Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Analysis of "Wife-Beater" By Gayle Rosenwald Smith

1. The thesis of the article "Wife-Beater" is that the name that is given to white tank top, "wife beaters," is an issue.
2. According to Smith, there are a number of problems associated with defining the term wife beater. One of those problems being the direct correlation with the actual dictionary meaning of wife beater, which is "a man who physically abuses his wife." Another problem with the name wife beater is that Smith says that it is a fashion trend that has come back but she also believes that the return is also to make dominance where physical abuse is acceptable as a means of control.
3. I believe that the reason Smith includes the dictionary meanings of wofe beater is to show the direct coorelation between the abusive meaning and the shirt meaning. 
4. I do believe that this essay would be strengthened by the use of an image as it would better get the point across about why the name wife beater is an unnecessary and offensive name for a tank top.

Analysis of "Violent Media Is Good For Kids" By: Gerard Jones


1. Jones' thesis in his essay is that media violence does not necessarily harmful to children, rather it is helpful.
2. As evidence in support of his thesis, Jones uses numerous arguments. One argument                  being people pull themselves out of emotion traps by immersing themselves in violent stories. Another example he uses is a personal one about his son. Jones explains that through out the years his son has used the identities of certain super heroes to over come obstacles in his life. Lastly he uses the example of an older girl who pushed through a tough family time as well as her adolescence by the use of rap music. 
3. Jones also identifies arguments against his position on the matter. He explains that one psychologist, Melanie Moore, who works with urban teens who also says that children use violent stories to meet their emotional and developmental needs. The counter argument to this would be that many pop psychologists are insisting that violent stories are harmful to kids. 
4. Jones's concluding statement is as follows: When we try to protect our own children from their own feelings and fantasies, we shelter them not against violence but against power and selfhood. In more simple terms, if parents begin to shelter their children too much, they will not have a normal child hood and growing experience. 

My Thoughts
After reading this article, the opinion that I though I had on this particular subject has changed. After seeing Jones's point of view I have realized that not all media violence is a bad thing. He makes several great points about how many troubled young children are able to use their comic books as an escape or even a crutch in tough situations growing up. Of course it can be argued that media violence has a negative effect on young children, but i believe this to be false because if children have some limitations to what they can and can not read it can be safe.

Critical Response 
According to Gerard Jones, violent media can actually have positive effects on young people because it can help pull children out of emotional traps by immersing themselves in violent stories. Jones also believes that violent media are a positive influence on children because children use violent stories to meet their emotional and developmental needs. Jones makes some good points. For example, he says that pretending to have superhuman powers helps children conquer the feelings of powerlessness that inevitabley come with being so young and small. 

Fig. 1. This is an image of a countless number of empty plastic water bottles. This image shows just how much waste these small plastic bottles produce.

Hot Topic: Bottled Water


In Praise of Tap Water:
1.     Each year countless water bottles are produced and consumed instead of people using tap water, people need to take a step back and look at what this is doing to their home.
2.     Argument 1: Money. “you could spend up to $1,400 annually. The same amount of tap water would cost about 49 cents.”
Argument 2: The environment.
Argument 3: “the less political support there will be for investigating and maintaining Americas public water supply.”
3.     Once people realize how they can take part in saving not only money but theior planet they will change their thoughts about drinking out of the tap instead of a plastic water bottle.
4.     I do think that the writer considers enough arguments against this position. One counter argument could be that water bottles are very convenient and people sopetimes don’t have the time to fill up a metal water bottle with tap water.
5.     The purpose of paragraph five is to give additional information and an outside opinion on the bottled water argument.
Defying the Nalgene:
1.     The arguments against using water bottles are not convincing enough to stop the use of them entirely.
2.     Argument 1: Enviromental arguments
Argument 2: High Costs
Argument 3: Insufficient health benefits
3.     Argument 1: Using refillable water bottles are bad. They get dirty and moldy fast. A water bottle is much more convienient.
Argument 2: Many places in the world do not have clean running water. If we stopped buying bottled water people in other countries would be badly hurt.
4.     Although there are a number of reasons people are against buying bottled water those reasons are not backed up with facts and therefore we should all drink bottled water.
5.     I think Moore should have defined the word Nalgene because not only is it in the title of his article but he makes reference to it throughout his article as well.
Pure Water 2Go:
1.     The picture shows a number of dirty plastic bottles which pose a strong argument for water filters. This picture is a visual of just how many waters bottles are used every day and it makes one realize that just buy using a reusable water bottle or even a water filter we can all make this earth a little cleaner.






Wednesday, February 13, 2013


Fig. 3. This picture shows the classic Uncle Same poster with a twist to get drivers to shut off their phones while in the car.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013


Fig. 2. This is an advertisement giving an extremely graphic image of what could happen when one uses a cell phone while driving.


Fig. 1. This image displays the dangers of texting and driving.

Works Cited




Buchanan, Laura, Theodore Avtgis, Dana Gray, Jane Channel, and Alison Wilson. "WR
            U Txting B4 U Crashed?" Academic OneFile. Gale, 2013. Web. 02 Feb. 2013.
"Cell Phone and Texting Laws." Insurance Institute Highway Loss. Highway Loss Data
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Hahn, Desiree. "Texting While Driving Advertisement Campaign."
            Advertisingserved.com. Adobe Systems Incorporated, n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2013.
Inbar, Micahel. "Parents of Teen Who Died Texting and Driving: "Kids Think They're
            Invincible"" TODAY News. N.p., 05 Mar. 2012. Web. 01 Feb. 2013.
Mellon, Carnegie, and VTTI. "What Is Distracted Driving?" Distraction.gov. US
            Department of Transportation, n.d. Web. 04 Feb. 2013.
"Study Reveals Cell Phone Addiction." Academic OneFile. Gale, 2012. Web. 03 Feb.
            2013.
"Car Accidents Due to Cell Phone Use." 24-7pressrelease. Press Release, 12 Apr. 2012.
            Web. 04 Feb. 2013.
Graeber, Justin. "West Bridgewater Police "Shocked" at Number of Texting Drivers."
            The Brockton Enterprise [Brockton] 09 Jan. 2013: n. pag. Print.
"Orange SMS." Stillad.com. Still Ad, Dec. 2008. Web. 07 Feb. 2013.