Writing

After the miscommunication between Richard and Granny, Granny told Richard he must pray for the sake of his soul. One day when Richard was supposed to be praying, he remembered some Indian history he had read and decided to write a story about that. Even though he realized his story was lacking some major elements, he was proud of himself for accomplishing something. He said, "But I had never in my life done anything like it; I had made something, no matter how bad it was; and it was mine." He then wanted to show it to someone and he chose the woman living next dooring knowing his family would not approve. His neighbor did not understand why he wrote it, and it makes him feel powerful because he did something that someone didn't understand. He has affirmed himself by writing, and this is the beginning of Wright using writing to make sense of the world.

Paralysis

Richard's views and feelings toward life in general change a lot after his mother suffers 2 strokes, the first one leaving her paralyzed. The first time, his neighbors help him take care of his mother, but he also decides to write a letter to Granny to help him. He is anxious for Granny to arrive, and "when she came, I gave up, letting her handle things, answering questions automatically, obeying, knowing that somehow I had to face things alone. I withdrew into myself." He "went through the days with a stunned consciousness, unable to believe what had happened". He also says, "The utter loneliness was now terrifying. I had been suddenly thrown emotionally upon my own." Wright is distraught when he comes to the realization he is on his own. Although he is scared because he has never had this type of responsibility, he refuses to accept food from other people even though he needs it because he is ashamed. When Wright's mother has a second stroke, she is taken away, and at this point, Wright realizes that his mother is out of his life completely. His mother suffers a lot, but he is still allowed to see her. Her illness becomes accepted in a way that they realize nothing can be done. His mother's suffering becomes a symbol in his mind for many negative aspects of the world. 

Cultural Heritage

While Wright's mother and Aunt Maggie worked all day cooking for white families, he and his brother were left at home to do whatever pleased them. They were given money everyday and each day they went to a grocery owned by a Jew. He had never seen a Jew in his life up until this point and says "the proprietor of the corner grocery was a strange thing in my life". He says that people in his neighborhood hated Jews not because of the way they were treated by them, but instead because Sunday school taught them that Jews were "Christ killers". Jews were seen as a separate group from them and they singled them out and ridiculed them in ways such as chanting rude things. Wright and other kids were taught to hate Jews by their parents and that it was part of their "cultural heritage". Wright had seen many bad things happen to black people, such as Hoskins getting killed for no reason, and doesn't trust white people and he's kind of used to bad treatment of other people. Also, because blacks were the victims of this hatred, they needed a scapegoat. Black parents and children didn't see any harm in this because of how they are treated.  

Hunger

Wright is physically hungry for food. When his father left his family, there was no food for Wright's family to eat until his mother got a job as a cook for a white family. Even then he was not given enough food to satisfy him. He was allowed to go to work with his mother and was allowed the have scraps if there were any. Also, he didn't understand why he couldn't have the food his mother was cooking and that bothered him. Wright's hunger often consumes his thoughts, and he associated hunger with his father which caused a dislike, among other factors, towards him. Wright is hungry for other things not physical. Based on his behaviors, such as lighting the house on fire or hanging around bars, he needs to be occupied. He is often bored and it seems like he wants attention, someone to care for him, or somewhere where he belongs. He doesn't seem content which is apparent from his impulse or risky behaviors early on to the way he feels when lived at the orphanage.

School

As much as I dislike having to go to school at times, I think it is needed. Gatto does make valid points, but I think school has many positive aspects that shouldn't be thrown away just because of the negatives. The first aspect he lists is the adaptive function which causes people to obey authority without judgment. This does often happen, although not with everyone, and can be negative. However, learning to obey authority in a way where people still make their own choices is important. Another part of school is the integrating function in which people learn to conform. Conformity in a way is important for some level of functioning, but I agree with Gatto's stance that it is bad because it can cause people to lose their true identity. The diagnostic and directive function, as he states, determines a student's role and the differentiating function determines a student's role and how they are treated based on their determined role. I think that this definitely occurs, but that is unfortunate. In terms of the selective function, I think it's true, but I'm not sure what I think about it. As bad as it sounds, society needs people to do the less desirable jobs. The aspects of school that Gatto lists are generally true and some are damaging. However, the benefits, such as an education and other nonacademic skills acquired, are more important.

Nonacademic Education

I think that the nonacademic education that we receive is really important. I don't think that school is all about getting good grades or learning math or other facts because there's more to life than just doing homework and trying to get As. In school, people learn a lot socially which is an important factor for your whole life, unlike, for example, learning math or random facts. In order to keep a job, one has to know how to deal with varying social situations. Another part that's important is responsibility that goes along with going to school, although people display it at different levels. I think that learning social skills and responsibility are some of the most important and beneficial. Mann talks about other aspects of the nonacademic education such as physical, political, religious, and moral education. Physical education is important so that people can keep themselves healthy. Also, I think that political and religious education is important so that people can make informed decisions on what they believe and stand for. Although these are important, out of the things that Mann lists, moral education is the most important along with social skills and responsibility. Students are influenced by these nonacademic topics, and it is probably usually good. However, in some cases I think it could be bad, but whether or not it's good or bad is based completely on personal views and can vary person to person.

More Presentations

A lot of people used stores as examples of rhetoric, but there were a lot of advertisements too. Mallory talked about how Victoria's Secret arranges their store to attract people. She also compared Gap Body to Victoria's Secret and the different messages they send and how they attract different people, which I thought was interesting. An advertisement that I thought was kind of weird was the beer ad with the pregnant woman. Yes, it was nonalcoholic, but I just thought it was kind of odd to try to attract pregnant women to drink even though it wasn't dangerous. I guess I would think pregnant women would be really interested other things instead of finding something to drink that was safe while they're pregnant. Who knows... I'm not them. Even though it was kind of weird, the shock of the picture catches people's attention.

Rhetoric Out on the Town Presentations

I thought that a lot of people had good ideas and examples of rhetoric. I didn't think of anything other than advertisements as examples, and I liked how other people thought of less obvious and more creative examples. For example, the one of Victoria's Secret and other stores at Clay Terrace were good examples of rhetoric in how they attract certain types of people to sell their product. Also, I liked the billboard for The Economist because it was an interesting idea and a good way to catch people's attention to get them to become more interested. I also thought that the MTV one with the election was good because MTV's audience is young and the picture showed younger people and diversity, which makes it appealing to a larger audience. I'm interested to see what other types of examples of rhetoric people found.  

Presentations

I thought that the commercials were all pretty good. It seemed like all of them used humor in some way to appeal to people. The one that stuck out in my mind was the one for iBall. The product itself is pretty much worthless, but the way it was presented was really humorous and if the iBall had any value, I would buy it because of the commercial. The commercials were directed at high school students, and what the iBall would provide would be appealing to students. The examples of what it could be used for were presented in a funny way, but were somewhat valid. The hat emporium commercial was similar to this because it showed different uses for hats and had humor which both make the commercial more appealing and effective. 

Pottery Barn

I agree with what most of the article said. However, it made it seem like all it takes to create a successful business is one person with good ideas. The article says, "At Pottery Barn, there are no panels of focus groups and no teams of market researchers. To create a powerful lifestyle brand, Tejada says, you must first have a life. And the consequences of dodging one's responsibility to eat, drink, and merry can be severe. "I tell my team, 'You will not get promoted or rewarded for working 20 hours a day,'" she says, her voice firm as a headmistress addressing an unruly class." She says that there are no market researchers of panels of focus groups, and that she encourages her staff to go to restaurants and other places to observe. Although that may be somewhat different from more traditional market researchers, that is market research and is how they create products that people want to buy. The people who run Pottery Barn and other similar stores know how to get people to buy their product, and have even tried to appeal to other audiences such as children and teens. If they can make it seem like what they're selling is the best, people will buy it even if it is overpriced. As the article says, "But while customers may be reluctant to pull the trigger for a $1,400 red-leather club chair, no matter how delicious, they're still willing to spring for a $34 flowered pillow of pay $42 for a great set of wineglasses." Young and affluent people, such as the recently married lawyer and marketing director, are willing to spend whatever is necessary to get what they see as the perfect product. 

Environment

The environment of a store has a big influence on what you buy and varies depending on the type of store. For example, in high end stores that sell expensive jewelry and clothing are usually open and spaced out. The way in which the items are displayed, such as jewelry in nice cases, and the way in which items are placed gives a sense of elegance. Openly spaced stores often appear to be of a high quality. Walmart, for example, does not have a nice or high end appearance and the type of store it is and its prices reflect that. The way in which a store is decorated also has an influence. In a store for kids, the colors could be brighter whereas a store directed at older customers would be more conservative. Another example is that many stores put "impulse buys" right next to or near the cash register. At the grocery check out, there are items such as candy and drinks and some people will buy these items just because they're waiting and have nothing else to do. These items are inexpensive, but have a high mark up. Overall, stores create an environment or appearance geared towards the types of people who go to their store so that they have a better chance of making a profit.

Super Bowl Commercials

The commercials that stuck out most to me were beer commercials probably because there were a lot of them. The two that I saw were towards the beginning and were for Bud Light. The first starts out by saying that Bud Light is the beer that has everything one wants including the ability to breathe fire.  one showed a man and a women having dinner together. The man had a bottle of beer and the woman was about to light two candles. The man said he could do it and fire came out of his breath, lighting the candles and the woman was impressed. He then asks if she has a cat and starts sneezing which lights other things, almost including the cat, on fire. It then goes to a picture of Bud Light saying that it no longer gives fire breathing abilities, but the taste still remains. The commercial uses humor to appeal to people and is directed at males. The second one shows a wine party. The guy walks in with a large piece of cheese and goes in the kitchen to put it down. He walks in and there are a bunch of other guys. Hidden inside the cheese is a pack of Bud Light. Another guy then reveals a hidden bottle inside a baguette. The thirds guy has a something that has wine inside it, but it's actually a TV. It's directed at males because they can relate to a situation where their wife has a party that they don't want to be part of. Like the other commercial, it is also humorous. 

Class Discussion

I was somewhat surprised to people's reactions mostly because I had different opinions. A lot of the conversation seemed to be about how Kilbourne exaggerated in her examples. Even though she did exaggerate, I still agree with her opinion. What the discussion focused on was a lot different than what I got from the article. I think one of her main points was that women are being dehumanized and that males think that they are superior to females. It gives males power and control which sometimes leads to abuse or violence. I can see where males would be offended by this, and even though this is not true in all situations, it does happen. Kilbourne didn't focus a lot on how males are portrayed, but in my opinion, there isn't that much to focus on. I personally don't see the way males are portrayed causing females to feel superior and act violently or rape someone. The discussion was sort of frustrating because people interrupted and talked over each other. Also, some people didn't seem willing to look at things from a different perspective, which is kind of unproductive.