Cayla Lepior Blog #9

My exploratory essay will focus on abortion.
- Should abortion be illegal in the United States?
- If abortion is illegal, will the amount of women getting abortions decrease at all? Or will women find other, more dangerous ways to abort their unwanted pregnancies illegally?

Cayla Lepior Blog #8

            While watching Suheir Hammad’s performance of “First Writing Since” I noticed she utilized logos, ethos, and pathos to affect her audience. She uses pathos most frequently as she continually speaks about the way she and other people felt on September 11, 2001. She uses ethics as she criticizes the things that happened and the decisions that were made whether they were good or bad. I found it really impressive how she was able to appeal to such a wide audience. There were so many different races of people in the audience and it was clear that she affected all of them. She states that although she is Muslim and possesses the same looks as the 9/11 assassins, that does not mean she is the same as them.           

            I found it really powerful when she says “And when we talk about holy books, hooded men, and death, why never mention the KKK?” I think she is relating this to the stereotype people have now that all middle-eastern people are out to get Americans. People have forgotten that it was Americans that killed their own people because of racial issues (the KKK). It is clear that she appeals to people’s emotions as people are showed crying in the audience, or when they clap when she says something they are passionate about.

            I think her argument in her poetry is to “affirm life” as she states multiple times towards the end. She says, “after the rubble and rhetoric are clear and the phoenix has risen, affirm life” maybe meaning that after all of the conflict and after we are all strong again and peaceful, everything is going to be okay and that life is good. She is very persuasive in her poetry in my opinion and definitely utilizes pathos, ethos, and logos throughout her entire poem.

Cayla Lepior Blog #7

            While reading the Pearson book, I found a lot of useful information on important elements of an exploratory essay. The first important thing I came across was “formulating a starting point” (Pearson 110). I found this to be most important because an essay is based around a main idea or topic. Without writing about a problem that you are interested in as a writer, your essay will most likely not be interesting to the reader. “Instead of a single, focused question, you might start with a whole cluster of related questions swimming in your head” (Pearson 110). This, in my opinion, creates a more intriguing argument and a better essay overall.

            Another element of an exploratory essay I found to be important is the section talking about “taking ‘double-entry’ research notes” (Pearson 111). This describes taking “notes in which you use one column for taking notes on a source and another column for recording your own thinking about the source” (Pearson 11). I believe this is an important part in developing a good exploratory essay because taking notes with your own opinions and thoughts about the actual facts creates personality in your essay, not just generic facts you find in reading during research. This could also be considered mixing closed and open prose, creating a better exploratory essay.

            I also think it’s important to “keep a problem alive through consideration of multiple solutions of points of view” (Pearson 107). If you settle too early on a thesis without debating both sides, the reader of your essay will most likely loose interest quickly because there is nothing to consider. You should “go beyond the initial answer to think of alternatives” (Pearson 107) in order to maintain a good argument throughout your essay. After questioning the problem and examining different perspectives, you may even come to find that you changed your views on the topic by analyzing it thoroughly.

Cayla Lepior Blog #6

           While reading “‘Bros Before Hos’: The Guy Code”, I found a number of things to be quite offensive, not only to men but to women as well. The first “hotspot” I came across was the discussion between boys about where they get these ideas. “Guys hear the voices of men in their lives—fathers, coaches, brothers, grandfathers, uncles, priests—to inform their ideas of masculinity” (Kimmel 47). I found this quote to be really interesting because guys turn to the most influential people in their lives for advice on how they should be as a person. I find it sad that when a young man is contemplating how he should act, he turns to the poor advice of influential men in his life. This really shows how much of an impact parents and role models make on young people, whether it is a positive or negative impact.

            A second “hotspot” I came across was when Kimmel discusses the common way among men to avoid being perceived as gay. “Just make sure that you walk, talk, and act in a different way from the gay stereotype; dress terribly; show no taste in art or music; show no emotions at all. Never listen to a thing a woman is saying, but express immediate and unquenchable sexual interest. Presto, you’re a real man” (Kimmel 49). I find this technique for looking “straight” to be really ironic. You will come off as a man who is sloppy, unemotional, and completely rude; however you will not appeal to any women whatsoever. This technique backfires on a man who is trying to meet people and form relationships, which are a majority of young men. This just shows how judgmental society is in our culture and the drastic measures people take to please others.

Cayla Lepior Blog #5

             While watching the video “Doofy Husbands: Target Women”, I found it very critical and stereotypical of all males. It categorizes males into the “single men” and “married men”. According to the video, single men are attractive, drive nice cars, drink beer, and can do many things as shown by media today. However, married men are characterized by the media as lazy, stupid and forgetful people standing in the women’s way. In some situations, the husband is the on raising the family and cleaning around the house, not all men are as she describes in her video. She mentions in the video we only need men around the house to “take care of the lawn, produce children, and grill food” which I think is a huge stereotype of men and completely unfair to say.

            While watching “Tropes vs. Women”, I found her entire tone to be really sarcastic towards men. Her criticisms of a common Hollywood character, “manic pixie dream girl” is over exaggerated and quite harsh at times. When she says that Hollywood writers need to start making them “real characters” is quite offensive because in my opinion, not all female characters possess this trait of a pixie dream girl and not all male characters need one. Also, comparing female and male characters based on movies doesn’t really seem like the right way to go because that is not real life. Those movie characters or “manic pixie dream girls” may act in that certain way, but in no way does that make them less of a character or even make the male character more important.

Cayla Lepior Blog #4

For me, Eugene R. August’s essay, “Real Men Don’t” was about males being excluded in many parts of our society. As I agree with some parts of this essay, I also am doubtful of many as well. A part in this reading that struck me as interesting was when August says “American males are almost twice as likely as females to be victims of violent crimes (even when rape is included in the tally) and three times more likely to be victims of murder (August 130). I find this to be a point of conflict among our society as most people automatically imagine a woman to be the victim of a rape or physical crime when even more it is a male victim it just goes unheard of. I agree that people assume this because of society’s belief that women are inferior and maybe even weaker in a sense that they are more of a victim than any men. A part of this reading that I disagree with is when August is talking about the U.S. media, which he claims is “heavily influenced by gender feminism” (August 131) and when he says “Male victims are simply not news; women (and children) victims are (August 131). I disagree with this statement as I have watched the news many times and have seen a large amount of males as victims in crimes such as news reports on wars; they always talk about which men were killed in their line of duty, as heroes of our country. This is a bad example of excluding males because it simply is not true. In my opinion this is not a part of society that is un-favoring of the male gender.          

While reading Deborah Tannen’s essay “There Is No Unmarked Women”, several parts really stuck out to me. When Tannen is discussing unmarked and marked forms of English words, she says “Endings like ess and ette mark words as “female”. Unfortunately, they also tend to mark them for frivolousness (Tannen 142). She goes on to say, “Would you feel safe entrusting your life to a doctorette?” (Tannen 142). I found this part really thought provoking. I agree that most people would not trust a “doctorette” as much as a male doctor. Doctors have a stereotypical thought by people to be men, as that is how it used to be earlier in our society. While it was difficult to find a particular part that contradicted my beliefs in Tannen’s essay, I disagree with the part where she says, “Each of the women at the conference had to make decisions about hair, clothing, makeup, and accessories, and each decision carried meaning” (Tannen 142). This partially contradicts my beliefs because I have had friends who are male that also have to make decisions about what they wear or what they look like, which also carry meaning. It isn’t necessarily fair to imply that men’s decisions on their appearance carry no meaning at all, because in some cases they do.

Cayla Lepior Homework #4

            Personally, I thought Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” was really interesting and informative on how family life can influence literacy. This essay seemed to be open prose or even a mix of closed and open prose. The author uses “I” frequently making the essay less formal but still creating a solid structure. It is clear that the essay is a narrative and instead of a thesis, the author uses a story of her childhood and the broken language she grew up with around her, which formed her view of literacy today. Unlike closed prose, Tan includes contradictions of her beliefs, for example, “Sociologists and linguists probably will tell you that a person’s developing language skills are more influenced by peers. But I do think that the language spoken in the family, especially immigrant families which are more insular, plays a large role in shaping the languages of a child” (Tan 115). Although she provides opinions from both sides, she supports her belief with experience, which makes her points equally important.

            The audience of this essay could be young readers such as us, as she is addressing a specific person/people in her writing. Examples of this occur throughout the text, like when she writes, “You should know that my mother’s expressive command of English belies on how much she actually understands” (Tan 114). She is rather informal and simple with her words, appealing to a wide audience of people, maybe even those struggling with their personal literacies.

            I do not believe this essay conforms to the genre conventions of an essay because it seems to be more creative than a closed prose essay would be. It is a lot different from any formal essay I have read, as it is intriguing and thoughtful. She addresses a topic that is personal and life-shaping experiences most people wouldn’t give a second thought to. Although she stays on the same topic and “thesis” throughout the entire work, she relates the whole essay to her own life, making this a narrative, different from other structured essays.

Cayla Lepior Homework #3

            As I read pages 64-69 in the book “Everything’s a Text”, I came across two major “hotspots” that I feel are very important. In explaining personal and academic writing, this quote stuck out to me, “Writing is a complex, multi-layered process that can include both the personal and the academic. In fact, all writing should” (Melzer, Coxwell-Teague 64). I feel like this quote is significant because if a writer can incorporate their personal feelings into an academic paper then they will appeal to more people and their paper, speech, essay, etc. will not be as dull. All of the readings that I have enjoyed have combined academic and personal content and it makes it much more interesting to read.   

            A second “hotspot” I found was, “I would invite you to think about what experiences, both positive and negative, have shaped your understanding or misunderstanding of literacy” (Melzer, Coxwell-Teague 67). I feel like this is an important quote because it encourages writers of all standards to question how they got to be where they are as writers. It also implies that you are the kind of writer you are because of the experiences that you went through in your early stages of writing, such as, elementary school writing exercises or your very first essay. Personally, I have never thought about this but now I realize that many of my early experiences with writing have caused me to feel a certain way about reading and writing. Negative experiences with literacy can cause you to have a misunderstanding about it and vice versa, which I never considered.

Cayla Lepior Homework #2

            After reading chapter one of “Everything’s a Text”, I came across two passages that really stood out to me. “What we value in academic writing in America is not necessarily what is valued in academic writing in other countries” (Melzer, Coxwell-Teague 3). This particular line stood out to me because it has so much truth to it. Other countries and cultures definitely have different values with their writing and it is important to keep that in mind when studying and writing English. Another quote that interested me was about how the United States is becoming different and more advanced as time goes on; “composers who can speak and write in multiple languages and dialects will have an advantage over those who are monolingual and can use only the standard version of English found in grammar handbooks” (Melzer, Coxwell-Teague 5). I feel that this excerpt is very important because people who can adjust to different styles and languages of writing will definitely be more persuasive and successful in their writing. People who are monolingual will not be as successful in their writing process and will not appeal to a wide audience.

            As I was reading “English Mercury Reader” I found many things interesting, such as the second concept, which was discussing the term thesis statement at the beginning. “From your previous schooling, you are probably familiar with the term thesis statement, which is the main point a writer wants to make in an essay. However, you may not have thought much about the question that lies behind the thesis, which is the problem or issue that the writer is wrestling with” (Reader 7). This is important to me because the initial question behind the thesis is the main point of their work and I think a lot of times people forget why they are writing something. Another quote that I found informative was in the description and definition of rhetoric. “In a narrower sense, rhetoric is the art of making messages persuasive” (Reader 12). This is a very important concept because without persuasive writing, it would be harder to attract people’s attention and by using rhetoric you can influence a person’s thoughts on a certain topic.