Cerina’s English Blog

This essay left feelings of hopelessness.  It is pathetic how materialistic people are, yet we are all guilty of it.  It is amazing how Hooks tried to keep it out of her life even if it ostracized her from the other students.  It is doleful that mingling was so difficult for her, and being incapable to possess close relationships with friends.  She was very intelligent, but had contrastingviews on life that deferred from her peers’.

I am surprised that John pursued a career as a teacher if he despised the school system.  Students would be more intrigued with their education if school participation was more active.  Schools are not like prisons; they transition children into society.  If public school education was a conspiracy I suspect more people would be aware.

My first impression when I started reading this essay was that this guy is crazy, because where would the school system be with out the grading system?  By the end, however; I wanted him to be my teacher.  I agree that grades are the only reason why some kids will do the work.  There should better motivation for kids to learn so they can absorb the information, and not just do what they are told to get a grade.  I think it would be too difficult to change the system now, but Kohn does have some clever points and it would be satisfying to witness his ideas come true.

I found Jones’s perspective to be very interesting.  I didn’t realize that video games could have such an impact on a child’s life.  I used to be on the opposing side, thinking that video game violence was a bad influence.  However, after perusing this essay, my views have changed.  These video game fantasies really do seem to help kids develop, and they seem to be doing a good thing.

I disagree with Chris Hedges when he says that war is good for us.  I think Hedges is crazy for being a journalist who covers stories on war.  I would never want to watch and document war; it sounds terrible.  I don’t understand why he thinks war could give us a purpose and a reason for living.  On page 373 he says, “The eruption of conflict instantly reduces the headache and trivia of daily life”.  Logically, this does not make much sense to me, and I disagree with much of what he has to say.

It sounds to me that Judith Warner does not enjoy being a mother in America.  She prefers being a mother in France because she thinks it is more relaxing and easy.  She does not like the competiveness here in America.  By the end of the essay it sounds like she doesn’t even want to be a mother because she is too busy that she breaks out into hives and is spinning out of control.  I feel bad for her kids.

I think it is interesting that it is more difficult for illegal Mexican immigrants than it is for illegal immigrants from elsewhere.  Because Mexico is so close to the US, there more illegal Mexican immigrants, so they are easier to see.  I think it is sad that these illegal immigrants come to America to make a better life than they would at home, and end up not doing as good as they hoped.

This essay was kind of difficult for me to follow.  I understand that Ehrenreich is an undercover journalist who hired a job coach and took a personality test that said she shouldn’t have a job in journalism.  So I think the main point of this essay is that personality tests are flawed, which I agree with because I don’t think that answering all those questions is going to tell you who you are.  You have to choose what you like to do, and do it.

I think the idea of the webcam is creepy.  I definitely would not want a camera on me all the time.  I don’t know why people would want to watch other people like that.  I think it would be really boring to watch somebody watching TV, or playing on the computer and creepy if they are watching it for ‘intimate’ reasons.  I think someone taping every single moment of their life for others to see is weird.

I agree that it is sad to see the way that some women present themselves.  Women should not have to walk around half naked or watch other women flaunt themselves to feel excepted by guys.  Girls should not have to worry about this and should just focus on being themselves.