Jefferson

From the passage I couldn’t really understand how Jefferson felt about race. I feel like he was describing the “black” persona and then stating how they were different from whites. On page 488 Jefferson writes, “it appears to me that in memory they are equal to the whites: in reason much inferior.” To me that isn’t a good sign. Even though he feels slaves should be free I think he is a white supremacist. He constantly points out how the blacks have a persona based sort of an animal instinct, and in lot of catagories that seem civil, like reason, blacks are inferior to whites.

In the picture I see a world that has evolved. We still have prejudices, but we have gotten to a point where white people and black people can live as equals. Now I’m not saying everything is perfect, because I know our country isn’t perfect, but this shows how white and blacks can get in a picture together and be equal. Both the white and black people come from Jefferson in some way, so this shows progress in the country. Jefferson’s way of thinking seems different from the photo. I feel that he was proposing the slaves not as equals as Americans but as living creatures. I don’t think he wanted to live among them as much as them be free. It seems to me that Jefferson would be happy with giving the slaves their own place to live separate of the whites. Overall I think Jefferson had a good and bad way of looking at blacks and whites. It was good that he wanted blacks to be freed, but I don’t like how he wants to put them out of the country. At the time it was a good way of thinking, so I feel that this was an important step in the emancipation of slaves.

Cora Tucker vs. Willy Lowman

Cora Tucker differs from Willy Lowman in a variety of ways. For one, their views on success are completely different. All of Cora’s life she’s believed that hard work and dedication is the way to succeed in anything. She grew up in a family with 8 brothers and sisters with only her mom. She watched her mom work so hard to succeed and provide for her family. Cora’s mom was so poorly educated that she didn’t even know how to get welfare support. As you can see from the beginning Cora had that mindset of working hard to succeed. Willy on the other hand believes that you must be well liked to succeed. By well liked I mean that someone likes you enough to give you a job, or a promotion. In Willy’s opinion it is not how well you do something, or how dedicated and hardworking you are. It is how many connections you have with people that are willing to help you based on how much they like you. Cora would totally disagree with that thought process. Cora thinks completely differently from Willy. Cora is quoted saying, “if you stop doing things because somebody says something bad about you or does something to you, then you’ll never get anything done” (RA p.364). By that quote you can tell how much perseverance she had. When Cora faced adversity she pushed through it. The difference between Cora and Willy is success, not only success gained, but how they define success. Cora is a successful person. She is well liked by many and hated by just as much. She wasn’t given handouts as a way to succeed, she “raised hell” as she puts it. She didn’t own land and a house because someone gave it to her. She worked as a seamstress for a large knit sportswear manufacturer. The conditions at this factory were tough. She states many women hurt their backs, and two women had heart attacks due to the work environment, and after all of this she worked there and saved 1,000 dollars each year for the first two years she was there. With that money she saved she bought land, the saved some more and bought a house, and she bought every piece of furniture with the money she earned. Her dream when she was younger was to buy her own house, and with hard work she completed this task. To me she has been successful throughout her life with helping in organizations and being involved in the community. With Willy he wants what he doesn’t have, and doesn’t believe that he can work for it. He believes that he needs a handout to succeed. When Willy doesn’t earn these handouts, then he feels like he fails, not only does he fail, but due to his son not being successful he failed as a father. Cora succeeded through hard work, and Willy failed through wanting to be “well liked.” In the end, Cora is the more successful person.

Emerson response

In Emerson's essay he believes that self reliance is the way to success. To him those who completely rely on themselves are the most successful. I completely disagree with his point of view. I see the most successful people are the ones who are guided and have helping hands along the way. It is not as easy as he makes it sound. You can't just rely on yourself and work hard an be successful. The world doesn't work like that. We have to rely on many people to help us advance ourselves. We rely on teachers to bus drivers to help us get our education. That to me is relying on someone else to gain success. Personally I need the guidance and support I get from my family, friends, teachers, and mentors. A world where you had to rely on one's self to become successful is a world I wouldn't want to live in. I believe it is a balance of self effeciency and the assistance of others that makes us successful.

Speech day 2- 2nd person- Brittney

The second person for the speeches I choose to write about is Brittney. Her charity was NSH MBA, although I don’t exactly remember what it stands for. Brittney seemed very prepared and had a well thought out and organized speech. She was passionate about her charity and she had good info to back it up. Overall I feel she had one of the best speeches in class. She had a good balance between both the pathos and ethos side of argument. I liked how she talked to us and not at us. I feel a lot of people didn’t talk to their audience but at them, which made their presentations not enjoyable, and quite boring to be honest. The language she used matched our age, which I feel is a good way to get our attention and it made her views easier to understand. Her charity was well supported with statistics and information, and I think she did a good job picking a charity she could relate to. The most important thing she did was keep the audiences attention, which made it easier to understand, listen, and care more about her charity. Overall Brittney’s speech was my favorite one to listen to, and she did a great job.

Speech day 2- 1st person- Maggie

I was absent for day 1 of speeches so I’m just going to do two people from day 2. The first person I want to respond to is Maggie. Maggie presentation was very energetic and entertaining. Her enthusiasm for her charity, Posse, was enjoyable because it kept me involved in her speech. It was easier for me to pay attention to her, than it was for me to pay attention to other peoples speeches. I don’t think she did the best job in stating her claim, and terms of rebuttal, but at the time I wasn’t thinking about that because she was so passionate about what she was saying. Because she made me listen I got more out of her speech than I did out of most of the class. I thought it was funny how she looked professional just for the speech. That was a really unique idea that I thought was a nice addition to her speech. I think that in a speech you’re not just representing your charity through their words, but also through their appearance. She had good quotes, and her speech flowed very well. Overall I believe she had a very effective speech.

Willy's views

Willy doesn’t believe in individual opportunity. Willy believes that you have to be “well liked” to be successful. He says well liked because people can be like but still not be liked enough to get ahead in life. To him you must be really liked so you have more advantages given to you from people with the power. He disagrees with that philosophy, but to him it’s how life is. He has been working for his company for so long that he new the original owner, but yet he still isn’t in a powerful position. He’s put his time and hard work and someone else comes and takes what he believes is rightfully his just because they’re liked more. This is important because you get an understanding of how he feels and you know why he seems so miserable. He wants so badly to be successful and he works hard, but no matter how hard her tries he can’t achieve it. He believes that it’s impossible for him to succeed unless he’s well liked. For his case in the play that’s true, but I believe it is not this way in real life. Sometimes people do get ahead not by hard work but a hand out, but for the most part people get ahead by hard work and dedication.

Upper and lower class

In the essay the argument is that the rich exploit the poor. Even though this was the intended argument, the essay, to me, was more showing the difference between the rich and the poor. The part where the author uses the building blocks as a symbol for upper class, middle class, and lower class really put the gap of the classes in perspective, but it doesn’t show how the upper class exploits the lower class.

The author could’ve made a lot stronger argument if he would’ve used examples or more data. The author doesn’t use much ethos in his argument. He focused on the pathos hitting your emotional side, which makes you forget about the issue at hand and if he is actually making a good argument.

Overall it wasn’t a well written argument for what he wanted to say, but it does show you how much of a gap there is between the upper and lower classes and the advantages of being wealthy to begin with and how we always don’t get to chose or class.

Stephen Cruz

Stephen Cruz believes the definition of the American Dream is constantly changing over time, and that it has problems. For one, he believes that it is based off of fear and power rather than hard work and determination. The other problem is that the “dream” is being changed by a small group of individuals rather than everyone. I disagree with his reasoning. He is wrong when saying that only a small group is changing the dream and also that it is based off of fear and power. He is generalizing who is in control. For him it is the wealthy, and that they believe in controlling through fear and power. I believe that the “dream” hasn’t changed. The American Dream is what you want it to be; it is more of a titled opinion about America. Everyone has his or her own opinion. His argument isn’t persuasive or relevant. He entered the work force in the 1960s and thought he was experiencing the “dream.” During this time it was the height of the Civil Rights Movement. Even though he was wrong in thinking that he was more skilled than another, and that he only got the job because of his ethnicity, but if anything that should strengthen his belief of the American Dream. This occurrence it shows change in how our society was and how success was becoming more of a reality for everyone and not just a group. The American Dream is still alive in us today. It is an opinion about the opportunities of America, and as long as you believe in it, it exists.