Douglas

He is saying that he has no freedom on a day where freedom is celebrated throughout the United States. Not only does he not feel free, he says that the fourth of July demonstrates the differences between blacks and whites. He says, "The sunlight that brought light and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn." He appeals to one's emotion by trying to project his own emotions on the reader. He does not provide any logic or facts to support his opinion, and his argument appeals only to emotion.

Causes of Prejudice

I agree with the way that Parrillo describes prejudices are formed. He presents several different theories that have been proven correct by studies. Parents, peers, experiences, and environment, or socialization, all have a big impact of development of prejudice. For example, someone who grows up with with parents who are racists and verbalize or act on those beliefs has a higher chance of agreeing with that and continuing to pass those views on to their children. When people in a certain social class feel that their security is threatened and they are able to blame it on another social class, they will act out against that opposing class. The acting out of one class on another is economic competition. Non-Jewish people feel threatened by Jewish people because of the stereotype that Jews are better with business than non-Jews. Society has widespread beliefs on a class level. For example, Chinese are good at math. Even though this is not necessarily a negative prejudice, it makes people feel threatened and prejudices are formed.

Jefferson

The picture and the essay give different messages. The essay makes it seem like Jefferson think blacks are inferior in every way, but the picture shows blacks and whites living together in acceptance of each other. The way history is taught today portrays Jefferson as more accepting of blacks than other people in his time. In fact, he wanted his slaves released when he died. His essay was written to display common aristocratic views of his time. Even though Jefferson did agree with society about their inferiority, he does speak about them with sensitivity and caring by implying even though they are inferior, it's not their fault that they're that way. He tries to make both sides lives better by suggesting to separate the two races. His views are obtained primarily because of the low position of slavery in society.

Emerson

Emerson talks about how self-trust is crucial for success. He says that it important to stand up for and speak of what you believe. He says, "A man is relieved and gay when he has put his heart into his work and done his best; but what he has said or done otherwise, shall give him no peace." He also makes a point about how man should not be a conformist which goes along with self-trust and how one should not worry about what other people think. I do agree that self-trust and standing up for what you believe is important. However, some people do fear others reactions and do not always stand up for their beliefs. Self-trust in a way that someone is comfortable with him or herself is important even if one doesn't verbalize it. I do agree with what he says is needed to be successful, but I do not think it's easy.

Presentations

I liked Nick's speech because he presented it well to his audience. I like how he started off by taking a poll and tying it into his organization because it tried to make you relate to those who benefit from Big Brothers Big Sisters. He did a good job appealing to people's emotions by using different stories and had good statistics and descriptions of what the organization does. His presentation stuck out in my mind because of how he presented his organization and put me in a position to think about it.

Presentations

The speech that had the biggest impact to me was Alex's. He started off by making us thinking about what it would be like if we were in a bad situation which caught my attention from the beginning. He described Goodwill's purpose and what they do along with examples and good statistics. He appeared to know what he was talking about and was confident which made what he said more believable.

Persuasive Speech

I chose United Way for my organization because it provides many different services that cater to different groups of people. There has also been some controversy over this organization which would be interesting to research.

Horatio Alger

Alger's myth could be "interred" by showing what actually happens in reality. Myths are challenged by showing their inaccuracy or faults by exposing and making what actually happens a more powerful image. Although an image of a successful person who came from a more difficult background creates a happier picture, an image of a person living in poverty is also powerful even if it does have a more negative feel. However, making the image of a person living in poverty stick is difficult because reality is often less appealing and people choose to pay attention to the more appealing and believe what they want to believe.

Roger and Me

In the documentary, a more realistic situation was portrayed. It is much easier to ignore a problem than actually fix it and that is what was shown. People were given things such as a theater and an amusement part to distract themselves from the real problem. Nothing was being solved or fixed. The consequences of ignoring the problem were also pointed out by showing what people had to do to make money such as the woman selling bunnies. "Ragged Dick" gives off a better feeling and has a typical storybook ending. Although this does occur in the real world at times, I think that the first situation occurs more often. "Roger and Me" is more realistic in my opinion, but I think that most people would rather have what was presented in "Ragged Dick" to be reality.