Jordan’s AP Blog

Twain’s main claim is that black people as a culture feel that they cannot function as individuals. That men are like a pack of wolves where if one does not follow the majority they will become outcasts. I feel that while is argument has some truth to it it is not completly accurate. In general if you do not follow the social majority indeed you become an outcast and suffer for it. Some individuals however are charismatic enough to pave new ways and not become an outcasts. Other people are placed in positions of influence where the majority shifts to follow. An example would be after the movie The Wild One came out there was a great increase in the number of black leather motorcyle jackets; in the film Marlon Brando wears a black leather jacket. The example shows both sides though not only was Marlon Brando influential enough to move the majority, there was a majority that all moved as a pack.  I belive that in most cases Twain is right but there are some exceptions that come about.

2.The main difference between the male and female villain is the level of intelligence. The male villain is portrayed a muscular but stupid jock. The female villain is portrayed as a cunning but malevolent beauty. This suggests that in films and other media if you’re not male and not a nerd you can’t be intelligent; but women regardless of social stereotype have a high level of cunning.

3. Whenever there is a major paragraph break the author switches tones. He sets up an idea then builds on it from a different perspective after each break.

4. The break between paragraphs 3 and 4 shows the difference between the stereotypes and real life. In the first section he assumes the stereotypes are accurate then in paragraph 4 he steps out of this assumption and begins to question them.

5. The essay answers the questions it poses earlier on with ambiguous answers. It says that the genre films reflect reality to a point. The reality the films reflect is that which the directors remember. There are several factors which skew that what they remember though. The directors don’t often come from the top of the social ladder and as such look at it with disdain. Also embarrassing memories are some of the strongest so they tend to be remember more then other events.

6. Denby references many movies. That many sources create ethos by supporting his claim. They create the idea that he can’t be wrong with that many sources backing him up.

7. Denby’s main argument is that genre films actually expose the realities of high school social status. His secondary argument is that genre films are a healthy release of anti-elitist feelings some feel. He supports his claim by supporting a movie Never Been Kissedand using an showing how it was based on facts. He supports his secondary claim that genre films are healthy release by citing western films as an example.

9. Denby uses the “wound and the bow” theory as a warrant. He assumes everyone shares this and states that this is one of the things that creates pathos with the outsider in the movie. It also creates a feeling of hope in the viewers who consider themselves outsiders creating positive feelings they associate with the film.

10. Denby supports his claim that the shooters didn’t learn the lesson that geeks rule by citing that the stereotypical result for the outsider in genre films is that he becomes successful after school.

11.Denby’s final two paragraphs suport the idea that genre films actually have relevance to the realities of school. He uses examples of films that go  outside the normal stereotypes to expose the truth about high school that films have.

12. Denby is writing this for adults not in school. At one point he explains a point that students would get right away. He says “[it] may strike grown ups as peculiar.”

    The main claim in that piece the Autumn of Multitaskers is that multitasking is bad. He starts by arguing that secretly we know that multitasking is bad. That just like other suppossed sudden shocks we know its true. He moves onto explaining why we like to multitask. The idea is that we can get tuff done faster allowing us more free time. He then quotes several studies that show that multitasking is in fact counterproductive. Then he explains why multitasking seems effective. He then quotes startling statistics that suggest that astounding amounts of money have been wasted by multitasking. While sifting through all this data he ties it all together with antedoctes. He weaves it all together with supporting and shocking quotes to establish a sound argument.

      The general argument made by Susan Jacoby in her work How dumb can we get?  is that Americans are becoming more anti-intellectual. She writes “Dumbness… has been steadily defined downward for several decades.” In this passage Jacoby is suggesting that the spiral of intelligence is a recent trend. In conclusion Jacoby’s belief is that America is growing less intelligent as time goes on.

    In my view Jacoby is right because the invasion of video resources has reprogrammed minds to focus on things for shorter amounts of time. More specifically i believe that this is backed up by the studies that author states. For example she states that the number of college graduates reading has dropped by 15% in twenty years. Although Jacoby might object that it is not proven that reading books stimulates learning, I maintain that the lack of ability to focus is what is driving both learning and reading down. Therefore I conclude that young children should not be encouraged to watch television.