Wright's Response to his Mother's Paralysis

Wright changes when his mom goes through paralysis. He becomes conscious of his surroundings and is now terrified of being lonely because he is on his own without any one to depend on. He can no longer feel or react like a child, but must act more like an adult. Wright’s desire to play is gone and he now thinks and worries constantly. He worries about his hunger, his mother, and whether his Granny will get his letter so that he can live with her. Wright is worried about the future and what will become of him. Although hungry, he stops accepting offered food because he is ashamed that he is often fed by strangers. In the end, he withdraws into himself. He looks at joy with suspicion and he realizes he will always be restless and on the move. He changes from a rebel to an individual with a fixed attitude for life.

The impact of his mother’s suffering is so great it grows into a symbol in his mind. It is a symbol of how his childhood was and how his life will be with poverty, ignorance, and helplessness. He realizes he can not control many things in his life and it is full of pain. His life is like the suffrage of his mother. Like his mother is trapped in her sickness, he is trapped within his environment (always moving and hungry).

Wright Cultural Heritage

Wright talks about how he and the black people in his neighborhood hated Jews. The reason they hated the Jews was not because the Jews exploited them, but was because of religion. The blacks were taught that all Jews were “Christ killers” since they killed Jesus. Wright says that this thinking was part of his living and emotional life. The growing hatred for the white people and Jews had been implanted into his mind because of his family background or his ‘cultural heritage.’ He would feel hatred and tension whenever whites were mentioned. It would cause him to react emotionally without reason to some sort of natural threat “whose hostile behavior could not be predicted”.

Even though Wright never had been a victim or accused by white people, he still had negative feelings towards them. He mistrusted whites just like they mistrusted him because they were from different races. Wright had several experiences that confirmed this racism. He witnessed how when Uncle Hoskins was killed by white people the blacks had no recourse. There was no law to punish these white men who ruthlessly killed Hoskins just to acquire his liquor business. His family had to flee leaving all their belongings and land behind for fear that they too would be killed. Wright starts to learn how it is acceptable for white people to kill black men and that when the black men are killed, there is generally not a funeral and the wife could not see her husband’s body. His fear of white people starts to grow particularly after his Aunt Maggie’s boyfriend, Professor Matthews, set a white person’s house on fire and killed someone. Aunt Maggie and Professor Matthews had to sneak away and Wright’s whole family had to pretend that they knew nothing. When these things happened, it always resulted in Wright having to move. It also caused Wright to say that he would kill whites if they ever threatened him. He was aware that “the dread of white people now came to live permanently” in his feelings and imagination; he felt the “pressure of hate and threat that stemmed from invisible whites.”

Why is Wright Hungry?

Wright is really hungry because he is black and his family is so poor that food is often a scarce commodity. There is no opportunity for his parents to get ahead as they have no skills or education, and in addition, they live during a historical period where blacks are discriminated against. Furthermore, Wright’s father deserted his family for another woman after moving them to a tenement in Memphis. Without a father, the family has no income so they have no food. His mother has to find work as a cook, but she cannot make enough money to feed the family so Wright and his brother are sent to an orphanage where once again there is little to eat.

Although Wright is glad to be rid of his lawgiving father who was a stranger and seemed “alien and remote,” once his dad left and did not come home, Wright was always hungry. It took him awhile to figure out that the reason why he was hungry was because his dad was gone and was no longer bringing money home. He associates being hungry with how his life became worse and harder. He says that the image of his father became associated with his “pangs of hunger”, and whenever he felt hunger he thought of him “with a deep biological bitterness”. Wright’s father felt no obligation to help support his family. Wright has to learn how to care for himself and he grows up early with no childhood. He has to deal with gangs, he becomes familiar with bars, and he starts learning what bad words mean. He starts to see that there is a difference between how whites and blacks live. Whites can beat blacks and not get punished and blacks seem to always be hungry.

No School

I agree with some of Gatto’s points about how we do not need school. Without school, some people would educate themselves and would find solutions and figure out how things work. They could become great leaders from this and they would think independently and critically. These people would challenge themselves and would have time to think. They would also have more time to do other activities they enjoy instead having to do homework all the time. I believe this can happen but only in isolated circumstances. I think if the majority of society did not attend school, it would only learn the bare necessities needed to carry out their daily lives or perform the tasks needed for their jobs. People would not be motivated or exposed to different subjects so they would not learn much, for example, about math, science, English, or history.

Another point Gatto makes which I generally believe is valid is that people should not go to schools if their main purpose is to make them conform and be as similar to each other as possible. These schools’ environments will make people think its better not to act independently or to voice their opinions. By the school exerting this influence, it makes the students easier to control and takes less effort for the teachers to control the class. The view is that if a student speaks out in class or does not follow the rules, then their grade will go down or a note will be sent home. This will make people become followers, and not leaders. This will make people be afraid to think independent thoughts or to have views that are different than what are accepted. Also, by the school being controlling, the kids could lose their curiosity in things or they might not have time to explore things they are interested in. It could make them dislike learning, which could lead to them not learning anything.

However, I think there are schools that do not make you conform and that these are the schools people should go to. If kids go to schools like University, they are not forced to conform. Students are shown different sides of conflicts and are able to decide what they believe in themselves. They can stand up for what they believe and it’s ok. There isn’t a note sent home and their grade does not drop as long as they have backing to their argument. Also, students have a chance to take a J-term class that allows them to study something different than the normal boring classes. In these types of schools, the teachers guide the students, but the students have to take the initiative. The teachers challenge the students to think critically and to think for things on their own. The students could become leaders.

"Nonacademic Education"

I value the “nonacademic” education I receive for several reasons. First off, knowing how to exercise and how to have a balanced diet are valuable “nonacademic” things to know. Knowing how to exercise helps you stay healthy, keeps you from gaining weight, and helps you live longer. If you learn the proper techniques and routines to keep your body and heart in shape, then it will help decrease the risk of having health problems when you are older. If you do not learn these techniques, your arteries could get clogged and you could have high blood pressure which might decrease your life expectancy. Also, you should learn how to maintain a balanced diet so you get all the vitamins and minerals your body needs to function properly and stay healthy. Learning the correct ways to keep your body healthy is a valuable lesson.

Next, you should be informed about politics and the government which are not necessarily academic subjects. It is essential to know about what candidates believe in, as this might determine how much taxes you pay or the health care you receive. You also need to take the time to figure out and discover what you believe personally so you can vote for the candidate that best represents your values. If you do not determine which candidate bests supports your ideas, then you could vote for a candidate who might impede your life style and could possibly hurt the economy and country. It is important to have the same political ideals.

Nonacademic education has just as much merit as academic education. Book learning, however, is a fundamental prerequisite, as it gives you the fundamental tools to understand and analyze how best to try to succeed in life.

Soo Many Risqué Stores

Once again, the class was very creative with their examples of rhetoric and the topics varied from person to person.

A few people talked about Hollister and Abercrombie. The Hollister ads were risqué and showed a lot of skin, but hardly any clothes. It was more like they were advertising the look and the body rather than their actual clothes. Abercrombie had a picture of a man with ripped abs. Hollister and Abercrombie are trying to get you to think that if you buy clothes from their stores, then you can look like their models and mannequins with a great body.

Also, Mallory made an interesting contrast between Victoria’s Secret and Gap Body. She talked about how Victoria’s Secret is trying to make you feel sexy with using words that represent lust. The colors they use are “naughty” since they are reds and blacks. Also, their front display cases have mannequins doing suggestive poses with hardly any clothing on. On the contrast, Gap Body uses white to represent innocence and use caring words like “love”. They also have mannequins with more clothes on than Victoria’s Secret. I had not realized this before Mallory pointed it out.

What Is SEXAYY-- Victoria's Secret

I thought people were very creative with their examples of rhetoric. The class covered a variety of different subjects. The subjects went from politics, to stores, to magazines.

One of Kendal’s examples of rhetoric was of Victoria’s Secret. The picture was of the entrance to Victoria’s Secret in Clay Terrace. It showed the outside display section of lingerie and the font in the window said, “What is Sexy”. This means that people define sexy as people who wear the underwear, bras, and products from Victoria’s Secret. This makes people want to go buy products from the store so they can feel like they are attractive. Also, since the front display of lingerie is risqué, it attracts attention to the store. This is why I think they put the display in the front window.

Some people brought up how this display case should not be there since it is suggestive and many young children walk by the store daily. I somewhat agree with this. Sometimes, it seems the mannequins are doing very suggestive poses in their “sexy” lingerie that would barely cover anything on a real person. I think these mannequins should not be in the front window case.

It should be interesting to see what other examples of rhetoric the class has found tomorrow in class.

Comments on Commercials

I thought our class did a very good job making commercials. Everyone was creative and had a good time crafting a commercial. I really liked the commercial advertising hats and the one advertising bubble gum.

The hat commercial was done by Eli, Tony, Christina, and Jordan. Tony kept repeating how his company had 10,000 hats and each time he would get more and more excited. Each time he would repeat his line and would put more emphasis in his voice. This was funny and kept me interested. Also, I thought Eli was hilarious in the beginning by saying something like, “Oh Dee-Dee, it’s so cold out here… my head is going to freeze!” and when Tony came over and offered him a hat. I think this group did a nice job giving different situations where you would want one of their hats (in cold or sunny weather, for style, or for cheating on a test).

The other advertisement that I thought stood out today was the commercial for Bubblicious Bubble Gum. This commercial was done by Kendal, Derek, Malory, and Lauren. At the beginning of it, I was not sure what they were advertising since it took awhile to get into the commercial. But once they got into the commercial, it was funny. Before Kendal and Derek had their gum, they were dull and boring. However, once they popped a piece of gum in their mouth, they became alive. I liked how they closed their advertisement. They walked, strutted, and danced down an isle in the library. Once they got to the end of it, they put a gum package in front of the camera to advertise it. This was like what real commercials do for gum.

Pottery Barn

It seems that the Pottery Barn’s focuses on customers who are middle to upper class that like the finer items in life. Pottery Barn offers high quality sophisticated products such as towels and furniture. People who are into material objects are the one who are willing to pay 24 dollars for a towel. When making their products, they think that it has to look good, feel good, be of high quality, durable, and that it has to emotionally feel right.

Pottery Barn knows that their high quality goods will get previous customers to come back because they are so pleased with the product they recently bought. Their high quality items will also attract people to come into their store even if they are not interested in buying something. In the end, they will most likely buy something because they can not resist. Pottery Barn also sets up scenarios for rooms based on their consumers. For example, they set up rooms that could be a teenager’s to attract their attention. It gives the customer the sense of what the lifestyle might look like, which is appealing.

Pottery Barn improves their products by encouraging their staff to go places to notice details of things. For example, employees would go to restaurants and see how tables were set. They could browse real-estate open houses and model homes to find new architectural and design trends. They could just ask their friends about what products they wish they had. I think that this is a good idea for a company to have. They do not want their employees to be “working” 20 hours a day, but they would rather have them out in the world experiencing things that they can bring back to the company so they can produce a better product. I think this is a more effective way to make products better.

A Store's Influence

A store that tries to influence me is Dick’s Sporting Goods. Dick’s has a variety of name brand products like Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour, which are appealing to buy since they are popular. Famous athletes and celebrities do commercials for these products, so it makes consumers (aka me) want to buy these goods. It makes me think that if a famous person likes and supports this particular product, then the product must be worth buying. Implied is the idea that the product is of good quality and that it might even help your athletic performance. People also buy this product as it might make them feel “cool” if they wear the same product as a celebrity does. They see themselves as celebrities.

Dick’s promotes these name brands by putting them into separate sections of their stores and labeling them with signs. For example, there are individual areas for Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour. This makes it easy for the consumer to find the name brand he or she wants. In addition, the stores often have life-size cardboard images of famous athletes or race car drivers sporting the products to draw more attention and thus, to create more sales. By having all these name brands, Dick’s influences people to go to their stores in search of these popular brand names.

Dick’s also persuades people to frequent their stores by having a large inventory of products for any sport. This includes a great selection of athletic shoes, clothes, and sport bags. Dicks also has sports equipment for every game whether it is golf, tennis, soccer, or basketball. This company also specializes in hunting and outdoor camping needs. What is particularly appealing about Dick’s is that you only need to go to one store to find practically everything you need for all your sporting needs. In addition, the quality is good and the prices are fair. Dick’s makes it convenient for its customers by having a wide range of products in one location.

Super Bowl Commercials

I watched many commercials tonight during the Super Bowl. One which held my attention was a commercial for T-Mobile. This company was advertising its cell phones and its Fave-5 plan. The ad had Charles Barkley and Dwayne Wade, two famous basketball players, in the commercial to endorse the product and give it more appeal. T-Mobile used these famous athletes in their ad because they are widely recognized by millions of people and, as such, more consumers will want to buy the product just because these celebrities are using it. T-Mobile shows Barkley and Wade talking to each other nonstop on their cell phones whether it is in the shower, in bed, or right after a basketball game. T-Mobile’s ad is making the point that their service is available everywhere and that if someone is on your Fave-5 plan, then you can talk to them at any time of the day for as long you want and it does not cost extra. The reasoning behind this ad is since famous athletes use this mobile telephone plan shouldn’t you?

Another commercial I watched was an advertisement for Vitamin Water. This commercial also relied on using a basketball celebrity, Shaquille O’Neal, to appeal to the audience. This ad opens with a thoroughbred horse race in progress and an announcer talking very fast and excitedly. The announcer mentions that Shaq had tried Vitamin Water and decided to saddle up for the race, although he is dead last in the race. The camera then zooms onto the very large Shaq, who looks awkward perched on top of a small horse. This creates quite a comical effect. As the race continues, and supposedly as the invigorating Vitamin Water kicks in, Shaq and his horse start passing all the other mounts. It’s a close race but Shaq pulls through with a photo finish victory. He celebrates his triumph by drinking Vitamin Water. This commercial implied that if someone drank Vitamin Water, then they would have success in tough competition.

Reaction to Class Discussion

I thought many people were involved in the discussion in class about Kilbourne’s argument. Many people had interesting ideas. For example, Tony made a point that the companies do not care what their advertisement says, as long as it sells products. They just want to make a product and sometimes the only way they can do it is by having a shocking ad.

I think our discussions are good, but at some points I think classmates become inconsiderate to other’s opinions. Some are stubborn to what they think and will not listen to other’s opinions. This annoys me. It makes me a bit timid to give my opinion in class because I do not want it to get shot down by people who have a closed mind. One point I want to bring up was that I thought that Kilbourne was trying to say that the images of women in ads (women being objectified/dehumanized) are one of the main reasons people act violent towards women such as abusing or raping them. I thought this point was incorrect. I feel that men act aggressive towards women because men who lack power can feel the power if they take advantage of women. I feel it’s more of a power issue, than what ads advertise that leads to women getting hurt.

Another thing that bothered me a little about the discussion was that people did not wait their turn to talk. They just shouted out what they were thinking at any point. I understand not being able to hold their opinion in, but our class is big and there are a lot of people who want to talk. Sometimes classmates have their hands raised for a while and have to keep waiting to get called on because others are shouting out their beliefs.