HW 41

1.

Dillon, Sam "High School Students to Offer Plan to Graduate 2 Years Early"

 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/education/18educ.html?ref=education

NY Times Web 17 February 2010 

In 2011 there will be an opportunity for students after two years of High school to take a test and receive their diplomas. In which after they will be able to continue on to school in local community colleges.  This new system has already been introduced to Denmark, England, Finland, France and Singapore.  In the states of  Connecticut, Kentucky, Maine, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont, certain students will be able to be apart of this new way of education.  

I think this a very well thought out plan.  For many students they find themselves quite bored in school.  Maybe not because of the structure of the teaching but simply because they are ready for bigger challenges.  If the opportunity of finishing High School early and being able to continue on to college earlier was offered to me, that seems like plenty of motivation alone.  By motivation I mean that maybe students would work harder to meet that goal.  Personally I know I could of done better in my 9th and 10th grade years and if I were to have had this sort of opportunity I just might of.  

2. (Additional Works Consulted)
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/06/15/nyregion/06162009TEACHER_index.html?ref=education in relation to http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/16/nyregion/16teachers.html?_r=1

3.

Alvarez, Lizette "New York City Valedictorians Prepare for the Future"
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/28/nyregion/28valedictorians.html

NY Times Web, 26 June 2009

This article published in the early summer of last year had both a corky attitude about it but also real feeling about it.  The kids who were a part of it were all top of their class.  Most of them broke 2000 on their SAT and all were going to very well regarded colleges.  Something that struck me though was the personal comments made by each student.  They discussed things from Obama to what they said for their graduation speeches and how they were feeling about graduating.  

I choose this article because I think in some ways it shows that a lot of these kids could probably do something really great tomorrow.  But as a alternative to my topic might still need even more education to make a even stronger difference in the world.  It seems that they are all very well spoken and have certainly not taken their educations as a walk in the park.  I think what is so great about this is the fact that they are from NYC and it is easy to relate to them on a personal level, to understand exactly where they are coming from.  

4. (Additional Works Consulted)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnegie_Unit_and_Student_Hour

5.

Anonymous, "Education: Going to School at Sea"

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,923915-3,00.html

Time Magazine Online, 28 January, 1980

This article describes a program offered to students in college to live on a boat for a semester.  It is for people who are liberal arts majors or interested in learning about the ocean.  Essentially it is a classroom experiment that you are apart of.  The students hardly get any sleep because they are either doing experiments or making sure the boat is running smoothly.  

I am glad that Andy mentioned this article because it ties in perfectly with my idea of stopping school and actually using our tools in the real world.  In my interview of myself I talked about how I am working with younger children.  Although I feel as though they should go to school to learn about emotional aspects and working with other people at a certain point how much more of that can we really learn?  I think this program is a great idea because you are still learning but it is completely hands on and gives you an experience so that what you learn will actually stick with you.  

6. (Additional Works Consulted

http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/advice/

7.

Gallagher, Teresa , "Alternatives in Education - The Other Side of ADD" http://borntoexplore.org/addsvs.htm BTE - Born to Explore, 1997

In Summary, this independently run website is preaching the idea that there is a link between the system of US Education and ADD.  The United States bases there educational system off the German.  Germany's Schooling was to make better factory workers and better solders.  There system seemed to be quite successful so we copied them as well as many countries.  The only difference between us and them is that we didn't want our students to be illiterate.  

Considering the fact that ADD is the most over diagnosed disorder it probably has very little to do with the brains and more with the similarity between most schools.  If in most schools being yelled at and training for jobs is the main focus how can children explore their creative imagination.  Just as it is described in the website, how can people focus if what they are learning has no interest to them? Or further more has no time for exploration in thinking topics?

8. (Additional Works Consulted)

http://www.ctcl.org/about/book

9.

Anonymous, "Prussian Education System" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prussian_education_system Wikipedia, 30 November 2009

In relation to the link about Alternatives in Education, this is a more information about the Prussian Education System.  The system the United States education is based off of.  In this characteristics I find it so interesting that this system was created in the 19th Century.  Even though this country claims to have changed so much for the better Education is one of those things that really hasn't changed.  

This is what the education system was described as two centuries ago: The Prussian system instituted compulsory attendance, specific training for teachers, national testing for all students (used to classify children for potential job training), national curriculum set for each grade, and mandatory kindergarten. It sounds very similar to how the system is run today.  So much change...if we know it isn't working then why do we continue to follow it...so that our military stays in line?  So we are obedient people who follow the system?

 

 

 

HW 40 - The Interviews

Part A:


Friend (New York City Public High School Student)

Having experienced going to both a regular public school and a specialized public school, how would you say the experiences are either similar or different?

Regular Public Schools and Specialized Public Schools are a lot different in size. Since Specialized Public Schools are larger there is a lot more diversity. Although you meet a lot of different people it can become overwhelming because there are just so many. The teachers don't really know who people are. They cannot really do a lot of one on one help because they have so many students to care for. However for some that might be a difficult challenge to undertake. Personally my parents and teachers have always told me I am an independent person. So it doesn't really take affect on me. Besides which I don't really like asking my teachers for help, I normally ask my peers. I think the reason why I rely on my peers is because when teachers tell me stuff I don't really care because they are my teachers and not my friends. I find that my friends can make sure I understand it more. They explain it to me in ways that I can relate to and are more willing to listen.

Dad

How much did your school career have an affect on your real career?

In my early childhood schooling as a teenager I decided early on that my interests would be in music and literature. When I got to college my interests were defined even more. But it wasn't in till out of school I realized I wanted to be a teacher as well as working in the arts in general. In elementary school there was very little emphasis on the arts and in middle school and high school there was more emphasis in the interest of the arts but there was also a lot of emphasis on grades and testing. I was fortunate to go to a college (Bard) where the emphasis was not so much on grades but on learning for its own sake.

How different would your life have been if you didn't have as much schooling as your father had?

It probably would of been different because my father couldn't attend school because he had to earn a living to support his family at a very young age. He had to choose an occupation that would enable him to support both himself and his family throughout his life. If my father had gone to more school he in fact may have become an artist himself. Since he was very drawn to art and in later life music. What schooling enabled me to do was have some leisure time to explore many different aspects of thinking and doing. It helped me learn many different ways of thinking about the work that I eventually chose to do after college. My father despite his lack of formal education was a very "educated" man. He was able to take his experience and relate it directly to his work and his family. He became very articulate in his understanding of many principals of life. I think my father made his life meaningful by the knowledge he gained from his work and his relations with people. His not going to school did not affect his ability to interact with people and to become a successful business man. In the long run what you make of your experience and your knowledge has little to do with the amount of schooling you have and more to do with your ability to deepen your experience, through reflection and your attempts to understand who you are and what it is that you are doing.


Mom

How important is school to a successful life?

I think it is very important because in school you learn about the world and yourself, and your relation to the world. Through different subjects. School can awaken your sense of curiosity. In school you learn to interact with other people and collaborate and work toward common goals. A student also learns about the history of the world and the various cultures to help them understand their place in the world. One of the first steps to success is to make good decisions and a good plan on how to proceed. We are lucky in these days that we have a variety of choices of ways to engage in the world and to find meaningful work. We are very fortunate in that regard. School can actually be a microcosm of the world and we can learn how to live in the world. The more educated one is the better. However one also has to learn compassion and understanding and listening skills, in order to really function.

If you had not gone back to get your masters degree would your life be any worse or better?

I think my life is better because going to graduate school presented a challenge for me. It wasn't easy because I was working full time. It took a long time for me to earn my degree but it also proved to me that I could reach my goal of improving my knowledge of the world as it related to art history and museum studies.

Would you say that your experiences in life were more meaningful than the ones gained in school?

Both of my experiences in my life and in college and graduate school have been equally important to my education. Some of the most profound experiences have occurred when I was traveling to other countries in the world including, France, Italy, Spain, Israel and various states in the US. I felt more connected to the world and realized what a big wonderful planet we are living on. How marvelous all of the people around the world are. However I hope that I am always a life time learner.


Friend # 2 (New York City Public High School Student)

How different would you say coming from a private school education public school is?

I think public school is a lot better in many ways, I don't see a huge difference since my school is a lot like a private school anyways. I think it is better because the kids don't have as much a sense of entitlement and work much harder. The teachers are better. I think the reason why my school is so similar is because it is very small, well off and is very nice inside. It doesn't have a lack of funding whatsoever and gets the same opportunities and stuff for the students. My school however is not very diverse that's the only thing, it is still a majority white school and is about the same diversity as my old school. The reason for this is because it is a screened school, priority to district two. Although my school is public it is very different in comparison to most because it is more like a private school.

Self

Why is going to school for practically everyone such a painful thing?

I honestly don't know its probably like going to a job you absolutely dislike. If you have no interest in what you are doing than why would you want to waste your time doing it. To be successful? It is as if we bribe ourselves to get out of bed every morning and remind ourselves of the gold pot at the end of the rainbow. Success seems to drive people and if theoretically we want to be successful we seem to follow the peoples paths which lead them to success. Most people in this day and age led very similar lives after high school, they go to college get a degree in something they claim to find interesting and try to find a job that satisfies their ability. If high school classes were more based around things that I was interested in I think I would enjoy coming more. The fact that we are forced to learn certain things that follow the curriculum just makes it so boring. Personally I find this class interesting although we have units at least it helps us to form our opinions. We get to learn information that will most likely have a lot more significance in 10 years. 

A couple of weeks ago Mr. Kinory was talking about how people remember 9/11 so clearly but can't remember September 10Th 2001. Our brains remember significant things that had a huge impact on our lives. I don't think for example the subject math makes an impact on my life at all, I can't even remember what we learned a week ago in that class. I believe that learning is about experiences that change us as learners and people. A couple of summers ago I volunteered at the hospital Mount Siani and some of the people that were patients made such an impact on my life. There was a patient from Inwood Park and I talked to her every day for a week. The fact is I still remember things she said to me and that was 2 years ago... once we get to a certain age I think that experience in the real world plays a bigger role in learning. I am working with 3 year olds at a preschool called Merricat's Castle for my internship. They are learning about things such as feelings and communication skills. I think those are important reasons to come to school especially at the age when the brain is still a sponge. But at a certain age our skills should be practiced in real life situations verses in structured classes.

Part B:

From all five interviews I think what strikes me from most of them is being able to figure out what makes the individual interested. I guess by coming to school we create skills which help us branch of into different areas of interest. However I truly don't know how important it is to keep coming back to school. My mom for example who went back to get her masters degree already had a job in the same area. Is it simply for the title which makes the person seem as a superior authority? Or is it the fact that in order to have a job in this day we must know a certain amount of information? My grandfather who my dad described was a very successful factorer (someone who gives loans to people working in the garment business) was very well respected and he had zero degrees. However that was in a different time and in this day and age there is much more competition to success. Regardless though I don't believe that degrees make someone any better of a person and maybe in some ways by spending so much time competing you loose sense of meaning. 

My mom said this which I thought was interesting: "School can actually be a microcosm of the world and we can learn how to live in the world. The more educated one is the better. However one also has to learn compassion and understanding and listening skills, in order to really function." In a way though every school is different so does that mean whatever kind of school one attends is the type of life they will lead? One of my friends who has always attended private school has the goal of getting at least a 2100 on her SAT, getting into Duke and becoming filthy rich. In all honesty that just sounds so disgusting. I am convinced that the reason she is like that is because of the way she is taught both in the classroom and in the world. Not only is she like this so are all the other students that go to school with her. It is as if we are all programed robots and from Day 1 there is evidence of separation of the classes. No wonder it is so much easier for certain people to find success than others it is probably because of the way that they were trained in school so they have the skills to reach whatever goal is designated to their social class.

HW 39

Part A:

Questions:
1. How does your view of education vary or differ depending on the type of school you go to?
2. If we were not to learn certain types of math and replace it with something more meaningful how would it affect our lives after high school?
3. Why must we go to school for so long when 70-80 years ago people stopped at very young ages, and still ending up doing well in life?

Ideas:
1. Bloomberg sees us all as numbers both grade wise and $ wise.
2. By not constantly taking tests at SOF whenever we do take tests it feels as if it is another language.
3. Teachers constantly say that by doing exhibitions it will help us greatly in college.

Experiences:
1. I find myself often getting into arguments with one of my friends who goes to private school because I feel like she is very closed minded. Maybe not intentionally but I believe the structure of her school makes her that way.
2. I have met kids who go to private school who are embarrassed that they do.
3. In a lot of my classes I find myself checking the clock every 3 minutes to see when the class will be over.


Part B:

I am going to use something from The Cool Unit that I think has a relation to the school unit. I interviewed two of my very good friends, one of them goes to a private school and the other one goes to a public school very much like this one. Just from having conversations with them I can tell the difference is so strong. The friend from private school seems so close-minded about all of her ideas. I constantly find us bickering because I don’t understand how someone could not think about situations from different points of view. I asked to describe her school in the interview and this is what she said: “Um, I go to an all girls school, there are around 50 girls in my grade. We all know each other really well. The workload is crazy. Most of the girls live in the neighborhood of the school, a couple live in Westchester or like Brooklyn. Some girls party a lot while some girls don’t do anything at all. There aren't really cliques if there is any exclusion it’s between two people not a whole bunch of people. There are of course groups of friends but they aren’t really exclusive.” From this it doesn’t really seem like her philosophy is that bizarre but from personal experience it is very hard to relate to her. I think she has grown up in a very sheltered home and a very sheltered school. She doesn’t experience very much diversity and it shows in her opinions. I have a feeling though that the lifestyle she leads now isn’t going to change much when she becomes an adult. She has said to me that most girls at her school are expected to get into Ivy League Schools and continue on this cycle of I guess being better than everyone else. Considering the fact we spend so much time at school, I really think it does take an affect on who we are as people.

Now in comparison to my friend who goes to a school very much like SOF, her views as a person are much more down to earth. She is more aware of her surroundings and has a better understanding in my opinion of what life is going to be like as she gets older. Although she goes to a good school and has good parents she isn’t trapped in an illusion of how her life is going to be. I feel as if a lot of my private school friends have their whole life’s already mapped out and handed to them, and although it is not to say people that go to public school are not like that all I feel like they have a better understanding of what they really want. In my interview of her she described her school as the following: “My school is very liberal. It’s not like a lot of other public schools because we don’t take regents, its very stressful. It’s a very creative school; people are into music, art and history. It is a medium sized school, 300 kids per grade. Most of the kids live in Park Slope, Brooklyn and the Upper West Side. Most of the people that attend have known each other their whole lives. Kids are really into getting their messages out to others about different cultural and social concerns. Most of the kids at my school party…like everyone actually. There aren’t that many cliques but there are big groups of friends that never leave each other and everyone else just falls wherever.”
A line that struck me was “Kids are really into getting their messages out to others about different cultural and social concerns.” Maybe it is to say that have more of a choice to believe whatever they want to and are not concerned about fitting a certain arc type. It seems like living a care free meaningful life is more important than being the best or having large salary.

HW 38-Art Project

We would like to think our paths are set in stone.

It is our excuse for our lack of change.

Is it because we like who we are? 

Are we satisfied? 

Is it clear that we are just recycled?

Individualism doesn't exist.

As we waste our lives living behind something else the earth keeps spinning.

It doesn't stop for us for any reason.

It doesn't give us the constant attention we long for.

It won't stop spinning when we stop spinning.

Our dreams, hopes and desires are someone else's.

Our thoughts, opinions and ideas are someone else's.

Our style, taste presence are someone else's. 

It was someone else's before us and will be someone else's after.

The cycle continues over and over again, so much that it repeats itself.

As cool fluctuates we fluctuate with it,

Not because we want too,

it's just the way the earth spins, the oceans flow, the birds migrate

we have convinced ourselves it is how we undergo survival.

For my art project I used some of my photography which I feel fit with the poem I wrote.  I think that my art takes cool to more than it just being a materialistic obsession which integrates with our obsession of appearance.  But into the idea that it is taking over so drastically and affecting our lives so deeply.  When first going into this unit I never thought I was going to get to this level of my understanding of how dangerous the whole concept is.  It is so much more than wasting money and being something completely opposite of your true self.  It scares me that all of these companies, advertisers and even the government go so far into convincing us that we need certain things to fulfill a meaningful life.  We lead lives with such a wrong conception of how to deal with difference.  It seems as if the second we don't look like everyone around us we go out and buy something to fit right back in.  While at the same time we think we are so individual and authentic.  I am not really sure what I want people to take away from my art but maybe just the idea that we need to remind ourselves to find our moments of stillness to make sure our sanity is still around.  

At first I was inspired by a picture I had of myself as a little girl behind a carnival stand.  The one where there is a whole for your head but the body isn't your own...I thought that went back to the whole idea of trying on so many different bodies which all have somewhat of a relation and following those paths.  This was what inspired my poem and I wrote a lot of ideas down but came to put this together.  I was going to put the picture with the poem but I can't find it unfortunately.  So I decided to use some of my own photography... the first picture I think relates back to the maps and paths we follow throughout our lives that fit us best.  The second photo I think best describes our fear, the idea of not being here forever, and not knowing what is coming after.  The third photo is suppose to symbolize endlessness and how big this world is, how big this galaxy is, and how I believe we forget that.  The last photo relates to the first photo's meaning, of paths and "destiny."

I love art although I don't necessarily think it is cool.   I think it is a great way to express ourselves.  Although I don't think there is one person who is nothing like anyone else in this world, art is as close as it gets.  Our expression gives us somewhat a branch of individuality and allows us to show our interpretation of what we feel meaning is.  This unit has really made me think and come to the understanding that trying is such a waste of time, and just by living with no final destination or no next stop might allow us to find purpose in this confusing world.  

Final Paper - Cool

Introduction:  “…No one counts until they’re dead…” (Closed Captioned. Fugazi. End Hits.  Dischord. 1998) Life, death it’s all one big mystery to us.  People say that we are here on this planet to find our purpose in life and to make something of our lives and we use this as an excuse for our actions.  But I really don’t think that’s the reason anymore, I think we don’t know what to do so we follow whatever seems logical for what fits us.  We use the maps we are given to help guide us to what we believe our destinations should be.    This starts the beginning of building our own subway line and the beginning of our own games of Jenga.    In actuality though they are not our own they are just a version of someone else’s and in the early days of our lives we don’t think twice about it.  However as we grow and develop we begin to question our existence more than we did when we were babies and toddlers.  We start to see that in order to have meaning or purpose in life we must proof ourselves to our audiences so we give ourselves the label of being an individual.  We try to stand out from the crowd and be recognized.  At the end of it all though how can one person stand out when everyone is doing the same exact thing?  We then begin to realize that maybe the life we have been leading is wasting our time on this planet because we are not being true to ourselves.  If deep down we know there is no true self then what are we doing?  How can we change ourselves so drastically if we have lived our whole lives up to this point a certain way?  This is when life and death gets a lot more confusing than we ever realized.  Cool changes as frequently as people change, making it a never-ending game.  We are aware that no one will ever win; yet we continue to play it. 

Argument 1: In this day and age social networking and the Internet seem to play a huge role in the obsession of being cool.  More specifically the website Facebook, practically all of the teens I know are members and use the website daily.  It is a way to stay up to date with your audience, your peers, your “friends” or whatever you want to call it.  I came to the conclusion that you basically have multiple worlds that you experience each day.  Your school world, your family world and your cyber space world.  The difference between the three is that your school and family world is given to you, you don’t have a choice about whom you surround yourself with. However with the cyber space world you can select and create a “perfect” world, you can be surrounded with whomever you want and the decisions are up to you.  In 9^th grade whenever I would meet someone I would most likely friend them on Facebook so that I could be opened to their door and they could be opened to mine.  I regret being so up front with my friend requests because if by any chance I run into one of my Facebook “friends” it becomes awkward because I don’t really know them yet I have full access to observing their life and vise versa. About a month ago one of my classmates Russell posted this really interesting article on Facebook: http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/21/do-you-spend-too-much-time-on-facebook/ After reading it I was so blown away by the truth of the article I decided to deactivate my own Facebook.  Something that struck me to be so bizarre was while I was going through the steps of deactivating it, it seemed as if Facebook was trying to convince me not to.  It showed pictures of my Facebook friends and myself and kept repeating the sentence " _______ will miss you".  As if once you are not friends with someone on Facebook you just are not friends in general anymore.  Then I had to click on exactly why I was leaving the Facebook Network and for each option they had an excuse of how to possibly still be a member but not leave.  Essentially though I deactivated it for maybe 3 or 4 days.  I felt so much happier and I felt like I had a lot more time but I didn't know what to do.  I was so used to this routine of constantly staying updated with others and Facebook stalking people I didn’t even know!  I wasted hours looking at pictures of people I was never going to really have a real friendship with, and in some cases envy them!  The whole idea of this website was disturbing and a complete waste of time.  After deactivating it I came to realize I never sat down and took time to care about myself.   Unfortunately though Facebook is like a drug once you become addicted it’s hard to quit, and I couldn’t live without it so I’m right back on it.  I wish I could function without it but I felt so detached from this world I had created, and the thought of knowing things are still going on even after I am gone scares me.  We use Facebook as a way to constantly stay updated on what’s in and what’s out, I guess the only solution is if Facebook was just deleted in general, the chances of that happening though are very slim.   Facebook is just one aspect of the game we play. 

Argument 2:  Something that you could say is cool right now is tattoos, I personally do not see the point in them but maybe I am just out of the loop for this aspect.  I interviewed one of my friends who already has a tattoo and I thought her response was very typical but at the same time intriguing. I asked her why she decided to get a tattoo and she said: For my mom because she has lupus and the butterfly is the symbol for it. I asked if she thought it had a strong message and added more to her as a person, she said: Yes it does, it represents the support and love I have for my mother. Plus I designed it so no one else in the world has the same one. Which adds to my individuality.  Although I think her message is very symbolic and meaningful, why does she need to stamp it on herself for the rest of her life? Yes it makes her a little bit different than the next person but think about how many people get tattoos a day. Regardless of their possible differences there is not just one person in the world with a tattoo. I think it definitely adds to the arch type she decides to live her life as. Something I notice about Ariel is that since she has got her tattoo she usually wears clothing that allows on lookers to see it. It is essentially adding a spotlight to that one part of her body to give her ultimate attention. As people we find ourselves as curious thinkers, making a statement like this intrigues people to ask questions. So is it really about the message or the attention you might get for that one moment in time? I think the message gives the tattoo a better purpose it adds meaning and gives us the illusion that is significant. I saw the tattoo that Miley Cyrus decided to get:http://assets.heavy.com/post_assets/2009/12/1013/1260471450_miley-cyrus-tattoo-picture.jpg I mean I understand that her friend died from Cystic Fibrosis but with all the money she is earning wouldn't it be more helpful to donate to the organization verses basically advertising them?  Its worse than wearing a shirt with a logo every time she goes swimming she will be a swimming, sun bathing, walking billboard.  That tattoo is going to be stamped on her for the rest of her life!  It doesn't make her a hero or a better person it makes her look like she needs attention.  The attention of her tattoo takes away from why she really got and makes people question her even more.  In a couple of years the fad of tattoos will go out of style and all of these people will be stuck in the mud.

Argument 3: We use “happiness” as a way to escape reality, this than allows us to forget our suffering for that moment. By doing this we distract ourselves for what we all know is coming next. I think this universe and this world is just like the game Jenga. For those who have never heard of this it is the game it is where you have a tower of wood blocks and you have to pull ones from the bottom out one by one and keep stacking them on top of each other. If the tower falls the game is over. Just like Jenga I think humans represent the wooden blocks and the tower represents the world. We are all here together for that brief moment in time and although we hate to admit it we all need each other to survive. Every move we make and every moment we live has an affect on the other 6,706,993,152 people on this planet. Just like in the game we try to move forward to get closer and closer to the top of things. While doing this though sometimes we suffer and loose loved ones, family members friends. This than makes us feel incomplete and we loose our sense of “happiness”. For just like our lifespan is brief so is our happiness. Initially I thought that when the tower fell it meant your life was over but now I almost feel as though when the tower falls it is reality screaming at you and telling you to make a change. It is as if it is a warning that however you are living isn’t right and to get your act together.  But what is right?  Most people wont ever really know.  In The Death of Ivan Ilych there was a line in the beginning of the story that caught my attention when he had passed and people were at his wake.  “The expression on the face said that what was necessary had been accomplished, and accomplished rightly.  Besides this there was in that expression a reproach and a warning to the living.” (Page 97)  Essentially I think Ivan at the end of his life came to realize the mistake he had made.  I think the accomplishment was closure to meaning.  Maybe as we become closer to death we realize our waste of energy and time on things that have no significance.  Maybe the look on Ivan’s face is suppose to help guide the living since we still have time to make a change. 

Alternative Point of View: I think as humans we are constantly concerned about what happens next because we follow the direction and context of our scripts.  We hardly ever have time to live in the moment because we are constantly preparing for our next scene. In all honesty I have no idea what my main destinations are and goals are at this point.  I want to be able to see the whole world though because I think that when you stay trapped inside a bubble you have no idea what’s going on outside.  I think people are fascinating and there are really so many different kinds of people out there.  That are all equally as interesting and all have different stories.  I don’t think one person is better than another because we are all just as confused as the next person.  There are however people out there who are a little less confused because they have less distraction and more time to be thankful.  In 7th grade I went to an island called Elthura in the Bahamas.  I remember driving and looking out the window seeing tin shacks, those were people’s homes.  I think seeing something like that makes you understand how fortunate you really are.  Although maybe their homes were not mansions and they didn’t have expensive cars everyone on the island seemed so much happier than anyone I had ever met.  They didn’t feel as though they had nothing because they were aware that they had something and I think that is meaning.  This kind of meaning is not something you can buy and I think that’s what confuses us the most.    I think unfortunately though we are far more concerned about appearance more than anything else.  In the Frontline episode they talked about the Mook and the Midriff characters, it basically describes a superficial male and a superficial female.  We buy everything that fits these characters and put on a certain role to fulfill these characters.  We waste hour after hour on being someone who practically funds this concept of cool but at the end we feel so empty.  The answers we search so hard to find come so much easier to those who are not wasting all of this time.  Maybe the only way to escape this endless tunnel is to start living just like the people on the Island of Elthura further more like the rest of the people on this planet.  Our lifestyles our so different than the way most people live and although we can't eliminate everything just by making small changes in our daily routines eventually maybe larger changes will be made.  If not for us specifically for future generations because by looking at the state of this planet we are not in the greatest of shape currently.  

Conclusion: All of these small components make up the concept of coolness.  They fuel the drive and momentum to be something none of us are.  We are all just performers in the end it feels as if there is something up their mocking us all and laughing at the fact that we can be so oblivious to our obvious mistakes.  We are so puzzled and so confused about what is true and what is false.  I am almost sure the answer is right in front of us but distraction takes over to the point where we don’t have time to pick up on it.  We have become so consumed with keeping up with our peers, style and our cookie cutter appearances  because thats what we are told to do, I really don't think it is our fault.  However I’m tired of wasting my life because I know that I am, I wish there was a way to change my life but unfortunately I have a feeling its too late.  We have become brain washed by something out there and there is no turning back.  So maybe we don’t have a choice of the game we are playing and we are well aware there is no winner because in the end we will all be gone and it will be as if we were never even here.

HW 36

Hi Mohammed,

I think your thesis doesn’t exactly flow but I see a start to a good idea.  If I were to reword it I think I would say: The emptiness that many of us experience is a result of our over thinking and constant performing of cool.  I think your main idea is a little unclear, it seems that your arguments are very broad but there is no conclusion to any of it or any tying together.  I think your three main points are the obsession cool, the love of attention and tattoos.  I think if you used my thesis your three arguments would help prove your point. I hope that helps…

In my HW 34 I quoted the poet Gwendolyn Brooks, I think one paragraph of this assignment has a tie into your point: "I wonder how they feel about themselves..." (Gwendolyn Brooks) I was surprised when she said that line I was expecting her to say something along the lines of, I wonder if they think they are cool for not going to school... I think the way she decided to put it however makes a whole lot more sense to finding the purpose of cool.  Having high self-esteem is something we all want and I think that when someone has it his or her appearance and personality seems a whole lot stronger.  However even the most confident person to us may seem like they know exactly what they are doing and are positive about themselves but may have a completely different idea of themselves then what appears to an onlooker.  It seems as if most people for their whole lives try to find their purpose for being here, and so we observe all of the things around us.  One of them being other people, we have this whole idea that by looking at other people we will find the answer.  But in reality we all are so different so I don't think we are looking in the right places.  I think the reason why so many people are alike is because we observe hundreds of people every day and we pick up on traits that appear to be making the person happy.  Just as Gwendolyn Brooks was trying to say, what drives them to do the things they do...  if they can do it can't I do it too?

I think a couple of things that could make your paper stronger are, 1. Check your spelling and grammar throughout the whole paper (spell check on Microsoft word) 2. Organize your paragraphs better; make an introduction, which will include your thesis at the end.  Also create a conclusion to sum up all your ideas. 3.  Your first body paragraph seems a lot stronger than your 2^nd and 3^rd, try using the 1^st paragraph as a sample to help the other two. 3. I think to make your paragraphs stronger you need some evidence to help back up your points.

Hope all of this is useful, let me know if you have any questions about what I posted.

Hi Amon,

From reading your paper I believe that your main idea is clothes and tattoos can only take you so far.  In order to completely satisfy our arch type we must purchase certain things both removal and non-removal.  I like your thesis but maybe this could work as well: Coolness gives off the illusion that we are much cooler than we really are and creates a sense of being individual when in reality we are all just followers.  Sorry if that might not make sense just let me know if you want something different. 

From my HW 29, which as relation to your idea on individuality: “There is no solution to discovering cool you force cool to move on to the next thing.”  It’s a never-ending cycle that we continue to allow to repeat itself because we don’t have the self-control to stop it.  It seems as if we like the media in a weird way, that without them we wouldn’t be able to function.  Is it the fact that we are afraid to be ourselves so we constantly need the “advice” from those who know best?  However for a person who hasn’t necessarily caught on to this it isn’t what will look best on you or what will help you be a better person all around, it’s the product that will sell the best.  Then there is also the idea of being an “individual” the truth is no one is.  There isn’t one person in the world that is far different from the rest of us.  We are all just copies of one another.  Although we hate to admit it, in reality it’s the truth.  So when we find one person cool I am sure there is someone out there who is just like them, does this mean they are both cool or does that make them both uncool?  I think attention is nice as long as it is positive but it seems that most of the time attention is usually negative.  Do we do all of this to be happier people?  If the attention we receive is negative how can we be happy?  Corporations are funding us with the right attire to satisfy the arch type we live up too.  So in a way we are both doing each other favors we give them money they give us “happiness”.

I think a couple of things I would change are 1. You do use your brother as evidence but maybe a direct quote from him? 2. I think you are getting at something really great in your conclusion but maybe you can elaborate on “endless alternation” 3. I like what you are saying for your opening sentence but it seems a tad bit unclear, however that might just be me…

If you have any questions let me know, good start though! 

 

HW 35

    “…No one counts until they’re dead…” (Closed Captioned. Fugazi. End Hits.  Dischord. 1998) Life, death it’s all one big mystery to us.  People say that we are here on this planet to find our purpose in life and to make something of our lives and we use this as an excuse for our actions.  But I really don’t think that’s the reason anymore, I think we don’t know what to do so we follow whatever seems logical for what fits us.  We use the maps we are given to help guide us to what we believe our destinations should be.    This starts the beginning of building our own subway line and the beginning of our own games of Jenga.    In actuality though they are not our own they are just a version of someone else’s and in the early days of our lives we don’t think twice about it.  However as we grow and develop we begin to question our existence more than we did when we were babies and toddlers.  We start to see that in order to have meaning or purpose in life we must proof ourselves to our audiences so we give ourselves the label of being an individual.  We try to stand out from the crowd and be recognized.  At the end of it all though how can one person stand out when everyone is doing the same exact thing?  We then begin to realize that maybe the life we have been leading is wasting our time on this planet because we are not being true to ourselves.  If deep down we know there is no true self then what are we doing?  How can we change ourselves so drastically if we have lived our whole lives up to this point a certain way?  This is when life and death gets a lot more confusing than we ever realized.  Cool changes as frequently as people change, making it a never-ending game.  We are aware that no one will ever win; yet we continue to play it. 

            In this day and age social networking and the Internet seem to play a huge role in the obsession of being cool.  More specifically the website Facebook, practically all of the teens I know are members and use the website daily.  It is a way to stay up to date with your audience, your peers, your “friends” or whatever you want to call it.  I came to the conclusion that you basically have multiple worlds that you experience each day.  Your school world, your family world and your cyber space world.  The difference between the three is that your school and family world is given to you, you don’t have a choice about whom you surround yourself with.  However with the cyber space world you can select and create a “perfect” world, you can be surrounded with whomever you want and the decisions are up to you.  In 9^th grade whenever I would meet someone I would most likely friend them on Facebook so that I could be opened to their door and they could be opened to mine.  I regret being so up front with my friend requests because if by any chance I run into one of my Facebook “friends” it becomes awkward because I don’t really know them yet I have full access to observing their life and vise versa.  About a month ago one of my classmates Russell posted this really interesting article on Facebook: http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/21/do-you-spend-too-much-time-on-facebook/ After reading it I was so blown away by the truth of the article I decided to deactivate my own Facebook.  Something that struck me to be so bizarre was while I was going through the steps of deactivating it, it seemed as if Facebook was trying to convince me not to.  It showed pictures of my Facebook friends and myself and kept repeating the sentence " _______ will miss you".  As if once you are not friends with someone on Facebook you just are not friends in general anymore.  Then I had to click on exactly why I was leaving the Facebook Network and for each option they had an excuse of how to possibly still be a member but not leave.  Essentially though I deactivated it for maybe 3 or 4 days.  I felt so much happier and I felt like I had a lot more time but I didn't know what to do.  I was so used to this routine of constantly staying updated with others and Facebook stalking people I didn’t even know!  I wasted hours looking at pictures of people I was never going to really have a real friendship with, and in some cases envy them!  The whole idea of this website was disturbing and a complete waste of time.  After deactivating it I came to realize I never sat down and took time to care about myself.   Unfortunately though Facebook is like a drug once you become addicted it’s hard to quit, and I couldn’t live without it so I’m right back on it.  I wish I could function without it but I felt so detached from this world I had created, and the thought of knowing things are still going on even after I am gone scares me.  We use Facebook as a way to constantly stay updated on what’s in and what’s out, I guess the only solution is if Facebook was just deleted in general, the chances of that happening though are very slim.   Facebook is just one aspect of the game we play. 

            Something that you could say is cool right now is tattoos, I personally do not see the point in them but maybe I am just out of the loop for this aspect.  I interviewed one of my friends who already has a tattoo and I thought her response was very typical but at the same time intriguing. I asked her why she decided to get a tattoo and she said: For my mom because she has lupus and the butterfly is the symbol for it. I asked if she thought it had a strong message and added more to her as a person, she said: Yes it does, it represents the support and love I have for my mother. Plus I designed it so no one else in the world has the same one. Which adds to my individuality.  Although I think her message is very symbolic and meaningful, why does she need to stamp it on herself for the rest of her life? Yes it makes her a little bit different than the next person but think about how many people get tattoos a day. Regardless of their possible differences there is not just one person in the world with a tattoo. I think it definitely adds to the arch type she decides to live her life as. Something I notice about Ariel is that since she has got her tattoo she usually wears clothing that allows on lookers to see it. It is essentially adding a spotlight to that one part of her body to give her ultimate attention. As people we find ourselves as curious thinkers, making a statement like this intrigues people to ask questions. So is it really about the message or the attention you might get for that one moment in time? I think the message gives the tattoo a better purpose it adds meaning and gives us the illusion that is significant. I saw the tattoo that Miley Cyrus decided to get: http://assets.heavy.com/post_assets/2009/12/1013/1260471450_miley-cyrus-tattoo-picture.jpg I mean I understand that her friend died from Cystic Fibrosis but with all the money she is earning wouldn't it be more helpful to donate to the organization verses basically advertising them?  Its worse than wearing a shirt with a logo every time she goes swimming she will be a swimming, sun bathing, walking billboard.  That tattoo is going to be stamped on her for the rest of her life!  It doesn't make her a hero or a better person it makes her look like she needs attention.  The attention of her tattoo takes away from why she really got and makes people question her even more.  In a couple of years the fad of tattoos will go out of style and all of these people will be stuck in the mud.

            We use “happiness” as a way to escape reality, this than allows us to forget our suffering for that moment. By doing this we distract ourselves for what we all know is coming next. I think this universe and this world is just like the game Jenga. For those who have never heard of this it is the game it is where you have a tower of wood blocks and you have to pull ones from the bottom out one by one and keep stacking them on top of each other. If the tower falls the game is over. Just like Jenga I think humans represent the wooden blocks and the tower represents the world. We are all here together for that brief moment in time and although we hate to admit it we all need each other to survive. Every move we make and every moment we live has an affect on the other 6,706,993,152 people on this planet. Just like in the game we try to move forward to get closer and closer to the top of things. While doing this though sometimes we suffer and loose loved ones, family members friends. This than makes us feel incomplete and we loose our sense of “happiness”. For just like our lifespan is brief so is our happiness.  Initially I thought that when the tower fell it meant your life was over but now I almost feel as though when the tower falls it is reality screaming at you and telling you to make a change. It is as if it is a warning that however you are living isn’t right and to get your act together.  But what is right?  Most people wont ever really know.  In The Death of Ivan Ilych there was a line in the beginning of the story that caught my attention when he had passed and people were at his wake.  “The expression on the face said that what was necessary had been accomplished, and accomplished rightly.  Besides this there was in that expression a reproach and a warning to the living.” (Page 97)  Essentially I think Ivan at the end of his life came to realize the mistake he had made.  I think the accomplishment was closure to meaning.  Maybe as we become closer to death we realize our waste of energy and time on things that have no significance.  Maybe the look on Ivan’s face is suppose to help guide the living since we still have time to make a change. 

            I think as humans we are constantly concerned about what happens next because we follow the direction and context of our scripts.  We hardly ever have time to live in the moment because we are constantly preparing for our next scene. In all honesty I have no idea what my main destinations are and goals are at this point.  I want to be able to see the whole world though because I think that when you stay trapped inside a bubble you have no idea what’s going on outside.  I think people are fascinating and there are really so many different kinds of people out there.  That are all equally as interesting and all have different stories.  I don’t think one person is better than another because we are all just as confused as the next person.  There are however people out there who are a little less confused because they have less distraction and more time to be thankful.  In 7th grade I went to an island called Elthura in the Bahamas.  I remember driving and looking out the window seeing tin shacks, those were people’s homes.  I think seeing something like that makes you understand how fortunate you really are.  Although maybe their homes were not mansions and they didn’t have expensive cars everyone on the island seemed so much happier than anyone I had ever met.  They didn’t feel as though they had nothing because they were aware that they had something and I think that is meaning.  This kind of meaning is not something you can buy and I think that’s what confuses us the most.    I think unfortunately though we are far more concerned about appearance more than anything else.  In the Frontline episode they talked about the Mook and the Midriff characters, it basically describes a superficial male and a superficial female.  We buy everything that fits these characters and put on a certain role to fulfill these characters.  We waste hour after hour on being someone who practically funds this concept of cool but at the end we feel so empty.  The answers we search so hard to find come so much easier to those who are not wasting all of this time. 

            All of these small components make up the concept of coolness.  They fuel the drive and momentum to be something none of us are.  We are all just performers in the end it feels as if there is something up their mocking us all and laughing at the fact that we can be so oblivious to our obvious mistakes.  We are so puzzled and so confused about what is true and what is false.  I am almost sure the answer is right in front of us but distraction takes over to the point where we don’t have time to pick up on it.  I’m tired of wasting my life because I know that I am, I wish there was a way to change my life but unfortunately I have a feeling its too late.  We have become brain washed by something out there and there is no turning back.  So maybe we don’t have a choice of the game we are playing and we are well aware there is no winner because in the end we will all be gone and it will be as if we were never even here.