Education

Are millions of average thinking people better than a few basic and a few genius spread throughout the world. With the polices we have in school today, although no child is left behind, many students don't reach near their full potentials. So what we end up with is a majority of average thinkers, and then still some who are not even average, more like basic or below. In paragraph 10, Emerson writes about schools having to "lower [their flags] and reef [their] sails" in order to "wait for the dull sailors". These "dull sailors" that we have in many of our schools today aren't students who are incapable of learning and becoming the "potential genius" they are born to be, let alone just don't care about or have the desire to learn and further themselves. Because of the lack of desire to learn and succeed in many students, many other students who are trying to reach their full potential are being held back. In schools today, teachers teach "for large classes instead of individuals". This sort of laziness, that has planted it's bottom in our school systems, is a great barrier for the next generations of genuises, who may potentially have the power to change the world, to overcome.

Kobalt Analysis

Our world runs on advertisements. They are present just about anywhere you go: on T.V., billboards, the radio, in stores, etc. Mechanics, do-it-yourself people, and others are always looking for sturdy tools that will last a good amount of time. Kobalts' tools ad applies to all three of the persuasive techniques to get someone out there to by their products.


To add credibility to their ad, Kobalt gifts their customers with a lifetime hassle-free guarantee. By providing their customers with this, their company shows that they have enough belief in their own products to allow that sort of option. In order for a potential customer to believe in a product themselves, they must first know that the company believes in their own product. Another way ethos is involved in this ad, is how the picture included of a father watching and helping his son work on his car alludes to the fact that his son is probably using the same set of tools that his father had used in his day. This shows that the tools do last a lifetime, by showing that they have already lasted two generations.


In this add, the bonding between father and son, while using their tools, shows pathos. They are doing an activity that mostly all men enjoy, and also getting a little father/son bonding in at the same time. These tools are also said to be very reliable, which in some situations is a very important thing to have. Say a loved one had there car break down on the side of the road, tough reliable tools would be a very nice thing to have in the car with them. With the tools, and of course a few skills, they might not be stranded on the side of the road as long.

Kobalt tools are only available at Lowe's. This fact adds to the logos of the advertisement. By making this known, that they are only available at one particular store, makes these tools almost seem kind of special in a way. Also if a person decides to purchase some Kobalt tools, they know for sure that they will also be receiving a lifetime hassle-free guarantee. The guarantee is a promised feature in the package deal.

By using ethos, pathos, and logos, Kobalts' ad effectively and heavily persuades readers to buy their tools.

Spot the Fake Smile:)

On page 178, to develop my sense of empathy Pink suggests taking the Spot the Fake Smile quiz. So i searched for it on the Internet and took it. I have to say it seemed quite harder than I expected it'd be, but to my surprise I did better than I had expected I'd do, getting 16/20 smiles correct. At the end of the quiz it asked me what part of the face I used most in determining which smile was fake or genuine, which helped me to pinpoint that I actually used the eyes mostly in determining each smile. Getting that many right makes me feel more confident now in being able to spot if someone is giving me a fake smile or not. On my results page, towards the bottom it gives tips on finding the differences in fake and genuine smiles. I learned a lot of new ways in determining what smile's what. Such as what happens to the eye cover folds and eyebrows when a smile is genuine. I can use my new found knowledge with anyone and everyone, wherever i go!:)


To SHOW my learning I've provided a link to my results page.
Click here to go to the results page of my quiz

Big Macs and Rice Cakes

Some say they'll choke eating what they pick,
Some say don't eat.
From what I've tasted of a pepperoni stick,
I hold with those who are gluttonous ticks.
But if my heart had to croak in a different beat,
I think I know enough pills and procedures
To say that for death the bony birds that tweet
Also lures
And would fatality meet.

True Friendship

What happens to true friendship?

         
       Does it blossom
       like a bamboo orchid in a flower garden?
       Or stand still like a calm pond--
       And then ripple when agitated?
       Does it fade with time like a sunset descending 
       behind a hill?
       Or burn away fast--
       Like a lit fuse?


       Maybe it just vanishes
       Like an object in a magic trick.


       Or does it renew?

Antigone: Character Analysis

                There’s always that person out there who never ever gives up. They are there to make their statement, and be heard. Those who have this sort of self-confidence must have a strong mind and heart that drives them through their struggles. This strong-headed stubbornness can also get them in trouble though, even when they may be fighting for the right reasons. Such a determined person is Antigone of Sophocles’ Greek tragedy “Antigone.”  She is unwavering in her fight for her brother’s burial.

                Antigone was determined from the very beginning, when Creon first spoke the news about her brother. She sets out to ask her sister, Ismene, for help but as her foil Ismene “[has] no strength for it”. Antigone and Ismene are exact opposites.  Antigone’s ready to get down-n-dirty and break the law for her brother, on the other hand Ismene is way too goody-two-shoes and weak to break the law even for her own brother. Antigone retorts and promises she “will go and heap a tomb for [her] dearest brother”.  Attitude beams from Antigone when she mentions how she’ll bury her brother. Almost as if she’s trying to say that Polynices, their brother, is no longer Ismene’s brother because she chooses not to do anything about his burial.

                Her assertiveness to get her way can work as a strength, but also as a weakness. Antigone doesn’t hold anything back while she speaks to the feared king Creon, she hopes that he knows exactly how she feels about him, she hopes that “by nature [she offends him]”. Although Antigone is just trying to do the right thing, she still sometimes goes overboard and comes off as disrespectful and loud-mouthed. Every once in a while she seems to lose control of her mouth, which is especially not a good thing when it comes to losing it while talking to someone in a higher power than herself. Creon thinks that she is the only one who thinks the way she does about her brother’s burial, but Antigone knows that other people besides her think the same thing they just “hold their tongues for him”. Antigone is the type of person who will not only speak for herself, but also speak up for others who won’t speak up for themselves. This is a quality that makes her come off as very dependable.

                She keeps her consistency as a strong-minded person all the way to the end, to her death. Antigone fears “that [she] might serve the dead”, just like anyone would, but she tries to hold it back, and away from others. This might make her seem a little passive, which is the opposite of her usual personality. This could also show how strong she is though, by being able to keep her feelings under control even when knowing such a tragic fate awaits her. Creon seems to be in control when he banishes her to starve to death inside of a cave, but to his surprise she was “[hung] by the neck”. This shows how she is the one who is in control of her life, or in this circumstance, even her death. She wasn’t going to let Creon decide her fate of a slow painful death, she chose to die quick and she made it happen.

                Antigone is one of the strongest people, in every way possible, in the play “Antigone”. She continues to show her determination throughout the story. She has a sincere sense to do the right thing morally at all times, even when it may be legally wrong. Steadfast and untiring, Antigone faces her challenges.

No Sense of Security

Everyone deserves to have a sense of security as a human being. The interview done by NPR of former foster kid Andrew Bridge touched me. Think about what a child needs in order to not only grow up but grow up well. One of the most important is not always the one someone thinks of right of the bat, a sense of security.

To go through a childhood with no sense of security is like feeling like there's always a part missing. Having that kind of empty feeling, mixed with confusion, anger, and fear is what most foster kids go through. DHS workers basically have the license to legally kidnap. "...Wade reminded her that, with or without legal permission, a little boy would never be hard to steal" (Bridge).

Not having a permanent, safe home and caregiver can confuse a young child. Millions of problems, especially psychological, can sprout from not having a sense of security. A developing child needs to know that there's always going to be a known and trusted person there for them, to support them. In foster care a child is ripped and shuffled from home to home, caregiver to caregiver. Therefore, foster care can't provide the sense of security a child yearns for so much.

A child should be worrying about when they'll get the next new Barbie or action figure. Living in constant worry of where and who they'll be with next, is something any child can't and should not have to deal with while growing up. "Someday, someone may come to take you" (Bridge).

Bridge, Andrew. “’Hope’s Boy’ a Memoir of Childhood in Foster Care.” Npr. Interview. 27 Feb. 2008. Hope’s Boy. Radio. 19 Feb 2011.