Read two (2) Commonplace Essays from the website (http://www.mhlearningsolutions.com/commonplace) and then write a comment in response to this post with a reaction to each essay. Your reaction can be an agreement, a counter-argument, a critique, whatever, but make sure you read 2 essays and react to both of them in your comment. Looking forward to all your reading responses!
Derek
The first article I read was titled "Facebook, Cellphones, Laptops…Oh My!" written by Hallie Orn. Orn argues that technology is not only taking over her life, but also the lives of many others. She addresses points in an attempt to back up her central argument that technology may have negative effects if it is not used in moderation. Some of the problems she brings up includes "a lack of communication skills, withdrawal from social activities, and disengagement from the real world." If Orn would have only addressed the negatives without proposing a counterargument, I would have, no doubtedly, questioned the thoroughness of her argument. However, she did mention how society benefits from technology. The main point I think that she was trying to make was that it is important not to remain dependent on technology. Technology may help us in many aspects, but we must be careful that we do not become too distracted, otherwise we may be missing out on the benefits that technology can't offer us.
The second article I read was titled "Everyone Is Buying It" written by Krysta Suydam. This article is about the cycle of materialism and how it originated within our own lives. The introduction is strong because it captured my attention. This topic is extremely relatable because there is always something we want and that we don't have. The concept Suydam brings up about how our parents instill materialism in us when we are little is a bold statement to make. However, I agree with this because it is a parent's job to teach their children how to work hard for what they want, and by simply giving their child anything to make them happy is where they go wrong. Because I come from a big family, it was rare I got something new. My parents would "reward" me when I accomplished something. I think that this doesn't feed into the origins of materialism because hard work was required. Suydam then continues by bringing up the idea that advertisements contribute to our spending. I 100% agree with this idea because advertisements market the product and introduce its features and benefits to the world. One part I don't like about this article is that Suydam assumes that every spends excessively, which made me feel like she was accusing me of being irresponsible. Not saying I am perfect, but I am reasonable in my spendings because I realize paying for school is expensive and debt is something I am trying to avoid.
In "Whats Yours Is Mine" Ben explains how ridiculous charges can be against people who commit piracy. I fully agree with him. Almost everyone can say that they have dowloaded illegel music before, and almost everyone of them have not been charged for piracy. However, those who do get caught get outrageous punishments; some 1.92 million dollars worth of punishment for 24 song downloads. I definitly side with the author when he says that piracy is a crime, but what the government is doing to punish the ones who are caught is not just either. The governemtn is trying to instill fear in people so they do not commit this crime. However, it is not fair for one person to take the fall for many others just because they want people do be scared. I think the government needs a more fair punishment and prevention method when it comes to piracy.
"Facebook, Cellphones, Laptops... Oh My!" was written by Hallie Orn and discusses how technology is taking over people's lives and how it can harm their relationships. I do agree with Hallie when she talks about how dependent most people are on technology. Personally, I am a BIG texter I can barely sit through class without texting... its kind of a problem. Although, I do think that today's society calls for the over use of technology. All of my class notes are on the computer, my teachers post important information on there, etc. Also, a lot of job applications are via the web now, as well as conference calls for businesses. I do feel that there is a line between addicted to technology and using it because you need to. But, with the way things are now a days, we need technology more than ever so this problem is only going to increase over time.
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I read “Everyone is Buying It” by Krysta Suydam and she states that we as individuals “want it all”. That we simple aren’t happy with just ordinary purchases, but rather we want that extraordinary purchase that makes us one step closer to our ideal friends, the celebrities. However, though I agree with her about wanting a lot of meaningless stuff, I personal don’t want that couch purse or “every color of the new Steve Madden flats”. Yet, I will splurge every once and awhile because I feel it’s important to reward yourself and bring a little sunshine back into your life, especially if it’s been a rough week. But as she stated money will eventually run out and those loans are going to creep up on us before we know it and then what are we going to do, sell our Prada bag? No we’re not, because unfortunately most of us what to portray this idea of wealth and sophistication and as long as we got that Prada bag over our shoulder we’ve still “made it” in society, regardless of the fact that we’re possible signing for bankruptcy. Finally, I believe it’s okay to want things because after all, as she stated, advertisements are constantly thrown in our face, but I also think proportion is key. Instead of getting all the colors of the rainbow for one type of shoe, get one and I can guarantee you will enjoy that shoe better because it’s special and you only have one of them.
I also read “It's Our Illegal Right” By Pembe Besingi where he believes downloading music from free websites shouldn’t be illegal but seen as a way to adapt to new times. I don’t entirely agree with this because I have never downloaded a song from the internet (basically because I would probably screw it up) but I also can’t say I never illegal burned a cd or received one. Especially in college as he stated, things are fast moving and never seem to slow down so if you can get your favorite song on your iPod and it takes only a mere 30 seconds then why not? I totally agree, but I also feel bad for the artists and their record sales. Yet on the other hand, I think as most artists would agree as long as there music is getting out there and being heard who cares how you acquired it? I think he also makes a fabulous point on how these artists money sometimes isn’t 100% from their music but there endorsements of other products to the media. This isn’t true for all artists but the more exposure to the population the better for them and their record sales. Finally, I agree with the idea that there are these “strict laws” against illegally downloading songs but if we can obtain this music fairly easily then why not just make it legal and save everyone the aggravation of having to spend the 99 cents for a song that doesn’t even 100% go to the artist?
The first essay I read was by Hallie Orn titled "Facebook, Cellphones, Laptops…Oh My!" was about addiction to technology. Addiction to technology is very common nowadays and I clearly agree with Orn that technology dominates our life. The points stated by her to support her main idea are actually the things that an addicted person does. Especially the Pavlov's dog experiment that she discusses in the second paragraph is a scene, seen everywhere. Yesterday in the S.E.L a phone vibrated on my table and everyone, including me, stopped doing their work and saw their cell phone to see if they had got a message. She describes all the cons of technology-addiction like lack of communication skills, withdrawal from social activities, and disengagement from the real world. But the best thing she does is gives solution to stop yourself from becoming a techno-addict. I really think that these things could help you to socialize.
Pembe Besingi in her article "It's Our Illegal Right" makes a great claim about why college students should have the right of downloading music for free. In the first two paragraphs she tries to support her point by giving reasons for why the college students should be allowed to download songs for free, though the points are not strong enough. As we go forward in the essay we see that she is out of the topic. She starts writing about the money an artist gets from his/her work or rather the endorsements, distribution of money among the company, artists and the distributor. Finally she goes to how record companies cause their own downfall and blame it on illegal downloading of music.
Most of the essay was off topic and instead of giving reasons for making it legal for downloading music she proves that the artist can themselves make money without the help of record companies. She also discusses how college students have grown smarter than record companies and should not be penalized for using their smartness.
The first article I read was "It's Our Illegal Right" by Pembe Besingi and it analyzed the reasoning behind illegal downloading in saying that the law and prohibition behind it--especially towards college students--should be nullified.
For the most part, I agree with her in this article, it is surprising how much emphasis is placed upon where exactly one gets their music from online. It is sad many people today are completely unaware that free downloading is illegal which is unfair. However, the artist is still going to get all the fame and glory, exposure and respect for each unrestricted download one of their songs receives. And they will still score large success with concerts, tours, interviews, commercials and all other media--at least the more popular artists anyway, but everyone can use some exposure. Perhaps a type of limit of songs you can download free per month sounds like a good deal to not abuse the system.
The second was Facebook, Cellphones, Laptops...Oh My!
This I believe is an article that really need to spread through the Internet. Hallie Orn has pointed out the extremes of technology addiction in the article, but upon reading it, I--and probably many other readers--can feel as if they are not too far away if they aren't prioritizing themselves. We procrastinate just about everyday, and find ourselves nearly unable to pull ourselves away from Youtube or Facebook or whatever game we may play. But I agree, when I read her suggestions about taking out the plug on technology, that it could be a true inner/outer revitalization in our lives.
The first article i read was "Taylor Swift: Combating Typical, Scandalous Celebrity Behavior". This article talked about how Taylor Swift's lyrics match her actions, both of which a admirable compared to other celebrities of her status and age. I totally agree with this author. I admire Taylor Swift first of all because of her music. As this author points out Taylor Swift has catchy tunes with lyrics that can actually pertain to my life while also sending a positive message such as the one she used, that you don't have to date a football player. She is compared to Miley Cyrus and Lindsay Lohan, two people who I am not a huge fan of, who also have gotten caught doing bad things by the media. While Swift has not gotten caught, most likely because she has not done anything. Swift goes against the grain and through hers songs tells her fans that they do not have to fulfill all the cliches that they see on a daily basis. Swift sets an examples for girls of her generation using her talent, and she is successfully getting those girls to listen.
The second article I read was "You Are What You Drink". This article says that your social class can be defined by what alcoholic beverage you get, if you get one that is. He notes that many college students drink Natural, or Natty, Light and it's advertisements are even directed toward college students with phrases called "nattyisms". As a college student I often see Natty at every party and I would say I drink it 75% of the time, not because I like it but because it is cheap or what it provided, and it is provided because it is cheap. However when I am out with my parents they usually indulge in wine, Bud Light Lime, Corona, gin and tonics or martinis. Why? Because they are mid to upper class causcasians. I totally agree with this author in the fact that your social class can be seen, or more like assumed, but the alcoholic beverage of your choice. Wealthier people will buy more expensive drinks and people with not so much money, like a college student will buy the cheap stuff. That is how society is in general. If you have more money you can buy more expensive things and if you don't you buy cheaper things. Seems obvious to me.
In the article 'Tattoos: What You See is What You Get' I found the writers argument understand, but at the same time not too valid. He explained how he didn't get a job due to the mere fact that he had too many visible tattoos, which is understandable in the professional world. He states how people shouldn't judge based on appearance, which I also find true, but employers have to judge a little bit based on appearance because they don't have all the time in the world to get to know you. Another point the writer made that I found a little frustrating was that he said that tattoos are artwork and in a way the are, but not everyone appreciates the same type of art. Needless to say if someone doesn't like or want to see tattoos in there business then that's their decision.
What's Yours is Mine
I found this article to be very relevant because in this day and age everyone is downloading music illegally for the sole purposes of it being free and easy. Of course it's illegal and it's very understandable why it is, but that's not going to stop people. With everything being so digital what the point of purchasing a CD, downloading it, then finally listening to it when you could simply open a tap in your browser and in a few clicks have the entire album for free. It's hard to govern this because no matter what you do people are going to continue doing it, so I find it ridiculous that people are being sued for millions over the downloads of a few songs. In my opinion they should just put it to rest because it's a problem that can't be stopped and it's unfair for the unfortunate individuals that are sued millions.
I read Fat and Happy written by Jennifer Gallat this afternoon, and almost yelled out in the library because I can not agree with her opinions any more! She claims clearly about the possible results of obesity which includes deaths and extra money spent on treating diseases caused by obesity such as cancer, high cholesterol, and also the necessity of parents and schools of being good roles to offer children healthy diet and suggest them to work out every day. Personally, I had gained nearly 15 pounds already after came to America, and every time when I had video call with my family, one of our main topic was to discuss the reason why I became fat. The main reason I think are just exactly the same with author's ideas which are eating too much fast food and lack of exercise. Look at us, we are eating pizza, burgers and drinking coke every meal, we even can not calculate how many calorie we can get from those. As the suggestion that author makes, we need definitely eat something healthy, such as vegetables salad and go to gym to do some exercise. Only by those efforts can not only the American kids but the children from the entire world become healthy and strong.
Hip-Hop: The False Advertisement of Women by Brandon Albert.
I found that this article is actualy really correct in how the the music industry protays women in music as easy woman that pretty much are there to be used for sex. Of course it is not right to show women off as property, but there is another part of me that thinks "hell yea she is hot". I think that is will always be in our rap music culture as long as woman keep allowing them selves to be shown off as a piece of tail, and nothing else. Women are they only people that could change this outlook.
Tattoos: What You See is What You Get By Jonathan Holan
I like this article in the fact of how many employers still looked at people with tattoo a taboo in our work place. I agree with the author in stating that even tought you might have tatoo there is noting worng with you. You probaly are still the most qualified person for the position you should not be turned down cause you have ink on your body. One of my friends have full sleves on both arms, both legs are inked and he id getting ready to get one on his chest. This does not mean that he is not a smart person his tatoos all tell a stroy of events that took place in life so far. I thnk we should bejudge for who we are not what is on our skin.
I choose Think Pink or Think Profits as the second one to read, and also it does not let me down. The author Devon Ody uses her real shopping experience about a pair of pink rainboot with a little pink ribbon which stands for breast cancer research as a example to explain her idea: using this kind of charity purposes to increase company's own profits is not a good way, and if people really want to donate money, it is better to donate directly to their organizations.
My opinion is just like a sentence written in the aritle, "the consumers’ purchases are more likely to benefit the company selling the products than the charity the company is supposedly helping", in other words, the company uses our goodness and the brand of these charities to gain more profits for themselves. From the economical view, these companies do have a very good marketing strategy which helps them improve their fame and sales. But honestly does these really benefit breast cancer research? The answer is obvious,only a small amount of profits will be donated to the organizations. This result disobeys the real intention why consumers buy their products and also this activity should be blamed. The author uses "iTunes's 100 percent donation back to organization" as a strong comparision to tell us what a not greed company will do for charity. In the end, by showing her own action, the author further suggests consumer who really wants to donate to write and send the check directly to those charities. A pretty good article，I love this!
I read "Taylor Swift: Combating Typical, Scandalous Celebrity Behavior". I agree with the author of the idea that our generation should not pay too much attention on sex, boys and appearance than education, real friendship, values and the process of self-actualization.Just like Talyor's song fifteen, talks about a freshman girl gets into the high school and unsure of who she is. Unlike most of other pop songs, this song is so real that makes people feel the lyrics matches with the feelings in our real life. Admittedly, celebrity's behavior do influence normal people. People mimic celebrity's behavior to make them look better. The media give this generation so many ways to catch the so called fashion. Such as the sexy girl on the magazine. Younger girls will mimic it to attract opposite sex. In the article, the author thought Taylor did a good job of keeping the details of her relationship and the tasteful manner she had. This could be a good model for teens that let them find real themselves instead mimic the celebrity. We should be thankful to her that she leads a good fashion for her role.
Going Green: Just Another Act?
Everybody knows we should protect our environment and have a green lifestyle. However, many people cannot do that including some celebrity who just showing that before the camera but do nothing in real life. The author use the example of Bono, the singer of a band, who spent $1700 to fly his hat on first class from London for his concert.The most important thing is that he said he was a supporter of environmental movement. People knows celebrities' behavior could influence the public, and they should take the responsibility of protecting the environment so that people will mimic their behavior. I agree what the author said:"going green is changing your lifestyle in every way you can for the betterment of the environment". As the models of the public, the celebrities should truly go green in front of the camera and in their real life.If they could not do that, they lie to the public and there is no benefit for anybody live on the earth.
The first article I read was “Everyone is Buying It” by Krysta Suydam. In this article, Suydam discusses a problem in which we all suffer from, materialism. We all want things we don’t have. Our society is consumed with the idea of buying top dollar designer clothing brands and the newest most expensive technologies. We get the idea that we need these expensive products because everyone has them and they are seen all over the advertisements. We simply want to fit in. Suydam mentions that no one grows up wanting to be “average” and I believe this helps explain society’s need and want for such extraordinary products. Being average won’t provide you with money to afford the products that everyone else has so we strive to make money to be able to make splurges on these extraordinary products that will make us feel better about ourselves. Continuously buying high dollar products is useless because it is impossible to stay up to date with the newest products in this evolving economy in which we live. This is the reason we should draw ourselves a line in which we don’t surpass so that we avoid problems such as bankruptcy and extreme debt in our futures.
For my second article, I read “Facebook, Cellphone, Laptops… Oh My!” by Hallie Orn. In this article, Orn focuses on how technology is taking over lives. I agree that many individuals have become far too dependent on some technologies. I myself sometimes catch myself wasting hours upon hours on the internet accomplishing absolutely nothing. This being said, I also often find myself on the internet for hours upon hours working on school work being productive. So although technology is sometimes misused, we should still consider the benefits it offers to us today. Technology will continue to make life more convenient and sometimes we should respect the benefits it offers to us a little more.
Fat and Happy?
I thought this article was very relevant, timely, and compelling, just as it should've been! It was a great piece to read and I completely agreed with the fact that obesity in children is something that we need to focus on now-a-days. I like the facts that she used to support her claims. Her evidence wasn't just her own personal opinion, but she backed some of her claims up with actual evidence from expert sources. The part that I didn't really like was that the paragraph before the conclusion was longer than any of the other paragraphs. I felt that took away from the style and rhythm of the article and I wish that would've been changed. Other than that, I'm a happy camper!
What A Guy Wants:
Wow. I thought this was a great answer. I know that this is only one opinion from a guy, but I felt like he answered so many questions that were previously unanswered in my mind. I feel this is a great topic to go on because the majority of the people in the world are women and as we all know, women put their feelings out there, but guys are way different. I respect this authors choice of topic. The paragraphs increased by a little in length as the article went on which I thought was great as well. Overall great piece!
The Dangers of Social Networks:
I thought that this article made very valid points. We no longer go out have to go out and meet people because we have access to Facebook in our homes everyday. I like that the author made the point of how social networking can effect our futures and out health because I had never thought about it in that way. Future employers have the ability to view everything that you put on the Internet and they may not like everything they see. Also, instead of going to the gym and getting some form of physical activity, society spends countess hours on the computer checking up on everyone's status. This article was definitely relevant, timely, and compelling because it brought up an issue that it very prevalent in society today.
Everyone Is Buying It:
I loved this article because as a college student it is easy to relate to wanting everything that everyone else has and buying it even if you don't have the money to. The author makes a very valid point that we have grown up in a society where from the time that we are little children to even now, our parents buy everything for us, so when we see something that we want we expect to get it. It is hard to look at celebrities and desire all of the materialistic things that they have. I feel that the author had a firm grasp on the topic that they were writing about and I completely agree with their point of view.
The first article I read was, “Taylor Swift: Combating Typical, Scandalous Celebrity Behavior” by Katie Huston. The article points out that singers and celebrities influence their audiences in many ways through their songs and actions. Unlike the bad example from the article Miley Cyrus and Lindsay Lohan who are always caught doing unhealthy things, Taylor Swift sets good example for her fans and is more of a celebrity with good reputation, which gives teenagers good advice in her songs. Also, from the article it says that Taylor Swift's lyrics matches with her actions, which I totally agree because she has been seen as a role model to some girls in our generation without those wrong behaviors. I personally really like her as a singer because her songs are always really encouraging. There are people in every generation mimic what celebrities do and try to be look like them no matter how the look really is. So celebrities should be more careful about their outlook and behaviors because many people are watching and mimicking them through media.
The article I read is “Tattoos: What You See is What You Get” By Jonathan Holan. In the article, Holan points out that how professional world have prejudice over tattoos by first introducing his personal experience how he failed an interview due to several visible tattoos on his body. I agree with the idea that professional world is against tattoos by viewing them bad, uneducated, and unhealthy. And they would not accept anyone who has tattoos to get into the field unless it is hidden under the clothes. The author argues that people should not judge others based on their outlooks, but I think that professions have to do that because they need to select people that will make an impact which should be those who are mentally healthy and cherish their body. I don’t mean that people have tattoos are bad, because it is their body and they have rights to go through whatever they want, but it is always connected to some Gothic culture with unhealthy behaviors. Also, sometimes when you get to know someone the first thing to realize is his or her appearance. So the professions are just right when judging people. In the article, the author says that some people think having tattoos is a way to memorize those loved ones who are not with them anymore. But I think memorizing them by having their names engraved on your body is too exterior. Why do you need to do that? You can keep them deep in your heart which I think would be more meaningful and a better way to let them stay forever with you.
The first essay I read was “The Dangers of Social Networking Sites”, written by Chelsea Bates. Basically when people think about social networking site, such as Facebook, they would say it is extremely beneficial, for people do not need to go outside their comfort zones to meet new individuals any more, and they can easily get the information of whom they really interested in. Nevertheless, the negative aspects of social networking should never be neglected.
Based on what Chelsea Bates focuses on, “these sites can work against future and current employees”. It is common trend that a manager or a supervisor judge whether or not hire an employees based on their personal information posted on the Facebook. Once an employee post inappropriate photos or whatever not the manager expected, they may be gotten a bad first impression thus lose their job opportunities and even the future. However, once people realize this, they may start to post something that meets their manager’s wants, and the reality of social networking will disappear then.
The bad sceneries are not only restricted to job opportunities, but also one’s health. Many health problems associated with long time sitting in front of computers happen on users use Facebook entire day. People are busy replying other’s status and photos, and, sometimes might even do not want to move themselves from the computers. Poor posture, eyestrain, poor circulation, and eating way too much because of hunger, severely affect one’s health.
I read "Colbert[ican] Politics: Red, Blue, or Purple?" By Daniel Myers, and I applaud his observation and research he found about Stephan Colbert regarding his show. He observes the flaw that other, more "credible" individuals make of his show, because The Colbert Report is not based on fact. As paraphrased by Myers' essay, Colbert's comedy central act is simply that--an act. I think the show is funny, but can't sit through the whole thing. I myself find his irrational jokes to be too much sometimes. However, the idea the Colbert is trying to portray is smart. People say ignorant things, and we are morally responsible to weed out the fact from fiction, the opinion from truth, said in media spotlight, especially by news channels.
http://www.mhlearningsolutions.com/commonplace/index.php?q=node/5581
In the article “the dangers of social networking site”, which written by Chelsea Bates, states that the social networking websites like FaceBook has immersed into our life and even has ability to control our lives. Although social networking sites would be a blessing to our boring lives, we need to make sure that the negative effect to us.I totally agree with author’s opinion. In the my daily life, more and more my friends sit in front of a computer and chat with each other on the Internet. Seldom of them go out and enjoy the outdoor activities and sports. As a result, they become fatter. The similar phenomenon that author also observe and write down in his article, he uses the example of Facebook and “wall post”, which is a function of Facebook. He points out that social networking sites make people disregard face to face interaction and is worried about “how can one go on with their day if one is not able to know what everyone is doing?” This implies that check-up other people’s life becomes a part of our lives. When we pay more attention to other people and care about what other people doing, we lack focus on ourselves and lost our confident easily.Besides this, the author also complains about the social networking sites affect our health tremendously emulate our health risk. Sitting in front of a computer requires little calories-consumption but cause many other diseases like poor posture, eye strain, poor circulation that crucial to people health. When they notice their health problem, most of my classmates will pretend nothing happen and keep themselves in front of the computer as before. Finally other potentially dangerous problems cannot be omitted. What should we do if one day we cannot communicate with people like ordinary people or our health is so poor that we have to go to hospital?
In another article “Fat and Happy”, which write by Jennifer Gallat. In this essay, the author states that obesity is a problem in America, for lots of teenagers watch too much TV and spend too much time on the internet. Obesity is one of the most preventable causes of death and also lead to our feeling of failure. If we don’t care about our health, the damage will be huge.
Both two articles talk about the relationship of Internet and our health. In all, we should not spend too much time in the internet, instead go out and meet people and have a chat with people face to face. In this way, you can enjoy more than boring and empty life on the Internet.