Civil Cents

America the Beautiful

I found Dinesh D'Souza's essay, "America the Beautiful: What We're Fighting For," to be really interesting. I would agree with D'Souza, just like anything in life, America must be united to come out victorious. He mentions that "In order to win, Americans need to believe that they are on the side of the angels." Also saying further on, "Americans cannot succeed unless they are convinced that they are fighting on behalf of the good." I basically agree to this thinking. I believe that when America believes that our side is correct and good this is what unifies us and will ultimately bring us victory.
I found it very interesting how D'Souza brought up the point how far behind the Islamic world is. I have always thought of their wealth in oil, but I have never stopped to think how the world never sees any other contribution come from that area of the world.
Isn't amazing how a people can cause so much death and destruction in the name of God. That has never made sense to me. I just cannot imagine a God who would want His people to destroy another. I felt that D'Souza gave a lot of great information, however I would have liked him to go into a little further the view of non-fundamental Muslims. For example, if fundamental Muslims terrorize because what it said in the Koran, what is non-fundamental Muslims view. He touched a little on it, but it didn't leave me with a full understanding of their belief.

Grammar #6

I have been having trouble coming up with a good thesis and introductory paragraph for my research paper so I decided to look further into how to form a thesis when writing a pro/con paper. Term Paper Edge.com (http://www.erraticimpact.com/cyberedit/termpapers1.asp) teaches this:

The Thesis

The thesis statement is the single most important aspect of your paper; it is, essentially, the justification for its very existence. A good thesis sentence should contain:

1. Your basic argument

2. The blueprint for the organization of your supporting details

Developing the Argument

Topic versus statement - At the outset of your brainstorming, you will likely first decide on a topic for your paper; namely, the particular subject you plan to address in response to the assignment. Your job in formulating a thesis is to find a specific statement to make about that topic.

Specifically-In writing your statement, be sure to say exactly what you're arguing- do not make a broad generalization. Your reader should know from your thesis what your specific arguments are, not just roughly what they prove. Also, take into account the length you intend your paper to be. In the space of six pages, for example, you can't thoroughly discuss the effects of, say. World War II on America, but you might be able to analyze one aspect of its impact on a specific industry or social group.

Framing your paper - In addition to stating your argument, your thesis should give an indication of the particular components thereof. Though it is not necessary for you to include the gist of each subsequent topic sentence in your thesis, it is important that the basic prongs of your over-arching idea be addressed.

Grammar Post #5

I didn't even know about "to be" verbs before we talked about it in class, and now that I've been enlightened I can see how much I use them. I use them way too much. Here is how Trent Lorcher ( http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/14427.aspx) said to eliminate "to be" verbs in your writing.

Strategies for Eliminating Be Verbs

1) Change the be verb to a strong verb:

Example: Tony is afraid of notebook checks.

Tony fears notebook checks.

Example: Billy is alarmed by the proximity of the shark.

Billy motors away from the shark.

2) Eliminate the be verb by writing one or more showing sentence.

Example: Alligators are mean.

The alligator, angry at being disturbed, lurched forward and swallowed the boy's cat. Unsatisfied, the grouchy gator swam circles around the screaming toddler, showing all the while the kitten's severed head.

3) Combine sentences to eliminate the be verb.

Example: The inefficient time manager is unfulfilled. He heads to bed, disappointed, despite having finished his to do list.

The inefficient time manager heads to bed, unfulfilled, having checked everything off on his unprioritized to do list.

4) Eliminate the entire sentence if its omission does not change the meaning of the passage.

5) Leave the be verb if changing it alters the meaning,diminishes the passage, or makes the structure unworkable.

I'm Black, You're White

I found Shelby Steele's, "I'm Black, You're White, Who's Innocent?," a hard read. Hard, meaning it didn't hold my attention. I didn't like the spin he put on racial issue, his theory of innocence vs guilt did not hold true for me. I didn't agree how he says that the "racial struggle in America has always been primarily a struggle for innocence." Obviously I experience the world a lot different than someone who is of a different race, however I don't agree with Steele. I thought that his example of when he was twelve years old watching the "racist" is a prime example that a person sees what they want to see, and that goes with anything in life: hatred, stereotypes, self criticism, goodness, and etc.
I would also disagree with his perception of why The Cosby Show was such a great hit. I don't think that Bill Cosby is a great "bargainer." I don't think that the show's "white" audience liked the show because they knew that "Cosby will never assault their innocence with racial guilt." The show was popular because it was a great show. It was well written, it had a great cast, it was funny, and Bill Cosby was and is a funny, great guy who we all enjoy watching. My family and I always watched The Cosby Show every Thursday night while I was growing up, granted I was a little girl, but I can promise that we never watched it because Cosby was telling us that we are ok and this black man was not going to challenge us.

Two Ways A Woman Can Get Hurt

I don't understand what this world is coming to. Why is it ok for companies, like Calvin Klein, to have advertisements with children in their underwear jumping around? Than, there is the ads where little girls are dressed to look like a seductive woman. One thing that Kilbourne did not bring up in her essay, "Two Ways A Woman Can Get Hurt," is the parents of these children in these ads. We, as the American society, should not be allowing companies to advertise in a way that degrades men, women, and especially children. Our society has a certain level of responsibility, however the sole responsibility lies with indidivual families and parents. I cannot imagine watching my child being photographed in such away that is obviousily suppose to give a seductive feel. Why are these kids parents allowing them to be a part of these ads?
Why is it that Calvin Klein produces an ad that exploits and the sales go through the roof? Shouldn't it be the other way around? When a company produces an ad that has a gun pointing to a symbol of a woman with the b***** on it, shouldn't we all boycott that company so heavily that it may cause it to go bankrupt? I agree with Kilbourne that some of these ads exploits women and children, but the bottom line is that the fault mostly falls to the American society. These huge companies spend millions of dollars to sale us their product, and if we were to never put up with ads like these there would be no way that these type of ads would ever be used. It is because America accepts it and allows them to advertise it that way that these even exist.

Grammar #4

As I have been doing my rhetorical essay I was unsure if I should put quotation marks or italicize the title of the essay I writing about. This is the answer I found out on Yahoo Answers (http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090423012200AAhZVGf)

You use quotation marks to set off certain titles, usually those of minor or short works -- essays, short stories, short poems, songs, articles in periodicals, etc. For titles of longer works and separate publications, you should use italics (or underlined, if italics are not available).

Use italics for titles of books, magazines, periodicals, newspapers, films, plays, long poems, long musical works, and television and radio programs.