Entry 12 --> Play

Children are the future and the future is being deprived of its most basic necessities. Everyone knows that children grow up and become adults; the children become the new workers. Throughout my years of schooling I was always asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I learned who I was while out experiencing the world but children are now being restricted from going outside by both parents and teachers. Parents fear the dangers children would face while playing outside, whether it be because of a dangerous neighborhood or fear of a broken leg a child is restricted from experiencing the world for what it truly is because of risk factor.I find it interesting that a child can learn so much by simply playing outside yet they are prevented from playing because parents and teachers are fearful of there safety.

Entry 11 --> Free Write

Though the ruling class owns almost all media outlets, it is actually the consumer that holds the better cards. The consumer can change the culture of its society at any given time. If the consumer doesn't buy a product produced by the ruling class then the product is discontinued because profit isn't being made. Consumers in reality are the ruling class, they can destroy a corporation by merely refusing to buy product. If the company doesn't receive an income from its consumers then it will ultimately fall. Just as a media outlets can fall if their ratings aren't profitable. When a ruling class falls there is always a new ruling class to rise in its place. It is a constant cycle, and the rising of a new ruling class brings a new set of ideas. When a new set of ideas take root a new culture is formed, signs and images shift, and the meanings behind the images change. This society flourishes for a time and then falls.

Entry 10 --> Kaboom Quote

“The play deficit is exacerbated by the ever present fear of legal liability.” –Darell Hammond (KABOOM! Pg.223)

Hammond is able to show how twisted society has become by stating the quote above. It is shocking that an adult would sue the facilities helping to develop a child’s mind, but it happens. Hammond discusses a situation in which two women held residency next to a preschool. The women were beginning to get irritated because the children were playing too loudly; so they sued the school. In the end of the court case the women were the ones to prevail. There are other cases in which a child would be playing on the playground and they’d get hurt; so the parent would take their anger out on the developers of the playground. The parent would win in court and the schools would lessen playtime in fear of another lawsuit. It is situations like these which cripple a child’s ability to further develop his or her minds and the legal system is helping this happen.

Entry 9 --> KABOOM!

Jumping off a tower….that is the very first memory of play I have. Me and my friends built a giant mound of sand and then we would climb to the top of a tower on the playground. We would then jump off of the tower into the pile of sand. I remember how scared I was when I had all my friends egging me on to jump. Of course I had to please my little kindergarten friends; so I jumped. When my friend saw that I had no broken bones they all followed and we all continuously jumped from the tower into a giant pile of sand. Darell Hammond (author of KABOOM!) says moments of play like these are crucial to a child’s development. I would have to agree, after all why would I have remembered such a memory if it didn't have some important meaning behind it. These moments of play were crucial to my development, teaching me to be courageous and to take risks.

Entry 8 -->Food Inc.

Food Inc. is a documentary that informs the public on what they are consuming. I would have to say Robert Kenner (producer of food inc.) was successful in informing the public on the issue of mass food production. This mass production of food harms the health of the American people. After watching Food Inc. I found myself rummaging through my kitchen trying to find all the genetically mutated foods I had the habit of eating. Kenner aided me in understanding the process in which our food is created and I came to find that about 70% of our meat is sanitized with ammonia because it carries so many harmful bacteria’s. By the end of the cleaning process this meat looks like cardboard and it’s stored in un-refrigerated boxes. I thank Kenner for his moving documentary because without it I would probably still be walking into a Wal-Mart somewhere and I wouldn't know what was in the food I was buying. Many people are uneducated in this subject and their lack of understanding is what is allowing these companies to stay in business.

Entry 7 -->The Cove

The sun rises and with it follows the wild dolphins. They gracefully leap out of the ocean; their cries can be heard from the shore, and the locals know what follows these horrific shrieks. It is in Taiji, Japan where one can hear these shrieks; Rick O’ Berry (a former dolphin trainer) discovered this underground trade that slaughter thousands of dolphins in hopes of selling their meat and teamed up with director Louie Psihoyos to develop the film The Cove. The Cove unveils the cover-ups and arrogance of people failing to take responsibility for the inhumane slaughter of thousands of dolphins every year. The Cove made me realize how many things can easily be hidden from the public, and if a person doesn't seek an answer for himself then he will never receive the whole truth.

Entry 6 -->Is Google Making Us Stupid? By NICHOLAS CARR

The purpose of Nicholas Carr’s essay is to inform his readers on the effects of internet use. Carr takes a cynical approach, stating that “what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation.” Carr makes it known that he utilizes the internet and it is very beneficial to his work (writing) but the effects of being dependent on information provided by the net has done more harm than it had done good. What surprised me in Carr’s article was his evidence of these media effects, men who lived during the 1800’s were discussing effects which hardly were visible at their times. I have always been interested in the effects of technology on people; it seems to me that almost every argument given for a positive outlook on technology can be refuted. I don’t believe that technology is bad, I simply believe that technology is being abused by its creators and users; therefore making it harmful to its people.

Entry 5---> “Kwabena Boahen on a Computer that Works like a Brain”

Kwabena Boahen, a professor of Bioengineering at Stanford University is favored for his research on computer technology. Through his research he has given many the ability to understand how computers process their information. When presenting his findings Boahen reveals that computer processors are inefficient compared to the human brain. The human brain can process the same amount of information as the world’s largest computer and it can do this with less energy! Instead of utilizing a constant flow of energy like a computer, the brain uses sparks of electricity which flow throughout a neuron and transfer memory into the brain. Even though humans attempt to absorb so much information from a computer, I find it ironic that it is the computer which is attempting to learn from the humans. Researchers much like professor Boahen are trying to duplicate the process in which the human brain processes information and they are attempting to form a computer which processes information through the form in which a human brain processes its information. Boahen was able to do this with the human eye. Boahen created a mechanical eye developed for the computer; understanding that pictures are developed through rods and cones located in the human eye, Boahen manipulated this system and developed a number code which the computer would be able to comprehend. The eye is still in its developing stages but as Boahens research progresses so will his mechanical eye. The understanding of how to develop efficient computer is coming to an end and with that end will come a new era of computer technology.

Entry 4 ---> Society

Are we really a society of free people? It must be my Humanities class that is getting to my head because I wonder if we can call our society (The United States) a free one. We make decisions on things like what career we want and which shoes we will buy, but is their a corporation that is telling us to buy that pair of shoes? Turns out there are 6 companies which control 90% of the media (what we read, watch, and listen to) received in the U.S. These companies are Viacom, Time Warner, CBS, Disney, NewsCorp, and GE. NewsCorp owns the top newspaper on 3 continents. North America is one of those continents. These companies control 70% of cable, and 80% of radio stations; these percentages continue to rise.  So when you are listening to the radio and you hear that the stock market has dropped by 300 points and a second after that announcement is made you hear the announcement that Justin Bieber has broken up with Selena Gomez, you can thank one of the 6 companies which owns that station. The average American watches about 35 hour of television per week. Instead of molding our own ideas, ideas and ideals are molded for us. You watch a Victoria secret model and hear sensual music playing in the background and a woman believes this is the standard she must meet and a man believes this is the woman he needs under his arm, but in reality the advertisement was made to sell a product. In the eyes of these corporate giants we are just a bunch of consumers; it is the job of each American individual to be an innovator and producer of new ideas. If we no longer mold our own ideas then i don't believe we can have the privilege of calling ourselves a free society. 

Entry 3 --> Mother Tongue, by Amy Tan

When thinking of the English language, a writer see’s a -e -i -o -u and sometimes y; they see grammar and sentence structure. Amy Tan, author of The Joy Luck Club makes it apparent that when writing there are other audiences who are unaccustomed to proper grammar. Taking advantage of her extensive knowledge on the subject, Tan is able to provide the example of her mother. Tans mother was born in China and speaks what most would call “broken English”. Tans tone is very analytical, as if she is attempting to have some form of an epiphany. She realizes her mother speaks “broken English”, but she also understands that language varies, and a person may speak “broken English” but they are completely capable of understanding the language in its grammatical form.  Tan comes to the realization that critiques don’t matter, but more the audience matters. The audience for Tans book was her mother and people who speak “broken English”. Tan discovered her books success when hearing the opinion of her mother who stated “so easy to read”, and that was all Tan could have asked for.

Entry 2 -->Once More to the Lake by E. B. White

     Through E.B White’s short story, the readers find themselves jumping between past and present. Haunted by his memories, the protagonist heads back to a lake in hopes of rekindling the flames of old memories. As an excuse for this spontaneous trip, the antagonist brings his son along for the ride. When the father reaches the lake with his son, a surreal tone seems to encompass the authors story. As the antagonists memories become more vivid the reader is lured into this dreamlike state and the memories are painted clearer for the reader. The purpose of this story is to present this father taking his son on a trip to his childhood lake of memories, and when he arrives he is no longer the father; but instead the son. Every move his son makes reminds him of a new memory until he finds himself no longer in the present but in the past; he watches his sons every move and in his dream like state relives his past. Even though time has aged him he finds himself a kid once again, realizing just because you have left your memories doesn’t mean you have forgotten them.

Entry 1 -->"Champion of the World" by Maya Angelou

The author of the story paints a vivid picture of what it was like for the African American people in a time of oppression and discrimination. How the black community joins as one at Uncle Willie's store, to listen to a boxing match.In the time period this book was written in, a black person could not speak their minds; so they showed their strength quietly. A hero to his people....Joe Louis finds himself in a boxing match with a white man.If he beats this man it would bring hope to the black community, it is like sticking it to the white man; and proves that they are no better than the African American race.The tone presented in this text is very tense.You can hear the anticipation to find the outcome of the match thru the writers words. The author wants the reader to understand how important this moment of history was to the black community.She wants us to understand how monumental it was. The writer even says...after Joe Louis won the fight, the black people knew it wouldn't be a good idea to travel home that night.This is because the white people would be furious to know that their guy had been defeated by a black man and someone had to pay.