In Defense of Talk Shows

I cannot stand talk shows, other than the congressional sessions on C-Span they are probably the most ignorant and backwards things televised today. Ehrenreich' ideas on talk shows are right on. I find the talk shows ignorant because you have some middle aged host that claims to be an expert on morals and ethics when they preach to the out of control people on the show; what qualifies them to criticize these people who are living a tough life?

 The middle class americans with nothing better to do but sit at home and watch these low class people do so just to feel more normal themselves. If they did in fact want to learn more about morals why don't the talk shows have middle class people on the show, the people committing white collar crimes like fraud and the house wives at home cheating on their spouses. These people they find in the trailer parks expose themselves to the humiliation because they have no where else to go with their problems. They offer a fake source of help through their "rough-and-ready therapist," and all they get is crucified by the audience on national television. 

I would love to see Ehrenreich's idea of a talk show, with the "different cast of characters and caregory of crimes... CEO's who rake in millions while their employees get downsized..." Now thats a talk show that I would watch.

The Whole Horse

I found this story far too lengthy and the language the author used was quite confusing, but I do agree with most of what he had to say. As an industrial nation we do live our lives with no regard for the environment. We will be the cause of our own demise. Many in the U.S. believe that "we cannot live lives that are economically and ecologically responsible."(Berry 2) I agree this does take much more effort but it is not impossible. Though I have never seen the term before I find this idea intriguing, this is the idea of "agrarianism," this could be the Answer to our ecological problems. "Industrialism is a way of thought bases on monetary capital and technology, agrarianism is a way of thought based on land." (Berry 3) The author discusses the effects of industrialism, he reinsures that we will not have any resources left if we do not keep industrialism in check with concerns of agrarianism. I do agree that this new culture of false satisfaction if unchanged will lead to the loss of all of the natural resources we have at our expense. 

Attack of the Killer Cats

I did not care for this story at all. It seems to just ramble on about pointless facts about cats and what little animls they kill. In the end there is no conclusion, the author kinda just leaves you thinking, Whats the point? My interest was not sparked in the least, probably because i hate cats.

I did think about one part of the article though, the cats are probably an important part of the ecosystem. I highly doubt that they will have a negative impact. Small mamals and birds reproduce so quickly that a preadator is needed to regulate the population. There is no way that all the cats in the world are going to kill too may of the small animals. Though i do not like cats even the least bit I do believe that they are probably an important part of our environment. There needs to be checks and balances though, if nothing is a preadator towards the cats then we may run into a problem. I suppose that cars on the road may be the preadator in this relationship.

Why We Crave Horror Movies

I think that King hits the nail right on the head with this essay. Surely each one of us can relate to one of the reasons he gives for, why we "crave horror movies." He did a great job explaining each one of those reasons. Although I do believe he is kinda the pot calling the kettle black when he writes about people being insane, if you have ever read some of his writing I'm pretty sure you would agree with me on that.  

I believe that his look at how society shapes us from infancy is very insightful. King explains how from infancy we are praised for expressing emotions such as happiness, kindness, and love, and when the twisted side of us comes out and intentionally slams our siblings fingers in the door we are punished. Thus society only allows us to show certain "acceptable" emotions, if we show the others we will end up in the loony bin. So we watch these sick horror films to almost exercise our hidden emotions. I find this to be completely true, we are clay in societies hands from the time we are infants up until we have the ability to think for ourselves. 

For me the last few sentences do a great job of explaining why many of us crave horror films. "... good liberals often shy away from horror films. For myself, I like to see the most aggressive of them-Dawn of the Dead, for instance- as lifting a trap door in the civilized forebrain and throwing a basket of raw meat to the hungry alligators swimming around in that subterranean river beneath.

Why bother? Because it keeps them from getting out, man."(King 313)

Reid, Steven. Purpose and Process: A Reader for Writers. Prentice Hall, New Jersey 2004.

Stephen King P.311-315

Once More to the Lake

Once more to the lake was an outstanding example of a remembering essay. White used outstanding diction throughout the story, as you read you felt as if you were right there experiencing the whole summer vacation with him and his family.
I do have to say though he has quite the memory, i could never remember all of the minute details that he seems to remember so vividly. "...and the boat was the same boat, the same color green and the ribs broken in the same places...".(White 534) This story even had my mind wandering back to the hot summer days i spent in a small boat on the river behind my grandparents house. White not only has you right there beside him on that small lake in Maine but he gets your mind wandering off to times you spent during your own previous vacations.
"Up to the farmhouse to dinner through the teeming, dusty field, the road under our sneakers was only a two-track road. The middle track was missing, the one with the marks of the hooves and the splotches of dried, flaky manure."(White 535) This sentence really brought me back to my own chilhood memories, walking from the pond in the pasture back to my house carefuly stepping around the cow pies scattered down the two track trail. He seems to be able to sweep inhis audience closer and closer with each word. I felt myself wanting to read that next sentence more and more as the passage went on.

White, E.B. "Once More to the Lake." The Art of the Personal Essay: An Anthology from the Classical Era to the Present. Ed. Phillip Lopate. New York: Anchor, 1995. 532-538.

Remembering

This was probably the toughest for me to get through because it was do dry and it drug out what seemed like forever. 

If I am reading about something that is dry such as Remembering i find myself drifting off into daydreams and or falling asleep; due to this the annotated reading strategy that the author writes about seems like it would be a useful strategy that I can take away from the reading. 

Another useful idea he had was about, when writing a remembering essay, be specific about events, names, and dates; this makes the account much more believable and personal. I agree with most of what the essay has to stay, I just believe the essay was way to drug out. 

Walking

I love spending my time in the outdoors so I can relate with the authors points and experiences. I agree with Thoreau's idea of wilderness being the preservation of the world. Given the choice between wilderness and the most beautiful garden I too would choose the wilderness. Thoreau shows that as beings we are fascinated with the wilderness. "... Wilderness is the preservation of the World. Every tree sends its fibers forth in search of the Wild. The cities import it at any price. Men plough and sail for it. From the forest and wilderness come the tonics and barks which brace mankind." (P.73) The very things that build our world all come from the wilderness, and those things are only discovered by someone who broke from the pack and adventured out. 

The wild that the author talks about leaves a footprint on ones very being, it creates a superior man. "The founders of every state which has risen to eminence have drawn their nourishment and vigor from a similar wild source." "Give me a wilderness whose glance no civilization can endure,..." (P.73)The wilderness he speaks of here is one superior to all of us, no civilization can even endure its mere glance. The unknown parts of wilderness challenge and harden man making this superior being.  

"In the very aspect of those primitive and rugged trees, the was, methinks, a tanning principle which hardened and consolidated the fibres of men's thoughts. Ah! already I shudder for these comparatively degenerate days of my native village, when you cannot collect a load of bark of good thickness,-and we no longer produce tar and turpentine."(P.74) Though this was written in 1862 Thoreau foreshadows the loss of wilderness that we often witness today especially in this area where the land is being developed so fast. The thickness of bark he speaks of is a metaphor for the measure of a man. With only thin bark left, how can a man learn from and grow with the wilderness?

How to Mark a Book

The author contends that there are two types of ownership when it comes to a book. One can have the property right to a book; but full ownership only comes when a book becomes part of the reader, and Alder contends that this is achieved by writing in it. (P.21) Though i have never marked all over a book that i have read I do agree with this point. After marking in a book myself i do find it helpful, especially when referring back to something.

Alder's method is also helpful in comprehending what you are reading. "... reading, if active is thinking... the marked book is usually the thought-through book"(P.22) His method forces you to be active in learning, it causes you to question the author and your own ideas.

Overall i find "How to Mark a Book" an exceptionally  helpful essay. 

Reid, Stephen. Purpose and Process: A reader for Writers Fifth Edition

New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2004.

How to Mark a Book PP. 20-25

Shitty First Drafts

I find it comforting to learn that I am not the only person that struggles to squeeze some sort of decent writing out on the page. When i sit down to write my first draft I often times find my self surrounded by several wadded up shitty first drafts that failed to make it into the wastebasket. "The first draft is the child's draft.."(P.75) I agree with the child's draft statement fully, when i finally manage to get something on the paper often times it sounds as if i am reading it from one of my elementary school assignments. As the author says though "... no one is going to see it and that you can shape it later." 

Lamott makes a good point when she states, "... good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere."(P.77) The place I always start is somewhere between fourth and fifth grade but it is a start, it can only go uphill from there. 

I plan on taking some of the authors advice when it comes to letting your inner child romp all over the page on that first draft.(P.75) I usually tend to hold back ideas that I might think are dumb at the time but if I have them down they might prove helpful later in my writing.

Reid, Stephen. Purpose and Process: A reader for Writers Fifth Edition 

New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2004.