blog progress

Eli Pardue
12/4/07
AP Lang Comp
LaMags

blog progress

I searched the internet today for websites that advocated the legalization of marijuana. I found very, very many of them. I was rather disappointed, however. One of the sites as PureTHC.com, which was more of a stoner forum than anything else. Most of these sites were of the same stuff that PureTHC was. They were forum based sites, with topics about how much they liked to get high, and the different types of marijuana they grew. Even though there was no factual information, I have gotten a very good insight as the stereotypical group that advocated the complete legalization of marijuana. It is sad that this is what people think about when they think about the legalization of marijuana.

Eli Pardue
12/03/07
AP Lang Comp
LaMags

blog progress

Today I read an article about the use of medical marijuana in the northwest. IT is still very handily advocated by the general public. The government continues to advocate it as well. However, there are some very concentrated areas in the northwest, usually more conservative small, rural towns, that are very active against its use. I find that the arguments that the opposers of medical marijuana are the same and over and over. I read reasons saying that it is unethical to intoxicate the body with any foreign substance. This confused me because the protesters were not acting against other medicines that have many of the same side affects that marijuana has. Most of the reasons were based on ethical and moral beliefs, and seemed very closed minded.

individual reseach blog thing 1

Eli Pardue

11/28/07
AP Lang Comp
LaMags

Individual Research Idea

My primary idea for my individual research came from my health class with Mr. Thornburg. He assigned us to have a position on the legalization of marijuana, and to think about the pros and cons of our decision.
Being from the West Coast, the central hub of the use of marijuana as a medicine, I have a slight bias to the subject not only for the fact that I have known people who have greatly benefited from the use of marijuana ass both an anti-depressant and a pain killer. My mother worked for many years at a clinic where she treated people with addiction problems. Often as side affects of withdrawal, these people would experience mental problems, and when used in moderation, it can help immensely. I have seen marijuana used in many different cases with great success.
I advocate marijuana not because of any personal feelings regarding the experience. In fact, I have never been involved with the use of recreational marijuana. I advocate it because I truly believe that it can be used as an extremely affective medication, and that if the scientific use of marijuana was approved, cellular research can develop different strains that are more affective. In addition, they can experiment to create more generally accepted forms of medications, such as injections and pills.

Socialization process

Eli Pardue
10/31/07
AP Lang Comp
LaMags

The socialization process is when people absorb the beleifs of their culture and surroundings, most often times from those who are closest to them, such as parents and other family members.

Personally, I do beleive that a persons central beleifs and values come from the environment that they weere born into. For example, say you have an extremely sterotypical white supremicist family. This family has two children, the second of which is given to an adoption agency and is taken in by a sterotypical northern liberal family that believes in the equality of man (keep in mind that both children are still infants). The infant in the biological family will most likely grow up with the beleif that all men are not created equl, and will most likely have serious predjudice against those different to him. The adopted child will probably have liberl views because that is what his parents will have taught him. This example shows that even though the two hcildren come from the same biological parents, they can have drastically differnet views on predjudice based on how they were raised.

frederick douglass

Eli Pardue
11/1/07
AP Lang Comp
LaMags

Frederick Douglass states that Independence Day to a slave is nothing more than a day, becuase hte slaves were not freed on July 4th. Freedom of the country did not matter to the claves as much as it did to the citizensebcause their treatment did not differ. They ahd no change in lifestyle because the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution did not state anything about the lawfulness or rightioussness of slavery.

Douglass appeals to pathos because becasue of the obvious passion that he shows in his speech. Also, the language he uses makes makes us all question the point of the question he is responding to. He also appeals to logic by simplky explaining the obvious to the audience. For Ethos, he was a slve, and can therefor speak for all slaves because he knows what it wwas like to be one and knows the conditions in which a typical slave lives.

Image of Jefferson

Eli Pardue
10/29/07
AP Lang Lit
LaMags

Melting Pot Entry One

The image of Thomas Jefferson I get from my American history textbook is one that portrays him as a founding father, author of the Declaration of Independence, and President of the United States. On a deeper level, it talks about him as a Virginian plantation runner and slave owner. Thomas Jefferson certainly had prejudice against African-Americans. Based on the text, he thought that they were all-in-all less intelligent than whites. According to his writing, they are not as insightful or comprehensive as whites, and give only basic narrations rather than thoughtful insights. The only thing that he rated African Americans as being more proficient in was basic musical skills, but doubted that they had comprehension for more intensive melodies and harmonies. He was absolutely one of the more prejudiced Fathers, with good reason, coming from a tobacco plantation.
The photograph of his family has a group of whites to the right of his grave, and the the left, an African American family. This immediately gives the idea that Jefferson may have been one of the more Open minded Fathers, one who truly believed in the equality for all Americans that he wrote of. However, based on the historical context of his view on slaves, this assumption would not be valid. However, it is true that Jefferson had an affair with one of his slaves, and had a child with her. The descendants of this child are still alive today, and I believe that it is those descendants who stand to the left of the grave. It is rather fitting, in a sad way, given his stance on African Americans, that these descendants stand to the left rather than the position of power, to the right.

death of a salesman

Eli Pardue
10/13/07
AP Lang Comp
LaMags

Death of a Salesman-Individual Opportunity

To Willy Loman, individual opportunity is equal to all people, and that people just need to be well liked. He thinks that regardless of the grades you got in school, or the social background you come from, to get ahead of the game, you have to be well liked. For example, f one is well liked, then they are more likely to receive the promotion out of the mailroom and into the sales floor. With hard work, one can go from the sales floor to a management position, and then on and on. All its takes is good soial skills and hard work
Willy always bragged about how he could make six or seven calls a day in Boston and make a sale with each one. This was because he was a well-liked salesman. He takes pride in his sons because they are well liked. He is disappointed in Biff because Biff does not use the fact that he was well liked in school to his advantage. He goes out west as a cattle herder, which disappoints Willy because Willy thought that he could be a successful anything with his personality. Happy, on the other hand, has done just what Willy wanted Biff to do, but feels empty inside because he feels he has nothing in his career which fulfills him.

Self Reliance

Eli Pardue
10/08/07
AP Lang Comp
LaMags

Ralph Emerson states that self reliance is the key to success. What he means is that the key to success is believing in yourself, and working all the way to the top through your own means with minimal help or assistance from outside sources. IT takes belief in yourself and a knowledge that the potential and knowledge that is in you is also in everyone else, and that you have to use that knowledge to get ahead.

I do not think that this is all it takes to be successful. Certainly, one would utilize the skills that they have to the best of their advantage, but there is not equal opportunity for everyone in the world, which is what I disagree with Emerson about he said that all have the same amount of potential and knowledge in them, and that you must assume this too get ahead. Being that not everyone is born into the same socio-economic status, do not have opportunities to equal education or care, and therefor can have a distinct disadvantage to those around them greatly affects the way that people approach success. Sometimes it is necessary to receive help in order to get ahead, whether it be from a superior or from a peer, to get ahead in success.

Wednesday's blogs

Eli Pardue
10/10/07
AP Lang. Comp.
LaMags

Todays presentations I remember as for the most part being very well done (there were so many it is hard to evoke all of them back to the present). I remember two particular favorites.

Nick Martin's presentation of the Big Brothers, Big Sisters foundation was truly moving. He was very well qualified to present not because he researched them so thoroughly, but because he himself is actually a little brother. He was passionate in his speech, made excellent eye contact and drew the audience in with his strong presence. I donated several of my donor bucks to Big Brothers, Big Sisters.

Tony Schlehuber's presentation was the other that touched me more than the others. He spoke of the Lord's Pantry with four years of experience working with the Lord's Pantry. He made points of how the Pantry provides food to some people, so that they can spend the funds that would normally go to food to better their lives. He looked at his paper for support only 3 times, stood in the center of the room to fully gain the attention of all those listening. HE did a great job. I also gave donor bucks the the Lord's Pantry

Tuesday blogs

Eli Pardue
10/09/07
AP Lang Comp
LaMags

In particular, I really enjoyed Alex Meregalia's blog. I thought that he spoke for a very worthy cause. Goodwill is a nonprofit that helps many of those in need by providing jobs and education on how to present oneself when participating as an active member of the workforce. I like the approach that Goodwill has on making money. They accept private investment, of course, but they are more interested in your physical donation, such as clothing and old furniture which they can resale. On top of that, I enjoyed his presentation. he spoke passionately, with a good voice and geed gestures. He made an effort to move about the room as he spoke. The only complaints that I have about his presentation is that he spoke a little too fast and it seemed as if his presentation was over-rehearsed. I think that it is better to speak from the heart rather than memory. I plan on giving donor bucks to Alex at this point.

My own presentation I think also went very well. I of course think that my nonprofit organization has a fantastic cause. I am particularly sympathetic towards it because it advocates children and fathers who have not been active in their children's lives, and my single mother raised me since I was seven or eight. I think I spoke with emotion and conviction, and am very confident about my presentation.

paper topic

Eli Pardue
10/3/07
AP Lang Comp
LaMags

Presentation topic

For my presentation, I have chosen the non-profit organization Dads, Inc. because of the great support they provide to dads in Indiana. They make the experience of being a father much easier, more productive, and more beneficial for both the father and the child/children. Some fathers find themselves in positions where they are unable to support their children in being part of their life as a male role model. I chose Dads Inc. because their mission statement states that "The mission of Dads Inc. is to provide support and education for fathers in order to develop healthy relationships and involvement in their children's lives." Having been raised by my mother since I was seven year old, I see the difference that a constant father figure makes in a kids life more than the average child.

Horatio Alger

Eli Pardue
10/1/07
AP Lang Comp
LaMags

Horatio Alger

Horatio Alger’s myth is exciting and full of prospect, but ultimately deceiving. America is not a land of unlimited opportunity, and it is on unbiased to merit based on race, sexual orientation, gender, and religion. Dalton says that the Alger myths need to be eliminated from society. A society such as ours, which has such biases outside of merit, would have a lot of difficulties controlling the biases. One way that we have tried to control the biases was to cerate the Civil Rights Act, which gives slight preference for a company to hire an ethnic person as an employee rather than a white person. Other legal actions could come forth and make it impossible or against the law for a company to not have at least a said number of ethnic employees. These legal treatments of the problem are not fantastic solutions because they allow the un-ethnic population to be discriminated, which most of the time would be met with resistance.
I do not believe that there is a truly effective was to diminish the biases that exist in America. The race biases in America especially run very deep in the country’s history. The only way to truly eliminate them is for time o make racism less and less pronounced.

Ragged Dick

Eli Pardue
9/30/7
AP Lang Comp
LaMags

Ragged Dick

Ragged Dick is a short story about a young man trying to make a name of himself who had an opportunity of success fall on his lap due to a reward from a kind hearted and grateful man. In Roger & Me, thousands of people drop into poverty due to a mass layoff from General Motors for a preference over Latin American workers because they work for cheaper wages.
I think that the situation involving General Motors is not necessarily a more likely scenario, but a scenario that is much more realistic to be prepared for. It is unwise to have the hopes that a man would provide charity in order to better the life of a person because it is putting too large of a burden on too small a chance. In terms of the General Motors scenario, it is a very real prospect that one would lose a job, just as being a recipient of charity. The difference is that it is more self sufficient to be prepared for the situation that you lose a job and have a backup than to never get a job because you never received charity.
The Ragged Dick scenario is more pleasing to think about. We like stories where the hero is happy at the end. But it is not a reap prospect that America is a land so abundant with opportunity that one does not even need to try one’s hardest before assistance becomes avalible.

Stephen Cruz

Eli Pardue
9/26/07
AP Lang Comp
LaMags

Stephen Cruz

Cruz is a prime example of a person who has made the American dream a possible notion for minorities or people who are lower in the class ladder. He is the first in his family to go to college and also the first to enter the business world and become a successful man. At the end of the essay, he was making fifty-plus thousand dollars a year before he became a professor.

The Problem that Stephen Cruz sees wit the American dream is that it is minority biased. due to the Civil Rights Act, companies and corperations are required to give preference over a Mexican with the same credibility as a white man when bot ha re applying for the same job. Because of this, it was very easy for Cruz to get a job in his career, and upper management job offers flew at him. However, the business world is also biased against minorities, and it can be very difficult to hold a lower position for minorities in the lower position because of generalization about the education and pesonal drive of those individuals.

Engaging the Text #2 pg. 322

Eli Pardue
9/26/07
AP Lang Comp
LaMags

No. 2

Yes, Mantsios does not make a case that rich people exploit poor people. In the relationship that Mantsios makes between Harold Browning, Bob Farrell, and Cheryl Mitchell, he makes the point that The upper class, people such as Harold Browning, need people like Bob Farrell and Cheryl Mitchell to keep their status as upper class citizens. If there was no one to provide the lesser jobs in the economy that took less skill land required less pay, then eventually all jobs would be given the same pay, and that is closer to communism.
Matisos gets sidetracked in his explanation, however, and needed to devote much more of the paper to his point, as he could have gone much deeper on the topic. It is also very difficult to back his argument, however, because the spectrum of salaries in the USA is so broad, it is silly to classify them in middle, upper and lower class. Would it really be the same thing to call one who has an income of ninety thousand as in the same calss as one who makes three-hundred plus dollars a year?

visual arguments

Eli Pardue
9/20/07
AP. Lang. Comp.
LaMags

Visual Arguments

Yes, i belive that our society is becoming a visual society more and more as the decades go by. The mass media is becoming increasingly more visual through the use of television newscasting and internet blogging. More than half of the populaton of America gets their daily news from a visual source. Beyond the news, image is also becoming increasingly important. The fashion industry has never been more important with the introduction and mass apeal of designer labels such as Prada, Gucci, Ralph Lauren, Dolce and Gabbana, and Louis Vuitton. In addition, television has incorperated fashion into the programs, nost prominently with America's Next Top Model and the Shopping Network. Even Mac computers emphasize thier sleek appearence.
Visual arguments in this day and age are more useful when targeting the public as the public is more likely to see a massive billboard on the way to work than it is to read a paper before going to work. it takes less time to absorb, and while advertisements are not technically arguments (being completely one sided, i.e., buy this product) they are more useful in presenting a point.
Society is becoming more visual because of the increasd speed at which things occur. Information streaming runs faster than ever because of the internet. Convinience is everywhere, such as drive through fast food restaurants, self pump gas stations, and faster cars. People just dont stop and read the paper or take the time to read the newspaper anymore, which is why visual add and aassstant are so important.

ethical reponsibility

Eli Pardue
9/19/07
AP Lang Comp
LaMags

Ethical Responsibility

An author’s ethical responsibility relies in the credibility that they have to give the information to the audience they have singled out. For example, Patricia Hampl has perfect eligibility in telling her story because she was the one who experienced it, and it is her interpretation of that story that she is telling. On the other hand, an example of someone with poor credibility would be a freshman in high school writing a paper on psychology versus a professor of psychology writing that same paper.
Also, an authors ethical responsibility is weighted by the bias they have on what they are writing about. For example, the views on the affects of alcohol could be extremely different when comparing a partying college student with a Mother Against Drunk Driving.

pseudo arguments

Eli Pardue
9/18/07
AP Lang. Comp.
LaMags

Pseudo arguments

Pseudo arguments are statements that are unable to be backed up by further claims and evidence, and are therefore often statements of opinion. Pseudo arguments are unfortunately something that I encounter in everyday life. Whether it is with my mother, my brother, or friends, I am always at conflicting interests and opinions with others.
One example that stands prominently in my mind is the near everyday conversation that I have with people on whether Mac or PC computers are better. Each side has good points. Macs are very safe and reliable, and are also backed with a great damage and protection warranty. Macs have the most simple operating system, and are also more practical in everyday use with applications such as Safari, iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand, and iTunes included in every computer.
PC’s, one might argue, are much more affective for networking business work. They also contain multiple programs more than Macs, and are a must have for editing media, and when it comes to gaming, they are unequaled. They are also much more cost affective, in some cases costing half of what a Mac of the same technical specifications would.
This argument is much more like a conflict because it is completely based on opinion. While much of the hardware in PC’s is better suited for gaming, Macs have a much more interactive operating system, making it easier to control other things on the computer besides the game. Both of these statements are fact, but they do not lead to any conclusive truth because they lead to the formation of opinions.

Pathos

Eli Pardue
9/17/07
AP Lang. Comp.
LaMags

Pathos is a powerful rhetorical device…

Pathos is a term referring to some aspect of an argument that sparks the emotions of the audience, and makes them relate to the desired side of the argument. It is used specifically to makes the audience sympathize with that side through the experiences of the audience, and how those past experiences relate to the argument, therefore sparking sympathy. Or, pathos could be used to play with the morals of the audience, as Michael Levin did in “A Case For Torture." An example from that essay is whether you would advocate the use of torture to gain information about missing babies (and no one sane wants babies to die).
Pathos is a powerful rhetoric device because it plays with the audience’s emotions to help them accept a particular side of an argument. A writer must be careful when injecting pathos into an argument because if they appeal to the wrong emotions, then an audience can become less inclined to that side of the argument. It is difficult to lose support about torture when talking about babies dieing, but if you are talking about political parties, which today can be a precarious ledge to balance on when trying to remain neutral, it can be much more difficult to remain neutral or attract the correct party. There is also a fine line between democrat and republican as liberality becomes more and more accepted.

explicit and implicit arguments

Eli Pardue
9/7/07
AP Lang. Comp.
LaMags

Implicit and Explicit Arguments

Explicit arguments are the most stereotypical arguments. They are direct confrontations between two sides of a controversial claim, and both are supported with points and reasons. Or, in the case of a paper, one controversial claim supported by points and reasons. the most rtecent article we read in class was "A Case For Torture," which is a perfect example of an explicit argument.
Implicit arguments are not displayed by the arguer putting forth a claim and then supporting in a frontal and unhidden manner. Implicit arguments are portrayed by a political cartoon, a poem, a story, or anything that can hold a point without telling it in direct terms. They can often be more effective as arguments because they do not provide means to disagree with the claim made. It still moves an audience towards a preffered point of view, but through subtle means.

Eli Pardue
9/4/07
AP Lang. Comp
LaMags

Writing Arguments Chapter 2

The article written by Lisa Turner in Better Nutrition used the “public affairs and niche magazine articles” genre. This genre is beneficial to her argument because, though it took more than a moment to read, made its point clear and concise with the first paragraph, and then went on to explain more in depth the benefits and consequences of genetically altered food. It then went on to explain how the consequences outweigh the benefits. Her genre makes the article she wrote more prone to be read by the readers of nutrition magazines, in this case Better Nutrition. That being said, this article was written with a bias die to the readers of that magazine, which would be a bias toward the point that genetically altered foods are potentially bad for our health and the health of the environment.
The cartoon on page one also uses its genre to affective means. The cartoon displays an overweight hippy (anti genetically altered food) taking drought resistant food from a starving African boy because it is genetically altered. The point that this cartoon makes is that genetically altered food can bring food to Africa and save starving people. The visual argument is a striking picture, and holds the ethics of those who are anti-genetically altered food at trial, because they are technically withholding the prospect of abundant food from the starving. The saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” is perfect for this instance because of the sharp image portrayed.

Eli Pardue
8/31/07
AP Lang Comp
LaMags

The Eiffel Tower

I have seen the Eiffel Tower only once. I remember when, and how I got there, and just about everything about that moment. It was the end of June, and My second to last day in Paris before leaving for Switzerland with my family. We walked everywhere in Paris, up and down the Seine, around the Louvre, and finally to the Eiffel Tower. It was not on my list of top things to do in Paris. I was much more interested in seeing Paris life as it went on everyday for the locals, not all the touristy places. I am positive the Eiffel Tower is on the list of the top five tourist attractions. So I held off going to the Tower. I had a preconceived notion in my mind that it would be the most amazing sight of my life, and that I would instantly be awed by its towering majesty, that I would be dwarfed by the unimaginable tons of steel that stood before me. When I finally stood next to the Tower, I was very, very disappointed. I felt like it was not tall enough, or that there was some flaw in the photographs and stories that dominated my understanding of what the Eiffel Tower really was. Perhaps it is that I had technically already seen it from afar while strolling in the city. Perhaps I would have been more impressed if it had jumped out of a shadow and shocked me, all at once. I think I was disappointed to know that the scene before me was not all mine, but I had to share it with all the other tourists. I figured out that all of it really was just for them; nothing more than a tourist attraction. The t-shirt booths and food stalls did not compete with the old beautiful sidewalk cafes, and in my mind, as I walked away across Champs de Mars, the lawn in front of the tower, I realized that the Eiffel Tower is American. It is English, Chinese, Japanese, and thing other than Parisian, because all of the Parisian culture ha\d been completely sapped from the place.

Class Reflection

Eli Pardue
8/29/07
AP Lang. Comp.
LaMags

Class Discussion

I truly enjoyed yesterday's class discussion. Last week in AP US History, we wrote an essay about the importance of history. I wrote about how without history we would have nothing to base the foundations of our society off of, and there for would not have an identity as a society. Carlos Fuentes makes an argument that has many of the same implications as mine. He expresses the importance of language by arguing that it is essential in expressing cultural history, and also, on a deeper level, instrumental in creating a cultural identity. This relates to my argument because the literature that Fuentes emphasizes is the source of history, and if it is the foundation of cultural identity, then history must be as well.
In general, class has been very enjoyable. It is a serious environment, but at the same time very silly and joking, which makes it great fun to be in. I feel like i am taking very much from this class and its excellent discussions.

Carlos Fuentes, Childhood and Language

Eli Pardue
8/28/08
AP Blog
LaMags

Carlos Fuentes-Childhood and Language

Carlos Fuentes outlook on language was very much influenced by his childhood. He grew up in Washington DC thinking of his birthplace as a fantasy, as if it were a story made up by his father. He knew about the history of Mexico, and of all the losses and hardships it faced as a budding nation. Hans Berliner was a young man who came to Carlos’s school; his family escaped the prosecution of Jews in Europe. In Hans’s eyes, Carlos saw so much of the hardship and strife of his people. He recognized it, and through Hans’s eyes discovered that his father country was real. This realization gave Carlos a sence of belonging to something greater than his connection to the United States, made him realize that he has more influence in his life that those other kids around him, and that is why it is important to his view on language.
The highest point in Carlos’s childhood in relation to the affect it had on his sense of language was his trip to Chile. It was his first time being fully immersed in the Spanish language. At one point in his trip, he came across a group of coal miners singing a poem of Pablo Neruda’s. They did not know that this poem had a particular author, which made Carlos think. The language that Neruda’s poems utilized was a universal language, an anonymous language that belongs to everyone. Through Pablo Neruda, he came to the understanding that poetry is something more than just literature. He came to the realization that poetry is a mindset. Also, that poetry and stories were the first ways that history was told by word of mouth, and therefore some of the earliest forms of language.

"I Could Tell You Stories"

Eli Pardue
8/27/07
AP Lang. Comp
LaMags

“I Could Tell You Stories”

I very much enjoyed the class discussion for Red Sky In The Morning. The woman on the bus next to Patricia Hayel opened her conversation with "I could tell you stories," but instead of doing so, she closes her eyes and falls asleep, leaving Patricia to ponder why she did not tell stories. The word 'could' in her statement made all the difference. It provided her statement with an air of uncertainty, as if she could tell stories but for some reason in not going to or can't. Perhaps something in her story is so rawly emotional that a story cannot give full justice to her experiences. Stories are all we have as vessels for our emotions and experiences, but if ones experiences and emotions are to intense to be fully appreciated, it may be better to the person in question to leave their experiences to be imagined.

Eli Pardue
8/23/07
AP Lang.
LaMags

Class so far

So far AP Language And Composition has been one of my most enjoyable classes, and has fully met my expectations for the class. Class discussions have been very in-depth and interesting. I am happy with the amount of homework assigned, but I feel that I have yet to re-open my mind to full analysis of whatever it is we read.