Sante's Secrecy

Sante's argument about secrecy and his examples of breakdowns of secrets (i.e. Soviet Union, the internet, and the media) tell us that our society today needs secrets to survive.  We also need to find out secrets, for it makes us feel empowered to have knowledge others don't.  Secrecy is an important aspect in American society.  We use it to feel safe and guarded, putting our trust in them, which can lead to catastrophe when a secret is shared, no longer making a secret but a public fact for all to know.  That's basically what the internet does today.  Media and the technological world has violated our privacy and our ability to keep secrets.  Some secrets we've kept our whole lives can be shared in an instant to millions of people.  Because of Facebook, Myspace and other social networks, people feel the need to share every aspect of their lives, having no regard for secrecy.

On Morals and Ethics in School

The issue of morals and ethics being taught in schools, along with religion, is constant controversy.  I believe that certain morales like "Don't steal", "Don't cheat", "Do to others what you would have done unto you", should be taught in school because they apply there.  Don't steal another kids lunch money, Don't cheat on a test, and Don't bully if you wouldn't want someone else bullying you.  They are simple ideals that apply everywhere every day.  Other than that, I feel most morals and ethics should be taught at home and come from the parents first.  It's their job, not the schools, to prepare their child for life outside of school.  But I do feel, if the parents are not taking responsibility and educating their children, then someone else (i.e. a teacher) can step in to try to better prepare them for what lies ahead.  I also believe that respect towards other people and their cultures is important.  There should never be a 6th grader who is more racist than a middle-aged man.  It's not fair to the child because at that age, it would seem like brainwashing by a parent.  But everyone is entitled to a free education and no one should feel like they don't deserve because  a classmate won't stop muttering degrading names under their breath.

"Great" Films

What constitutes a great film?  There are many different criteria associated with films, but it is the individuals opinion on what really makes a film memorable and "great."  To me, a great film means having a highly praised director.  It means having someone behind the lens who really knows what they're doing, has a keen eye for imagining things, and has a sense of creativity that goes beyond what a couple actors and props could ever do.  A great director has the capability of making a great film.  Take for example, George Lucas and "Star Wars."  The movies themselves are not very high-tech compared to, say, Avatar, but they began a new era of films, inspiring many other well-known directors today.  A "classic" is also another term for a great film, meaning another crucial element would be the plot of the film.  If there is no story, there's no film.  A movie has to captivate it's audience, not bore it to death.  Movies like "Forest Gump", "Casablanca" and "Titanic" moved their audiences.  Even though all 3 were filmed in different scopes and view points, they all struck a chord in the hearts of America.  A great film is one that is well directed, involves an interesting storyline, and impacts the culture and society of that era.

Metacognition Questions

Culminating Writers Profile
1.  Since the start of this school year, my expectations as a write have been to improve in my vocabulary and to form more complex sentences.  With the out of class essays, i feel i have enough time to revise and improve my essays, but I hope to be able to write as well as i do out of class during a timed write.
2.  Using creative strategies to draw the reader in and anecdotal leads are my strengths as a writer.  There's always room for improvement but I enjoy those aspects of writing so I am better at them then other organizing techniques.
3.  My writing weaknesses are composing a well structured essay under a timed situation.  I can write an okay essay with the amount of time we're given, but i want to write fluently, even when i only have 45 min.

Evaluating Your Writing Process
1.  If I had time to revise my essay one more time, i probably would have talked more about the history of "common sense" and maybe eliminated the quote at the end.
2.  As I received peer feedback, the easiest thing to improve upon was the sentence structure and how to provide more emphasis on my main points.
3.  The biggest problem I had with revising this essay was figuring out ways to remove all of the "to be" verbs and still make the sentence flow.

Evaluating Your Success
1.  My most successful large-scale revision in this essay was my concluding paragraph and taking out all of the "you"s and "we"s.
2.  In my essay, I was able to successfully incorporate descriptive, narrative, and illustrative language through the use of an anecdotal lead.  I feel like i captured the readers attention and drew them in with certain words and emphatic sentences.
3.  My best success considering my audience would have been the use of the story at the beginning and referring back to the story to really solidify my point.

Being Honest With Self
1.  At first, I was intimidated by the prompt because it was something I had never written about before.  I wasn't sure how to organize my essay and really understand how to "define" a term.
2.  From what we read and talked about, I thought using my own personal experience would be a good key element to have.
3.  The example papers that I read used strong examples and stories to define their term and I felt that method really connects with the reader.
4.  I learned a lot of new ways to revise sentences so I wouldn't have as many "to be" verbs.
5.  I definitely see myself as a stronger writer compared to where i was at before I started this course.  I feel more confident in my ability to write in different types of structures, but i still need a lot of work in trying to accomplish what I did after 7 drafts in, say, 3 or 4.

"Nobodiness"

Nobodiness, as King describes it, is the feeling of being completely ignored, to be invisible, to have no authority whatsoever.  He says that to feel the sense of "nobodiness" is to have no respect given to one because they don't "deserve" it.  When King mentions his daughter asking about the amusement park and not being able to experience it because of her skin color, the depressing thoughts of loneliness, injustice, and "nobodiness" flash through her mind.  She thinks she's not good enough or her enjoyment isn't valued as much before her feelings turn to anger and bitterness.  Also, when King talks about the women of color and not being respected enough to even have the courtesy of being referred to as "Mrs".  Usually they would be called that by people of lower ranks, but according to society at that time, there wasn't anyone inferior to them, making the women feel like "nobody", like they don't matter at all.  The sense of worthlessness and "nobodiness" was very common during the times of segregation.

Tuesdays With Morrie - Material Items

In Tuesdays with Morrie, Morries talks to Mitch about the way our society lives today and what standards we base our lives off of.  He says that we shouldn't "buy into society" but live independently and the way we want to.  Morrie also says that we should not center our lives around material possesions, but around people and human relationships.  The items we buy can only last for so long, but the connection with a person can last a lifetime.

I definately feel like Morrie's words and wisdom have altered my outlook on life.  Now, instead of just hearing the cliche "live your life to the fullest" and letting it run through one ear and out the other, I'm actually listening.  I heard what Morrie had to say and I am convinced of it.  I want to put aside all the pointless objects that have held my affection for so long and listen to the world and people around me.

The Sensible Thing To Do

Staying up until the early hours of the morning, willing herself to study more. I must pass this test, she thought, this chance might never come again, I cannot fail.  Through thirty-two ounces of coffee and more than a few Excedrines, she contiued to cram everything from Shakespeare's plays to the String Theory to Spanish Culture into her brain.  Very shortly, she would hear the alarm's deafening ring and jolt from her trance.  Like an apathetic corpse, she dressed herself, and gathered all she would need for the test. 

But, already, she was running late.

I can't be late. That's not allowed... but what to do. A shortcut? Perfect.  The only shortcut she could remeber required her to take the back streets by the tracks.  The reputation of that path, though, shouted Danger! and gangs.  She knew it was not safe.  She read the newspaper.  Stories of mugging, kidnapping, rape, even murder, blared through the speakers of her television. Yet, she needed to take this test to prove to everyone, and to herself, that she could pass it.  She decided to risk it.

The following morning, news of another attack by a group of young gang members made the front page.  The victim died alone after being stripped of all belongings and a gunshot in the chest.  Their target: a young girl, on her way to her final SAT.

Nothing could have saved her, except herself and the choices she made.  From the outside, she seemed smart, intelligent.  And maybe by the way of books she was.  But there's more to life than just the facts we read.  Life requires us to have commen sense, which is our ability to make decisions based on our surroundings and what we belive is right. 

Maybe if she didn't stay up so late studying, she might have had more energy to get ready.  Maybe she wouldn't have needed to take that shortcut.  Maybe she'd still be alive.  All the decisions one makes in life can be traced back to another, in a continual chain-of-events pattern.  If a choice is made, but the conscience mind is not involved, one cannot possibly find a solution that they know to be right and logical. Common sense provides the basis for all choices.

In my family, my parents believe in teaching my sister and i many different life lessons, through their mistakes and the mistakes of others.  The central theme of the lessons never change, in some form or another involving common sense.  They believe that the majority of decisions gone wrong are because of irrational and unsensible emotions.  Having strong opinions and feelings about something doesn't necessarily cause a problem, only when we let those emotions take control over our logical, resoning side do we find ourselves in trouble. 

Through school, I've learned what it means to be smart, to be able to comprehend what the teachers' ask, to answer questions, to earn high test scores. But through life, I've learned what it means to have common sense, to have the whole package and to be able to survive in the outside world.  And who knows,  maybe the next choice in our lives decides the path we take.  But which one do you follow?  Will you choose the deceiving shortcut and walk along the dangerous tracks filled with uncertainty?  Or will you decide to go the logical route filled with security, that may be longer but worth while in the end? The answers right in front of you.  All you have to do is use your common sense.