Atwood’s article

The article made me realize what Brave New World is about.  I have not read the book, but I understand from the article that it had a big affect on the people who have read it.  It seems some people are disgusted by the book.  Just by reading the article I am glad that I have not read the book.  I do not think that I would have enjoyed it.

I believe that Atwood makes a good point about what the world is turning into.  She points out that the book talks a lot about sex being a pastime or hobby.  She includes how contraceptives have taken over the world.  No one actually wants to have children.  She states how the book is based around that.  Atwood states, “The others practice “Malthusian drill” – a form of birth control – and take “pregnancy surrogate” hormone treatments if they feel broody, and sport sweet little faux-leather fashionista cartridge belts crammed with contraceptives” (Atwood).  By stating this, Huxley shows her opinion that it is too easy to fix accidental pregnancy.  The book makes it clear how easy it is to have sex for recreational purposes instead of to get pregnant, and if one accidentally becomes pregnant then she can just fix the problem by getting rid of the baby.  This is exactly what the world is like these days.  There is so much that one can do to prevent pregnancy, and if that does not work there is abortion.  Atwood states, “If they slip up on their Malthusian drill, there’s always the lovely-pink Abortion Centre” (Atwood).  The facts pointed out by this book may be shocking, and her opinion may not be pleasant.  However, that is what the world is coming to.

Word Count-290

Violent Video games

I believe that violent video games contribute to violent actions of young children.  It sets a bad example to a child to see all the violence and death that are on the video games.  When they are rewarded points for doing violent actions towards others, it shows them that violence is a good thing and that you can be rewarded for hurting someone.  As stated in the article, “Studies suggest that when violence is rewarded in video games, players exhibit increased aggressive behavior compared to players of video games where violence in punished (“Do Violent”).  This is because while playing the video games, children experience the rush of adrenaline when they hurt or kill someone and receive points for it.  Of course they want to win the game and in order to win they must earn points.  After the video game is over, they still have the feeling of aggression and this may cause them to physically hurt someone.

I am not saying that violent video games are going to make someone go out and kill someone.  I just believe that they set a bad example that violence is okay.  They make the players feel good when they kill someone which is not a good example to set in the minds of young kids.  I don’t think that parents should be buying their children video games that are rated mature because of violence.  These parents are exposing their children to violent acts such as shooting, stabbing, and strangling.  As a parent you would not let your child watch a rated R movie about a serial killer shooting or stabbing people.  So why would you let your kid be the killer in a mature video game?  That is not acceptable for a child to think that that is okay.

According to the article, “Violent video games teach youth that violence is an acceptable conflict-solving strategy and an appropriate way to achieve one’s goals (“Do Violent”).  This is true.  It gives the children the thought that acting in violence is the way to solve their problems.  They cannot go around thinking that it is okay to physically hurt someone in order to get their way.  The most player with the most kills, wins.  Children should not think that way.  That could lead to bullying and cause the child to believe that the biggest bully wins.  Violent video games are a terrible example for the growing minds of all children.  They should not be exposed to such harsh actions.

 

 

Hunger Artist

The Hunger Artist symbolizes the need for attention in the world.  Everyone tries to get attention in some form or another.  The man starves himself if order to draw crowds in to watch him.  It symbolizes the extremes that people will go in life to get people to notice them.  He is literally starving for attention.

He says that there is no food that he likes in the world.  This cannot possibly be true.  I believe that this symbolizes that there is nothing that he finds more rewarding in life than the attention of others.  He cannot be satisfied if he doesn’t have attention.  He seems to be going crazy over trying so hard to impress people.

He starves himself even after the crowd doesn’t want to see him starve anymore.  Even after he gets attention, the whole crowd cheers for him, and offers him food, it is still not enough for him.  He continues to try to get more out of the crowd by proving that he can fast even longer than they expected.  Then, he ends up not being satisfied with that crowd and decides to go to the circus and fast.

He believes that maybe there will be a better crowd of people that are interested in him at the circus.  He finds disappointment at the circus as well because people aren’t looking to watch someone dying just to get attention.  They want to see something lively and entertaining.  He still doesn’t give up trying to win them over.  He tries so hard that he eventually dies from starvation all because he wanted attention.

What depths would you go to in life to get attention?  How could someone let the pressure of being accepted take over their whole life?

Finding Neddy

“The Swimmer” has several examples of foreshadowing.  One of the examples is when Neddy visits one of his neighbors pools and they inform him that his wife has moved out and that his children are gone.  This foreshadowed that his wife and children really were gone when he returned home.  Another example of foreshadowing is when Neddy sees a storm coming.  I believe this foreshadows that something bad is on its way and that bad news is coming.  This seems to be true because after he sees the storm he gets bad news.  Another example of foreshadowing is that he is drinking a lot to get rid of all of his cares and worries and this ends up being part of the reason his wife and children leave.  So he ends up with even more problems than he had when he started drinking.  Another example of foreshadowing is that this all happened in one day and ended with him being at home alone.  I think this foreshadows at the end of his life he will be at home all alone because of his mistakes.  Another example is when he jumps in his mistress’s pool and when he returns home from that his wife is gone so that could also foreshadow that that is a reason she left.

 Class is important to the story because it gives you an idea of the community that the story is taking place in.  It tells you about how Neddy’s lifestyle would be.  All the neighbor’s pools were in-ground so they come across as upper class.  Everyone has parties with all the neighbors and knowing about class helps you picture what kind of parties they would be.  

Concealed handgun

I believe that adults should be allowed to have a concealed handgun.  The main reason people should have concealed handguns is because if criminals want to carry guns they are going to carry them anyway, regardless of the rules, so citizens should be able to carry guns in order to protect themselves.  Also, Procon.org states, “Criminals are less likely to attack someone that they believe might be armed.”  This is true.  If they know that you are armed they may not attack you.  If everyone was allowed to carry a concealed handgun then the criminals would not know who has a gun and who does not.  People might think it would be dangerous for everyone to have guns.  They claim it would cause more shootings.  I do not believe this to be true.  Shootings are going to happen either way, but if the innocent people had guns, then less people would die in the shootings.  Procon.org states, “The Apr. 20, 1999 Columbine High School massacre and Apr. 17, 2007 Virginia Tech shooting could have been ended and lives saved by an armed citizen shooting the assailants.”  This is true.  Those innocent people could have defended themselves if they were allowed to carry guns.  Obviously, there needs to be rules for people who are allowed to carry the guns, but overall it is a right citizens should have to protect themselves.

minimum wage

I believe that it is necessary to have minimum wage.  Without minimum wage every employer would pay at different rates.  It is different for every state but that is only because every state has different taxes and prices. 

Minimum wage ensures that everyone is getting paid for the work they do.  If one gets promoted to a higher position then a raise should be recieved by that person. That does not mean that everyone else should get paid more.  The person doing extra work or more important work should be able to recieve more than minimum wage. If only the work that comes with the job is being done, the pay should not exceed minimum wage.

No one should get paid less than minimum wage unless they are recieving tips.  If two people are doing the same job and one is recieving $8.50 an hour and the other is recieving $7.00 an hour that is unfair.  How can one recieve $1.50 more when the same job is being done?  Minimum wage laws are important for that reason especially. 

 

 

art education

In the Arts Education article I read about how art helps students improve their learning skills.  The article claims that art makes you smarter and can help you with other subjects.  I believe that schools should offer art, but I do not think that they should make the students take it.  It should strictly be an elective.

Classes such as band, music appreciation, and art help you improve skills such as creativity and imagination.  These are good things to learn; however, I do not believe that it should be required.  Subjects such as math, science, and English are far more important than subjects such as art.  You must know math in order to succeed in any career you have.  You do not need to know how to paint or play the drums in order to have a successful future.

Art and music makes school fun but you aren’t going to school to have fun.  In our school art and band are electives; however, colleges like to see those classes on your resume.  These classes make you a well-rounded person.  The article states that art should be incorporated into science and math but I believe that art has nothing to do with either of those subjects and should be kept separate.

You should take them if you have the extra space in your schedule, but if you do not then you should focus on math, science and reading.  You will do just fine in college without art and music experience.