For Megan: The "Feminist" Ryan Gosling

A joke, for sure, but I thought you might find it amusing.

The Feminist Ryan Gosling

Blog Post #3 Retorical Analysis

My first one was totally wrong so i just changed everything.

1.- Article
A Brony gathering: SoCal men let their ‘My Little Pony' flag fly
by T.L. Stanley

2.- Summary
This article talks about the unusual behavior from man that usually range from the late teens to the early 20s about liking a show called My Little Pony. Interviews conducted that they attracted by the animation and character development. Some people might see this phenomenon as a unusual thing but it happens often with similar stuff that goes viral, for example: memes. Hasbro and the Hub are aware of this phenomenon happening all around the world and support it.

3.- Rhetorical Strategies
Contrast:
Counterexamples: At the beginning were it says "A raucous gathering at an Anaheim hotel on a recent Saturday night looked like any fanboy mini-convention — about 150 people, mostly guys in their late teens and early 20s, watched animation on big-screen TVs, recited dialogue from memory and jumped out of their seats to cheer for a storied franchise.

But it wasn’t a Marvel superhero, a Christopher Nolan blockbuster or a million-selling video game that had them rapt. It was the rainbow-hued fantasy world of “My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic,” a reboot of a classic kids TV series airing on cable network the Hub, that has found its way into the hearts of an unexpected demographic: adult men." I'm not sure if this could be a counter example or not.

Emotion: The way the writer writes is kind of enthusiastic i think.

Punctuation: I'm not totally sure if this falls into punctuation but she uses a lot of "()""--"

Symbol: "and produce a steady stream of flying-pony-inspired blogs, rock bands, fan art and
YouTube videos.", "At last count, there were nearly 170,000 pieces of fan-created “MLP” art on the online artist collective deviantArt" Well i think this could mean that they don't just like this show but they or this fandom but it could be that they want to be included and share what they like about the show with art, music or videos.

Setting: "A raucous gathering at an Anaheim hotel on a recent Saturday night looked like any fanboy mini-convention" this is were this takes place so it would be the setting.

4.- Explain why you chose this piece.
Well i think it is a big thing just growing and spreading so fat in the internet that i was thinking why not give it a shot. What got my attention was the topic. I would say neither of them, she doesn't necessarily says bad or good stuff she just says that the "bronies" are there and gives a little example of what they do in conventions and stuff.

Blog #3

In his article It's Good To Be Pretentious!, Ian Stansel highlights the cultural effects of a new Anti-Intellectual movement and argues that pretentiousness is in fact a beneficial part of society. Using the 1995 film Before Sunrise as his main example, he dissects the tension between the multiple ways one can view pretentiousness. The main point woven throughout the article is the possibility that society may be muted from experiencing the true complexity of the human experience by admonishing intellectualism. The rhetorical strategies most imperative to understanding the article are ones that employ the use of comparisons. Heavy allusions to "inaccessible" works of art help to outline Stansel's plea for society to be less quick to write off these important contributions; "Say so long to Radiohead, "The Tree of Life", The Sopranos"......and a million other thing that make this world better than it would be otherwise". Description is used to create the author's personal definition of pretentiousness; "What we often call pretentiousness, especially among the younger of us, is little more than a trying on of cerebral life. Kids in their teens and early-20s, in all their self-consciousness, strike the poses of intellectualism". Ethos calls out to the readers morality; "But, I say again, why not? Would we prefer that the kid on the train was trying on the outfits of bigotry and violence and ignorance?". Sarcastic language appeals to the demographic of readers; But unfortunately, twee 20-somethings having their picture taken with Santa Claus sincerely today is just as pointless as cynical 20-somethings doing it with a roll of their eyes in 1992". Diction and Tone play side by side to make the article unique to the author's voice. There are multiple examples that sylize his writing; "You don't have to like everything I've mentioned (hell, I don't like all of it)", or "I would later, very briefly, date this same old girlfriend of his, but that would end soon after a heated debate over the Grateful Dead and the Velvet Underground, a debate that paused only momentarily; I put VU's "Oh! Sweet Nothing" on, the girl said, "He sounds like Jerry in this song, " and we made out a little.) His funny little asides brand the writing as uniquely his. I chose this article because it related directly to a sentiment I experience every day. I'm an admitted intellectual nerd. I walk around with Kerouac novels in my hands, watch those avante garde French films that are so often parodied in comedy films, and am currently trying to make a mustached Brit fall in love with me. But my friends take every opportunity they can to poke fun at this quality of mine. The way I speak is strange, I would like that book, him of ALL GUYS?! I think our generations insane take on intellectualism is sad, and sometimes I worry that we will not produce another great author or Bob Dylan because no one is striving to be different. I want to do more research and expand upon the subject because it is something that truly interests me, especially from a journalistic standpoint.

A Conversation With My 12 Year Old Self: 20th Anniversary Edition

Blog #3

Why Urban, Educated Parents Are Turning to DIY Education
By: Linda Perlstein

In summary, this article is about the increasing number of parents (mostly Moms) that have started homeschooling their children in urban areas. The author states that it is growing increasingly popular for Mom's to not want to let their kids go off to pre-school/kindergarten after having had them so close for the first 4 years of their life. Another reason for homeschooling is that the parents can control what their child learns and doesn't learn vice leaving it up to the educational system. The author goes on to share that home schooled kids seem to be better off in family relationships, college bound, and most of all - within themselves.

1. Description: The author used this to display that even home schooled kids have the normal 'things' of a normal 'not home schooled' Seattle family.
"Their large green Craftsman is typical Seattle. There are kayaks in the garage, squash in the slow cooker, and the usual paraphernalia of girlhood: board games, dolls, craft kits"

2. Imagery: This helped envision a typical school day in the home of the Schreiber family.
"Tera sits down to eat a bowl of salmon salad while helping Ginger with her reading workbook. Daisy is reading a fantasy book about wild cats. Violet is playing with a big clock."

3. Setting: The title has the word Urban in it and that immediately clues the reader in as to where this is happening. This article touches on urban areas in Philadelphia, Detroit, and mainly Seattle.

4. Tone: The author's tone is balanced but with an underlying persuasive hint as to hopefully persuade some readers to home schooling their children. In one paragraph, she is stating how some people think it is unhealthy and the damaging effects that home schooling has on the kids, and then in the next paragraph, the author states all the benefits of home schooling.

5. Ethos: Home schooling is often viewed with images of the countryside and back in the day, where there were no electronic gadgets. However, it is becoming more and more popular, and more so the fact that it is happening in Urban areas, which catches people off guard - because most folks think of the country olden days when thinking of home schooled.

I chose this article because I think it's super interesting that home schooling is becoming more and more popular. I'm from a small country side town and while everyone knew everyone and our school system was great, we still had some kids that were home schooled up until high school. When they joined their classmates freshman year, each home schooled kid was way ahead of all the others as far as knowledge and skill. I think that because this is becoming more popular in urban areas, then there surely must be something wrong with the school systems in the major cities. I admire the parents who home school, who put their entire life or career on hold to teach their children and guide them and teach them what is truly important in this world. If we had more parents who could spend quality time with their kids, maybe there wouldn't be nearly as many problems as there are today.

Blog Post #3: Rhetorical Analysis

1) Article: Targeting "Slutty" Students; by Jessica Valenti; http://www.thenation.com/blog/168298/targeting-slutty-students

2) Summary: In the article "Targeting 'Slutty' Students, Valenti brings attention to the issue of dress codes in a high school setting. The author discusses that the “more curvy” female students are criticized  by faculty members for their clothing. Valenti also argues that this issue is a direct violation of the students' rights under Title IX. The author emphasizes that the dress code in schools sends a powerful message to young women, that they are responsible for the way "society objectifies and sexualizes them."

3) a) Allusion: The author alludes to the Educational Amendments of 1972, which forbids all forms of sexual discrimination.

"In fact, it’s their right under Title IX."

b) Pathos (emotions): The author uses a quote from a senior from a high school to gain sympathy for the women being subjected to discrimination by faculty members.

" Another senior, Lucinda Ventimiglia, told the student newspaper, the Spectator, “I’ve been told that even though my skirts were technically acceptable, they were still too short for me to wear, and once it was suggested that I should follow a separate dress code...”

c) Sarcasm: The author uses sarcasm to show that showing bare shoulders should no longer be an issue for dress codes.

" “Slutty Wednesday”—a day in which students deliberately violated the code that bars them, among other restrictions, from wearing anything that bares their shoulders. (The horror!)"

d) Ethos (Ethics): The author uses a student's story about how she was told by school faculty that she was wearing an inappropriate dress to school to have the reader think about the morals of this particular faculty member.

" Ventimiglia also recalled being stopped by a school official who told her that her dress was too short that that she could “show off her curves” when she wasn’t in school. “...the dress code was only instituted for my protection, because there are a lot of bad men outside school, and if I was raped nobody would be able to take that away from me. Then, she said, ‘and you want a husband, don’t you?"

e) Imagry: The author uses an example from one of the students stopped for violating the dress code to give the reader a mental picture of the types of outfits that are "inappropriate".

" “Ms. Damesek took one look at me, sighed, and asked me what I was thinking when I went out of the house that morning. All I wore was a long-sleeved button-down, which was secured by a navy skirt and accompanied by floral cutout tights; I didn’t intend for it to be inappropriate in the slightest..."
4) At first the title of the article caught my attention. However, as I read through the article the author's use of language attracted me to choose this article. I agree with the fact that women should be able to wear what they choose (not based on a school dress code.) I also agree (based on events seen during my high school years) that female students are more likely to be stopped for a dress code violation.

Blog 3

Normal as Folk, By DAVID M. HALPERIN

In David M. Halperin’s “Normal as Folk” he describes the evolution of Gay men. How they were originally perceived as these flamboyant and feminine men to the now everyday Joe. The modern day Gay man is more subtle and blends in with today and is accepted as the new normal. The only difference between a straight and gay man is their sexual preference and both live similar lives. Halperin, says “The last obstacle to complete social integration is no longer gay sex or gay identity, but gay culture.”

1. Metaphor

(Of course, those sorry gay men in their 30s and 40s, who allegedly cling to an outmoded, passé version of gay culture, must be the very same people who, only a few years earlier, were those pioneering gay teenagers, taking their first innocent steps in a brave new world without homophobia, ignorant of gay culture and indifferent to it.) 

He describes gay teenagers as these pioneers going and finding a new world. 

2. Imagery

And yet gay culture is not just a superficial affectation. It is an expression of difference through style — a way of carving out space for an alternate way of life. And that means carving out space in opposition to straight society.

This helps paint a picture of gays cutting their way into the world to make their own.

3. Personification

We will never understand why it still survives, or why so many people, straight and gay, are so overeager to declare its death.

It gave Gay culture human qualities of dying. 

4. Allusions (references):

For today’s gay men, life is composed of PTA meetings, church socials and Nascar races.

I don’t know for some reason I felt like he was referring to Dale Earnhart Jr., coming out and being gay with his teammate or something like that.

5. Punctuation

 IT’S gay pride month again, and that means it’s time for the straight media to deliver its annual state-of-the-gay report.

He used dashes to put more emphasis on the statement to the reader maybe more sarcasm-ish….this could be sarcasm also (grrr).

Honestly the only reason i picked this article is cause it was the only one i thought was interesting to me and i knew it would keep my interest.

Is Feminism Changing?

Why Women Still Can't Have It All
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/07/why-women-still-cant-have-it-all/309020/

Anne-Marie Slaughter takes an interesting approach to feminism in her article “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All.” As a successful business woman, she argues that the feminist struggle may not be as appealing as it was previously made out to be. It is her belief that not all women have the ability to have a highly competitive career, whilst still maintaining a stable family life.

1. Contrast: The author uses wonderful contrast in this article right in the opening lines, to paint a picture for the reader.

“Eighteen months into my job as the first woman director of policy planning at the State Department, a foreign-policy dream job that traces its origins back to George Kennan, I found myself in New York, at the United Nations’ annual assemblage of every foreign minister and head of state in the world.”

To me, this really helps me to envision exactly where the author was in that moment. I believe the intended effect of this was to put the reader in the author’s place, so they could understand exactly how she felt in that moment.

2. Description: The author uses description here to show how poorly her family was getting along without her. I think she uses this to emphasize her point that her family needed her, and she wasn’t there for them because of her job.

“I sipped champagne, greeted foreign dignitaries, and mingled. But I could not stop thinking about my 14-year-old son, who had started eighth grade three weeks earlier and was already resuming what had become his pattern of skipping homework, disrupting classes, failing math, and tuning out any adult who tried to reach him.”

3. Emotion: This is used strongly throughout the article, because as human’s it is part of our base instinct to care for our children. The author is saying that it isn’t right to sacrifice raising your child for a career.

“Over the summer, we had barely spoken to each other—or, more accurately, he had barely spoken to me.”

4. Irony: The author shows the irony in feminism and how her entire conception of it changed for her.  It’s ironic that a business woman and feminist would feel this way about her career.

“By the end of the evening, she had talked me out of it, but for the remainder of my stint in Washington, I was increasingly aware that the feminist beliefs on which I had built my entire career were shifting under my feet.”

5. Setting: The author sets the initial story in Washington, away from her family, amongst politicians to emphasize her point that she was not where she needed to be.

“On a Wednesday evening, President and Mrs. Obama hosted a glamorous reception at the American Museum of Natural History. I sipped champagne, greeted foreign dignitaries, and mingled.”

I decided to choose this topic, because I felt the author had a very interesting and unique approach to the subject of feminism. It is not often that you hear a successful business woman admit that striving for such a competitive career may not have been her best choice in life. Also, I find the struggle between a career and family is something I can relate to fairly easily. I, personally, agree with this article. I originally planned to attend college to become a doctor. When I got married, I realized the long hours this would require was not something I wanted. I was not willing to sacrifice time with my family for a high-paying career. While I think that a career is important, I also believe spending time with your family is very important.