The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society

          In the article "The Human Cost of an Illiterate society", Jonathan Kozol explains how people who are unable to read have problems with everyday situations. Those who are unable to read have problems with the simplest situations. Illiterate parents are unable to read to their children. If parents are unable to read a simple 5 year old book, they are certainly unable to read any kind of complicated documents, such as bills or contracts. Even jobs that dont require education do require reading skills. The reason that uneducated jobs require reading skills is for the employee to follow directions. Reading is very important, reading comes in handy when going to the store or when trying to read directions. Reading is very important even when someones life is in danger. For example when someone calls for an ambulance the first question asked is your location, being able to read the street name is the key to help the ambulance find your location. Kozol is trying to communicate that reading is the key for everyday life.
          The article "The Human Cost of an Illiterate society" was very interesting. It made me understand that reading is very important. I honestly didn't see reading as all that important. Maybe because I am able to read i was unaware that illiterates have it rough everyday, even when doing the grocery shopping. My parents are not very good readers, but are still able to read streets and signs. Kozol's article informed me that illiterates will always have problems with the simplest everyday tasks.
         

Postconviction DNA Testing Should Not be Encourage

       In the essay "Postconviction DNA Testing Should Not Be Encourage", Peter Rof believes that DNA testing should not be encouraged. Rof has a strong opinion that DNA testing is not always automatically true. Other evidence should be used as well to prove a case. To Rof reopening an old case because the science has changed is not a right. Reopening a case puts a doubt on people, which may increase over time. DNA may sometimes put more doubt than proof. To Peter Rof, DNA testing is not a very good piece of evidence because its not always true.


      At first i agreed with DNA testing, but Peter Rof's points made points that made me agree that DNA testing should be encouraged. DNA can be wrong many times. DNA testing can give false impression because a criminal may use gloves and someone else can be mistaken and put in jail. Also reopening an old case is very time consuming. Not only is reopening an old case time consuming, but also costs money. Rof's point to not encourage DNA testing are very strong that it made me really agree to not encourage DNA testing.

Postconviction DNA Testing Should Be Encouraged

      In the essay "Postconviction DNA Testing Should be Encouraged", Tim O'brien has a strong point of view about encouraging DNA testing. Many people are accused of crimes. Sometimes people are convicted when in reality they are innocent. Larry Youngblood was accused in 1988, of raping a child. He was sentence to to spend years in jail. In 2000, due to a DNA testing done in Tuscan Youngblod was proven innocent. There are many innocent men and women who are in jail. If DNA testing were done during investigations the results would be different. Many times because prosecutors resist to to reopen an old case, no DNA testing is done . O'Brien believes if DNA testing is done, many innocent people wouldnt be in jail.

     I agree with Tim O'Brien's opinion that DNA should be used to prove a case. DNA testing can be a very powerful piece of evidence that can save a person from jail. Maybe reopening an old case is time consuming but can help prove someone innocent. I do believe that DNA testing is important but I've learned that it may not always be so accurate. So when using DNA  testing, they should consider other evidence as well. 

America Must take Stronger Measures to hault Illegal Immigration

         In the essay "America Must take Stronger Measures to Halt Illegal Immigration" Micheal Scott has a very strong opinion that illegal aliens should be deported and kept off the US. Scott is outraged at the millions of dollars spent by tax payers each year for immigrants, He believes that enforcing the laws to get rid of illegal immigrants will get rid of a lot of problems in America. Closing the borders will end stress to the people who live near the border. They go through headaches because they find trash, property damage, and killed animals. By closing the borders and getting all the illegal aliens out, Scott believes it will end many problems. He doesnt care that Many Americans may be called racist as long as America improves. Scott says that its not true that Americans wont do the hardship job that illegal immigrants do. If immigrants are deported there will be an opportunity to raise the salary for those working hardship jobs. Scott claims if no action is taken to get rid of immigrants, America will go through a wage depression.

        When reading "America Must take Stronger Measures to Halt Illegal Immigration" I agreed with some of Scott's opinions. I do believe that when immigrants come to the United States illegal they should respect peoples property and not damage it. Because by immigrants damaging others properties, they are making a bad impression already and no legal citizen is going to want them in the US. I do believe that Scott may be a little racist and which is why he expresses himself so ruthless. Scott has his own opinions and even though many may not agree with him, his points are very strong. 

Im not willing to settle for crumbs

             In the essay “I’m not Willing to Settle for Crumbs” Kim Severson discusses that gay marriage should have equal marriage rights as people who marry the opposite sex. Kim Severson describes her own experiences about living with a gay couple. Kim is in love with Katia, her partner and wishes to have a traditional wedding someday. Because not every state in the United State legalizes gay marriage, Severson knows she cant be married legally in every state. As soon as a gay couple leaves the state they got married, their marriage is no longer legal. Severson hopes that someday same sex couples will have all the rights straight couples have. Same sex couples should have the same legal rights as opposite sex couples.
                I really liked the essay “I’m not Willing to Settle for Crumbs” because I believe same sex couples should have the rights to marry whoever they wish. In the United States we have the right of pursuit of happiness, which is why I don’t understand how gay people don’t get the right to pursuit their own happiness and marry who they wish. I believe its sad that gay people may never get the chance to experience a traditional wedding.

We are Training Our Kids to Kill

        In the essay "We are Training Our Kids to Kill" Dave Grossman speaks of how the media has an affect on children. Grossman believes that violent video games and TV has an impact on children. Children are being train to kill. Grossman is an expert in the field of "killology". He travels sharing his experiences, training medical, law enforcement, and US military personnel about the realities of war. Grossman informs them the strategies the military use while they training them to kill. He also explains how the media uses similar tactics to train children to kill, even though children don't know they are being trained to kill. Grossman mentions how many people don't like killing others, which is why they train them to kill and try to show them to like killing others. Grossman believes that the media has a great influence on how children become violent, and that they are being trained to kill.
       The essay "We are Training  Our Kids to Kill" had a very strong argument about how media has a strong influence on children. At first i really didn't believe the violence had much influence on children. But reading Grossman's essay it made me change my mind. Video games that have guns are training children to aim and fire. I did not see any harm in that before, but the fact is that video games with such violence encourages children to be violent. Even though children are killing fake people on a video game, they enjoy killing them and may find it natural and not wrong. Media is encouraging violence and children are learning to be violent.

How Bingeing became the new College Sport

              In the essay "How Bingeing became the New College Sport" Barrett Seaman claims that college students are abusing alcohol. Students from the ages of 18-20 abuse alcohol. Seaman mentions that "students are hospitalized- or worst yet, die from alcohol poisoning, which happens about 300 times each year." (491) Students abuse alcohol to the point of their own death. Seaman believes that tighter reinforcement, and the minimum drinking age of 21 is part of the problem. Having laws and reinforcements for drinking, makes drinking alcohol forbidden for student. Students love that drinking is forbidden and will go their way in order to defy their authority. Lowering the drinking age may be the solution. It is possible that students will abuse their freedom to drink at first, but students may learn to handle drinking like adults.

           I did not completely agree with Barrett Seaman's opinion to lower the drinking age. I do believe that students love drinking because it is forbidden to them. If college students are given the freedom to drink they will abuse it. Seaman believes that if they are giving the freedom to drink they will learn to handle drinking like adults. Many adults who drink become alcoholic. If students already abuse alcohol, i believe it will be worst if they are given the freedom to consume alcohol freely.

Our Unhealthy Obsession With Sickness

               In the essay "Our Unhealthy Obsession with Sickness" Frank Furedi argues that people have become obsess with health. Health has become a major issue for everyone including politicians. Doctors are finding a medical conditions on every form of personality. For example, if a person is shy a doctor may say she/he has social phobia. Because any situation can bring some sort of illness, illness is no longer seen as abnormal. Furedi says that "there is now a presupposition that illness is as normal as health." (485) Having bad health is no longer the issue, the issue is that people are embracing their illnesses. People are comfortable with their illness so they no longer try and fix the problem, which is why their illness tend to be more durable and last longer. Because politicians make people feel guilty, people tend to worry more about their health and go do check ups for every little thing. The politicians call those who don't check themselves irresponsible and use guilt to motivate them to follow up with check ups. Health has become a major issue for everyone.
            Reading the essay "Our Unhealthy Obsession with Sickness" was very informative. Reading Furedi's argument of health made me realize that everything he said is true. Every morning when I watch the news they always bring up a health issue that can be harmful. Even his argument about how sex is no longer a fear of sin but instead a fear of getting a disease or infection is true because not many people are religious. Every situation that one goes through in life can bring a major health issue according to professional doctors. It may be true that events in our life can bring health issues, but stressing about them can be even more harmful to one.

Is Your Work Place Personality out of (Birth) Order

             The easy "Is your Work Place Personality Out of (Birth) Order?" by Ben Datter describes the children's personality based on their birth order. Datter describes the first born child as confident, dominant and protective. The first born child may tend to have a pleasing personality. They will try to please their parents as much as possible. The second born child may be more liberal, rebellious and risk takers. An only child may have the same personality as a first born child. Datter also mentions that twins seem to have a rivalry among each other. Even though he said that most of children gain their personality based on the order they are born, Datter says that certain circumstances may change their personalities. What may change a child's personality may have to do with the parents number of marriages, or having step brothers or sisters.Datter believes that birth order may predict a child's job performance.
             I believed that the essay "Is your Work Place Personality Out of (Birth) Order?" by Ben Datter was very informative. Reading the essay was very interesting. I do not completely agree with Datter opinion of birth order.  I believe each child has their own personality, but a lot of the times it has to do with the environment one grows up in. Also parents are a great influence on their childs personality. I am the oldest of my siblings and I do believe i am dominant but I am not the most confident, one. My younger brother is more more confident, and protective one. Everyone has their own opinion on how a child may gain their personality but its something no one can really predict.

Multi-colored Familes

          In the essay “Multi-colored Families” Tamala Edwards focuses on multi-colored families. Our society has come to be tolerant of multi-colored families. Even though having multi-colored families is great, people tend to forget that having a multi-colored families is a fragile situation. Having a multi-colored family isn’t always easy for both adults and children. Parents are sometimes forced to deal with the questioning their children ask. Children will have a curiosity of why they look so different from their parents. Parents have to learn to answer the questions very carefully. Edward mentions how parents have to chose a good environment for their families when they have a multi-colored family. The reason for having a good environment for a multi-colored family is to avoid rude remarks from people. Having a multi-colored family is a wonderful thing but also has its ups and downs.
          The essay “Multi-colored Families” by Tamala Edwards is really enjoyable to read. Edwards gave us a way to see how multi-colored families can have a hard time. I think having a different races in one family is a wonderful thing. But reading “Multi-colored Families” showed me that not everyone can be nice about it. People tend to make rude remarks. I really like the essay because its able to show different view of multi-colored families.

Beliefs about Family

           Mary Pipher’s short essay “Beliefs about Families” describes what a family is. Family members are those who are there by your side during hard times. People who help you when you need money to pay rent  or lose your job. To Pipher family doesn’t necessarily mean being blood related. There might be the case where one loses their mother and father and are left orphan. Others might have parents that abuse them. Abusive parents are not considered people who you can trust. In such cases friends might be considered family. Many people form their own community family and support each other. Finding family sometimes might be hard. In our culture many times people are shown to be rude and disrespectful, and people will not want to have any kind of relation with them. Also, because our culture is a money driven society, many people only think of themselves. Family is someone there for you, but because of our society it may not be so easy to have one.

          The essay “Beliefs about Families” was pleasant to read. I agreed with Mary Pipher’s definition of family. I believe family are those who try and help you, and they don’t essentially have to be blood related. I liked how Pipher gave examples of people and their experiences with the families they created. My favorite story was Anita’s story. Her parents abandoned her and she was raised by her aunt and uncle. And even though Anita tried having a relationship with her mother, her mother had no interest. Anita at least had her aunt and uncle who loved her. I really liked this story and people can see that they can have family with those around them.

Hey Nostradamus!

           In the last chapter of Hey Nostradamus!, we came to better understand Reg. We came to better understand him through a letter he writes to Jason. He told Jason through the letter how he as well was roughly treated by his father. Even though Reg tried to be nothing like his father, unfortunately he became just like him. Reg became cold, heartless, and biter. Losing his loved ones made Reg realize his actions. He cold, heartless words and actions drove the people he cared the most away. Ruth was an important person to him and he lost her. He lost her because he didn’t want to take her to Kent’s wedding, making her believe he was ashamed of her. He realized how all the pain he is going through was caused by him. Reg hopes one day his son Jason will come back and will be able to read him the letter he wrote to him. Reg was a cruel man, but he never meant to hurt no one.

            The last chapter of Hey Nostradamus! was really pleasurable to read. I really enjoyed reading Reg’s life experience and seeing why he became a cruel man. It made me realize not to judge cold people, that its better to find out what are the causes of ones actions. I was a little disappointed when Douglas didn’t give us a cue of what happened to Jason. Overall the book was really fun to read. The book made me think a lot about religion and helped me relate to the characters.

Hey Nostradamus! : Heather

         In Hey Nostradamus!, Douglas Coupland introduces a new character, her name is Heather. Heather is a woman who has fallen in love with Jason. Heather and Jason made a connection as soon as they meet. Jason wasn’t able to connect with anyone, but with Heather, they manage to even create their own imaginary world. One day Jason mysteriously disappeared. His disappearance has Heather worried. She is so worried that she tries investigating on her own. When she was about to give up hope she receives a phone call from a psychic. Heather is not much of a believer when it comes to psychics, but when she mentions a phrase “Oh I say”, Heather begins to wonder. The phrase is what Heather and Jason use to say when talking about their imaginary character Gerard. Heather becomes confused so she talks to Reg about the psychic. Reg who was always religious, was now more open to things. Reg actually listens to Heather and tries to help and understand Heather. The psychic gave Heather a bit of hope, but also a consideration that maybe Jason is dead.
           Chapter 3 of Hey Nostradamus! was interesting because of how some of the characters changed. Reg at the beginning was a sad, strange little man, but in this chapter we saw a twist in his character. He was still religious, but more open to the real world. Reg was actually drinking wine and smoking. This was unexpected but exciting to read. It was also nice to read how Jason actually became part of a relationship with Heather. Because he was always alone and sad it was interesting to read how he made a connection with someone.

Hey Nostradamus! Jason

          Reading the second half of Coupland’s book, Hey Nostradamus!, further got into Jason’s life and what he was going through. After almost 10 years Jason finally spoke to his father Reg. Reg was ill at the hospital and asked if Jason be informed in order for him to drop off some belongings while he stays in the hospital. When Jason went to drop off the belongings, he asked Reg why he had accused him of murdered. Reg responded that he saw him as perfect. Learning that Jason had murdered a kid made him wonder where he would go heaven or hell. After having talked for a while Jason left. To Jason’s luck he came face to face with a similar situation of the massacre. He was about to be killed by another man, but when the man got injured Jason had the chance to kill him. He decided not to kill him. Jason that night was able to let go of so much anger he had inside his heart. Another important issue discussed in this chapter was that Jason is the father of Barb’s twins. When Kent died Barb realized she wanted to feel closer to Kent. So she asked Jason if he would help her. Jason understood Barb, having a baby with him meant some of Kent’s generic traits. The only way Jason would help her was if they got married. She agreed and they flew to Vegas. They got married and then a few months later the twins were born.
          The second part of chapter 2 of Hey Nostradamus! was not what I expected. I have liked most of the reading so far, but the second part of the reading was a little dull to me. Some parts were interesting such as when they began discussing how Barb and Jason got married. It got me wondering why Jason wanted to marry Barb. He isn’t religious no more so why would he go through all that trouble and marry her. I am still not so sure why he wanted to marry her and maybe it will be explained later on in the reading so im looking forward to that.

                                                    Chapter 2 Hey Nostradamus               
              In the second part of Hey Nostradamus! Douglas Coupland’s main focus is Jason. Jason was a quiet religious boy. He had a really bad relationship with his father. Things only became worst after the massacre, where Jason lost his beloved Cheryl. The day of the massacre Jason launched a rock straight at one of the attackers causing the attackers death. When Jason’s father, Reg, was informed by this he accused Jason of murdering a kid. Because Reg was a very religious man, he could not handle his son ending someone else life causing them to drift from one another. After the massacre Jason was never the same. For one thing he was not able to let go of the pain in his heart due of his wife’s death. Also Jason came to trust no one. Ten years later, and Jason has become a sad lonely man. He really didn’t have friends and he knew that he was alone. Noticing his isolation from people caused him fear. He also distant himself from religion and God. Jason became the thing his wished he had never become. He became a bitter, sad man just like his father.
              The second part of Hey Nostradamus! to me was very gloomy. Jason who lost his lover Cheryl, became heartbroken. He had no one there by his side trying to comfort him during such a hard time. His father Reg was a heartless, bitter old man who instead of trying to understand him only made him feel worst. His loneliness and fear to trust other made me think that many people must also feel that way as well. At times I believe I have also felt like that, and I myself find it hard to trust even close friends. Jason’s isolation from people is really scary. Trying to relate and understand Jason made me really enjoy the book.

                                         Hey Nostradamus (pg 3-42)
             In the first chapter of Hey Nostradamus a girl named Cheryl spoke of her life. Cheryl was a high school girl who at a young age was already married in secret to her lover Jason and even pregnant. Cheryl was confused, she believed in God but also wondered why so many bad things would happen. Even though she was confused she still strongly believed deep down in God and would pray. One day her school cafeteria came under attack by 3 students. That was the day Cheryl died, and before her death she began to remember events that had occurred in her life. One such event was the day of her wedding. The crazy ride to Las Vegas and how wrong and at the same time how right it all felt to her.
Cheryl died accepting her death and died wondering if she would be able to see her beloved Jason from the beyond. Cheryl also realized that the world will always be filled with darkness.
                I really enjoyed reading chapter one from Hey Nostradamus! because Cheryl spoke of every moment with so much description. Every story she had to tell was so well described you could imagine yourself there and maybe even being the one telling the story. Also so many of the questions she would ask herself about religion are questions I myself have asked myself hundreds of times. Like if God does exist then why do so many things happen? I myself have come to understand that there will always be bad in this world. Her confusion about religion is something many people must go through everyday which is why it was nice reading Cheryl’s thoughts and feeling.

        In “The library Card”, Richard Wright discusses how his passion for reading lead him to see the world in a whole new way. One day after arriving to work Wright picked up the newspaper and began reading. After that day Wright became curious and was eager to read more. Because he was a black boy, he was not allowed to read from the library. Wright decided to ask an Irish Catholic from his job for books , the Irish man agreed to let him borrow his library card but to not speak of this to no one. After that day Wright would check out book from the library frequently. He began to question the text, how and why the writers would write the way they did and who they would talk about. He was so passionate about reading and could not get enough. Wright eventually began seeing life in a new way, He became unhappy with his life, he felt hostile and hatred. He finally came to the decision to go to the North. He began planning what he would do in order not to feel so hostile, he would wonder if things would completely change for him.
         I enjoyed reading “The Library Card” because Wright spoke of how reading changed his perspective of life. Wright wrote how reading made him see things in a whole new way. Most of the articles I have read so far mentioned how reading changed their life for the better and how they were happy with the results. In Wrights case I liked how reading lead him to question his own life and how he tried to make it better by moving to the North. It made him see that life isn’t always what one thinks and might expect, but is trying to improve it. All the reading and questioning made him feel hostile, but it also made him see that he wasn’t living a happy life.

            In “Only Daughter” author Sandra Cisneros describes her life growing up as the only daughter in a family of six sons. Because she was the only girl, she had plenty of time to spare. Cisneros had time to read, think and imagine. When she was in the fifth grade she decided to share her plan about going to college with her father. Her father was ok with her choice but he had something else in mind. He wished for her to go to college in order for her to find a husband. When the forth year in college came, her father saw her education as a waste because she still had not found a husband. Most of the time Cisneros felt left out by her father. She saw college different than her father. After 10 years of writing professionally, Cisneros began getting financial rewards, such as her second National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship. One Christmas day her family gathered together. There for the first time Cisneros felt appreciated by her father. He read over her novel and even asked about the book. Because her father became interested in her book, Cisneros felt it was the most wonderful thing that had happened to her. As the only daughter in her family of six sons, Cisneros finally felt real appreciated by her father.
             The article “Only Daughter” was exciting because I being a female can relate to her situation. Cisneros explained that because she was a woman her father believed she should only attend school to find a husband, but when that didn’t work out he saw her time in school as a waste of time. Having parental support is important and she didn’t have that. Many women are discriminated and may even be put down because of their gender.I really loved that Cisneros didn’t give up. She worked hard and kept writing and exploring through her ideas until she became a success. She achieved her goal which was to make her father become interested in her work. Deep down we all desire to be great and impress others, which is why i found Cisneros article inspiring.Women and even men can  learn from her example and try and follow her path to work hard to achieve greatness.

                                                         Learning to read
                      In “Learning to Read”, author Malcom X discusses how he learned to read and interpret his reading materials. As Malcom spends years in jail he came to realize the joy of reading a simple dictionary. To him books were a way to see the world and understand peoples point of view. As he read more he became fascinated with history. He informed himself as much as he could about events that occurred. A subjected that had a great impact on him was black history. He was fascinated, horrified, and loved every moment when reading about the subject. It was a challenge to find facts about black history because many white people considered there not to be any history in black men. The more Malcom read the more captivated he became and would spend as much time as he could reading and informing himself. He saw jail a time of learning and informing himself as much as he could, Malcom would study up to 15 hours a day. Malcom learned that reading was the best way to find facts about the world and spend every moment he could learning and trying to understand history as best he could.
                    I found the essay “Learning to Read” attention-grabbing. At first like any essay or book it seemed boring. But the more I read the essay the more interesting it became. The way Malcom described the joy of reading was very interesting. He would question peoples actions and read more of why they acted that way. His passion for black history was fascinating, as he described the horrors they went through it made me picture every moment as though I was there. It made me question why white man who called themselves Christians would commit such atrocity? I really liked that Malcom came to understand why other races, such as Chinese and Africans, came to hate white man. His passion for reading and how he comprehends the information he reads is motivating, he described reading in such a way that it made me want to read more about what he has to say in the matter of black history.