It's a Melting Pot, Don't Ya Know???

The United States has always been a mash-up of cultures-even before it was established! Because so many cultures have traveled here to enjoy the opportunity that many of us still take for granted, our own culture, rather than assimilating them to fit our standards, changes itself. Evidence of this is a simple food court at a mall. At such locations, you will find Asian-inspired food, Mexican-inspired food, and sometimes even German-inspired food. The American melting pot kind of defines our own culture. Because our country was established by others, we didn't necessarily have the thousands of years enjoyed by others to establish our own defined culture. Instead, we borrowed from others. Well, I guess you could say our "true" culture is that of the Native Americans. But we kind of destroyed most of them, so they were only able to add a small amount of their culture to our great melting pot.
Because our culture is such a uniquely integrated product of so many others, it is no wonder that we can spread our wealthy influence around the world. The good thing about McDonalds is that it is universally liked. Almost everybody likes it. And it's simple. And it's the same everywhere. Our large corporations are unique and successful because of our melting pot status. Because we have a hub of cultures, we know what appeals to almost all of them. Therefore, we can create large corporations that work well to appeal to the masses.

World View

My position in the world is probably the greatest factor in deciding how I see it. I am a nineteen year old white male, attending a large, public university in the south. This tells me several things. I most likely come from a family with a good amount of money-at least upper-middle class. Either that or I am an extremely bright student with many scholarships. Unfortunately, it is the former. But anyway, it also tells me that I probably come from a republican family, which I do. Also, because I am male, I have a greater opportunity to earn higher positions in the world (statistically speaking). Obviously I could make assumptions about myself all day long. Some would be right and some would be wrong, but the fact is that society shapes much of who and what we are. It also shapes what we do, how we act, who we like, and what we like. For example, a child born into destitute is probably more likely to either not go to college or to drop out of high school than a child born into a wealthy family. Even though both children have a chance to succeed, the wealthy child will see the world as his her own. The poor child is more likely to simply give up. A child in China is given much less of a chance than one born in America. For them, it's either be a patty farmer, or become a successful business man. Our position in the world determines everything.

Chapter 7

Avoiding Plagiarism
To avoid plagiarism, you need to know how to actually use sources. Sources are not meant to provide all the information in a paper or rhetorical analysis. If this was the case, there would be no need to write the piece in the first place. The purpose of writing is to create, contribute, and learn. Think about the information you have gathered, and use it for your own argument. For my essay, I am writing about the change in religion over time in relation to the growth of science (roughly). For a search for a source, I wouldn't type "the change in religion over time in relation to the growth of science" into a search engine. If I did, and somehow miraculously came up with a result, I wouldn't really be able to use it. It would be too similar to my paper. What more could I say? Assuming that the source is thorough, not much. The key is to find sources that will contribute, and to take notes on these sources. For example, If I find a source on the Enlightenment, I would write down some of the points describing religion in the Enlightenment from that source. I would also search the source for other information that could be linked to the religious movements of the time.

Women and Men

There are many texts that cover this area of issues. These texts focus on any and every aspect of life that is seen as belonging only to men. Today, girls must be involved in sports and video games too. The common side of this argument- the one that is publicly and openly supported, is that women must be brought into these worlds. It seems only fair to include them in something that we love to do. Because we love to do it. Why shouldn't women be included in our fun stuff? But privately, I think that most guys dislike the idea of having women participate in activities that we love. There are several reasons for this. The first reason is because most guys want to get away from girls every now and then. This isn't to say that they're homosexuals or anything, but in order to feel the male camaraderie that we all need, women can't be included. We need our "guy time" to grow and feel connected to those similar to us. Women do the same thing with "girl nights" and shopping trips. The difference between guy time and girl time is that girls ALWAYS want to be a part of guy time. Guys, however, feel no need to go shopping. Another reason why guys don't want to have girls involved in sports or video games is because they are afraid that a girl will beat them. This would be the most embarrassing thing in the world.

Chapter 5

Chapter 5 deals with finding sources, how to cite found sources, how to use sources, how to evaluate the validity of sources, and how to record research in a log. In my high school, we had to do a "Senior Project," which included a research paper. So I have some experience with researching and writing papers. One thing that will be new to me in this paper is the use of books as sources. I'm not really sure how to find books, but Chapter 5 offers useful hints and Ms. Kudeviz, who is the only person who will ever read this, showed us some useful tools in class. I think that my research topic will offer a lot for me to write about. I'm excited to get into my research. I hope that I can find some excellent sources to use for my paper and that I can read and develop my own opinion with. To be honest, I've been waiting for an assignment that I can use to write about my religious views and that I can use to explore how others view things as well. I think that I will find that the view of God is changing rapidly, especially in the youth of America. One example of this is one of my friends who has always been a devout christian. I recently asked her about her religious views and she told me that she didn't know anymore. This leads me to believe that the view is morphing in something else in society. I apologize for ranting, but there just isn't too much reflection to be had on chapter 5.

Video Game Genders

Should video games be changed and developed to be more appealing to women?
I don't think so. I invite girls to come and play video games. I'm not the type to say something like "girls stay in the kitchen/mall/beauty parlor while we play video games and hunt." I wouldn't say that. But do we really need video games FOR girls? No. Video games are video games. Once they are labeled as "girl video games," they are no longer video games. If a girl likes to play video games, I'm happy about that. I like playing video games with girls in much the same way that girls enjoy having a boy that loves shopping come with them to the mall. Boys don't generally enjoy going to the mall. I definitely don't. And it isn't out of some misplaced feeling of manliness or toughness. I don't like the mall because it makes my feet hurt to walk all over the place and it's boring and repetitive and I don't like spending money! But is everybody scrambling to change malls all over the United States to be more appealing to men? No! The reason for that is because the only gender issue that society sees as important is making women feel as if they are more equal to men! We only want to include women in man-things and we don't care if it works the other way around. Today, women are respected for breaking gender barriers. Men are just ridiculed and assumed to be homosexual. Which shouldn't even be considered a bad thing in the first place!

Essay pt. 2

I don't know if we actually have a blog due tomorrow. But I guess I'll write one anyway, just in case. In my essay, I really tried to take apart the image that I selected, analyzing every tiny detail, and exploring every possible meaning of every detail. In this, I don't think I was as thorough as I could be. I think that, if I were to use more space, I could expand all (or most) of my ideas.
I could also introduce new topics. One thought just occurred to me: does the age of the model have an effect on the audience? The answer, of course, is yes. While the shadows make it somewhat difficult to tell, it can be assumed that the model is in his early thirties or late twenties. For many college students, this age appears to be the peak of life. Many students in college, especially those that would be working out at this specific gym, are eighteen to twenty years of age. They are not able to drink yet. Because of this, they look at people over twenty-one with envy and respect. eighteen to twenty year-olds are usually trying to make friends with those over twenty-one. Therefore, a lot of humble servitude is offered in return for alcohol. The appeal for those who are twenty-one and up is also evident in the model's age. Those who are older that twenty-one years look at people about to turn thirty with envy because the latter has been out of college for some time now. They seemingly have everything figured out in life. Compared to  a college student who is close to graduating and who has no idea what will become of himself in the next few years, the life of stability enjoyed by a thirty-year-old has to be very appealing.

I really like writing. Unfortunately, as an engineering major, I won't be doing too much of it in the future. Oh well.