the paper.  I also hope that I can have a healthy assortment of different types of sources.  It will be easier to find sources on the computer, but I hope I can find some book or magazine sources to further hammer home my argument.