"Group Minds" (RL)

     The main claim of Doris Lessing's "Group Minds" is that the individual has been lost to the power and influence of the group. She supports this by starting explaining the dynamic of a group and how easy people and their opinions become overtaken by the majority. She even describes an experiment that furthered proved her claim. Lessing does hint at the opposing claims of her argument and sufficiently so. She notes that people do believe that the power of the group is just a tradition of sorts; it is human nature. So why should it be changed? How? She acknowledges this opposing position as true. However, she still states that there is a problem to be solved. I think Lessing describes the issue well. She could have given a few more specific examples of when a group can overpower the individual. She also could have provided a better call to action by providing more ways to fix the issue.

"When Bright Girls..." (RL15 part two)

     In this essay, Susan Jacoby aims to prove that women are less capable in math and science, because young girls decide for it to be so. Girls are chosing to drop higher level math and science classes, opting to take classes in fields like Art. In result, these girls are limiting themselves form future success when these make slated choices. It is especially unfortunate as girls are only making these kinds of decisions because boys find "brains" unattractive, Jacoby says. To evade this, parents should only tell their daughters "No" when they try to get out of their Algebra and Chemistry classes.

     I do not relate with this essay, nor do I fully agree with Jacoby. Yes, women are statistically less capable in the math and science area. I do not agree, however, that a lot of girls are drop out of those types of classes because of boys. In my high school in Batesville, AR, my Honors Chem class had a ratio of 5:1, girls to boys, and there were just a many girls in my Pre-Calculus and Trigonometry class my Junior year. I, for one, simply do not like math, ever since I got a C in Pre-Cal/Trig and was introduced to The Math Zone. Boys were never an issue.

"Have It Your Way..." (RL15 part one)

     In "Have It Your Way: Consumerism in Education", Simon Benlow stresses the difference between consumers and students while it aims to make sure that the two are never one in the same. He, first, describes what a true consumer is. It is a passive buyer of goods and services and someone else's ideas, someone who can choice what he or she wants and how they want it, dismissing things they do not want. On the other hand, a student is an active learner who has to take part in their own learning experience, even though there are some rules and regulations they have to follow. Benlow states the confusing a consumer for a student is easily done. However, according to him, this should not be, as schools and colleges should not be places full of consumerism, unnecessary choices, and students who would rather have everything done for them.

     I can slightly relate to this essay as I was brought up in am extremely consumeristic world. Most people in my generation, including myself, are used to things being done for us. Even though I am not as affected as some of the students Benlow described, and I can easily see where he is coming from and just how right he is.

Not Homeschooling? (RL14)

1.)     Vaughan supports her claim that the public school system is an blatant advertisement for the government as better educators of children than their own parents by stating the tradition of the notion in a "post-feminist" world. This is true as the government funds the schools and it has final say in many of the issues that surround it. However, as Vaughan preaches that a major change is in order, she fails to realize that not all parents are "over-educated" and financially equipped like her, nor do they have the extra time to educate their own children.

2.)     Government Education has a school-to-work agenda because work is exactly what students are taught is a primary goal of school. I remember from a young age hearing things like "You have to get good grades so you can get a good job." However, that school-to-work agenda is slightly corrupted as students have a choice in what exactly what they want to do in the work field, how exactly they want to work.

3.)     I can see where a system of education that forces students to sit in a classroom all day is ineffective, as children can easily get bored and become uninterested and distracted by everything outside of what is being taught. I do remember times when particular lessons, whether they were taught when I was in fourth grade or a junior in high school, that went on far to long and I did space out in my own day-dreamland. However, I do not remember staying in any one classroom all day throughout my entire education career. In elementary and middle school there was recess, lunch, Computer class on Monday, Music class on Wednesdays, P.E. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Art class on Fridays. In high school, class periods and blocks were introduced. This is why Vaughan's description is inaccurate. She fails to mention all of these activities that a lot of students are able to take part in week by week. "[Sitting] in a classroom all day" is not exactly what students do on a day to day basis in the education system.

Floppy Disk Fallacies- Thesis (RL)

Even though there are many pros of their usage, computers have created a massive negative impact on education and the young students in the system, rendering them less creative, less social, and less imaginative.

"Kidz" by Take That (RL)

     This song is most likely one you have never heard of. It is "Kidz" by the British boyband, Take That. Take That was like the British version of the Backstreet Boys before the Backstreet Boys were the Backstreet Boys. Now, most of the members are pushing forty or are already in their forties, and they are still producing amazing music. "Kidz," from their most recent and hugely successful 2010 album Progress, is proof of that.
     "Kidz" is a song that mixes clever lyrics and repetition with futuristic instrumental beats and rhythms. With a haunting intro of a staccato cadence to Mark Owens's unique voice, it draws listeners in immediately. They stay glued until the end when what can be described as chaos with sounds of police sirens leads an outro. Beyond that, it has an awesome message. It acts as a warning, warning listeners of the state of the world and what will happen if things are not changed. It comments on government and where its true power lies and how it is used and overused. It notes the dangers of technology and science. Above all else, it simply states who will have to inevitably deal with all of these problems. The "kidz."

"Kidz"

Kings and Queens and Presidents

Ministers of Governments

Welcome to the future of your world

Through talking heads that took liberties

The monkeys learnt to build machines

They think they'll get to heaven through the universe

They say nothing

Deny everything

And make counter accusations

My friends, my dear, my love, my God

There'll be trouble when the kidz come out (come out)

There will be lots for them to talk about (about)

There'll be trouble when the kidz come out

When the kidz come out, when the kidz come out

When the kidz come out

Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey

What you looking at

Hey, hey, hey, hey

You want a bit of that

Hey, hey, hey, hey

There will be trouble when the kidz come out

When the kidz come out

Hey

Mirror, mirror on the wall

Who's the fairest of them all?

The Good, the Bad, the Ugly or the Beautiful

Because it's up hill and against the wind

With no-one there to let us in

Leave your thoughts and save yourself you fool

The daggers of science

Evolving into violence

We're not sure where the fallout blows

But we all know ·

There'll be trouble when the kidz come out (come out)

There will be lots for them to talk about (about)

There'll be trouble when the kidz come out

When the kidz come out, when the kidz come out

When the kidz come out

Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey

What you looking at

Hey, hey, hey, hey

You want a bit of that

Hey, hey, hey, hey

There will be trouble when the kidz come out

When the kidz come out

Hey

Out on the streets tonight

They're making peace tonight

They're making peace

La, la, la, la...

There'll be trouble when the kidz come out

There will be lots for them to talk about

There'll be trouble when the kidz come out

When the kidz come out, when the kidz come out

There'll be trouble when the kidz come out

"Feminism and The Vampire Novel"

     I read the Twilight series over a period of five days when I was fifteen years old. When the Twilight movie came out months after I finished Breaking Dawn, I was one of the first people in line to see it. To say I was a fan was a major understatement. I had every piece of memorabilia, and my stock stretched from things like posters and stickers to purses, bracelets, and board games. I had it all. Looking back on that time now, I feel a little foolish. It seems I had a huge misunderstanding of what the novels stood for, what they were missing, and what they were silently saying. For me, the Twilight novels were always just stories about a Vampire family living in a human world. I must have a low comprehension level when it comes to these types of books, because I apparently completely missed the point.
     "Twilight throbs with sexual longing, and this tension is part of what makes the books so compelling." Sexual longing never crossed my mind when I read any of the books. Whether or not it was because I was a fifteen year old freshman with no sexual tension of my own, I read right over this. When I was reading, I remember always waiting for the wise Carlisle or the awkward Jasper or the comical Emmett to make an appearance. I reread the scenes where the vampires were just being vampires. I speed read most of the dialog where Bella was whining about Edward or to Edward about being a mere human and not being able to love him completely. I just remember Bella and Edward's honeymoon and then Bella waking up covered in feathers. I guess my brain did not register all the dozens of times Bella practically threw herself at Edward's feet just because she wanted to be completely his, to have sex with him. Now, however, three years older, I see what I missed back then. Twilight does have a huge sexual theme, and I am kind of uncomfortable for having read the series when I was just a kid.