Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Being a Man

a.The claim that Theroux is making in “Being a Man” is that man have to live up to this image of masculinity or being manly when in reality that is not how man really want to act or most man don’t act.

b.I think this is the claim because the way he’s describing being a man is in a negative way on everything that he has to say.

c.The quote I found that shows this is the claim is when he used the example “Even the expression Be a man! Strikes me as insulting and abusive.” The fact that the words be a man is insulting to him must means he has been insulted a lot throughout his life because a lot of man and woman use the words be a man.

d.In away yes I think his sub-arguments or his reasons go along with his claim but then again I don’t.

“Just as high school basketball teaches you how to be a poor loser, the manly attitude toward sports seems to be little more than a recipe for creating bad marriages, social misfits, moral degenerates, sadists, latent rapist and just plain louts.”

I really don’t see how sports have anything to do with a bad marriage, since a lot of couples love to go to games together and bring them closer to each other as a couple and as a family. He really don’t go into much details about that.

“It is a hideous and crippling lie; it not only insists on difference and connives at superiority, it is also by its very nature destructive—emotionally damaging and socially harmful”

I agree with Theroux on this quote, only because I do believe America makes manly images to harsh on younger boys who does not even know what it means to be a mean so we push this image on them hoping they would grow up like that image. They make it seems like the man is suppose to superior but in reality now days some women hold more power than a man does by taking on a man’s role.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Mommy What Does Nigger Mean

What kind of connotation does this word mean for each race?
This word to me means alot in different terms since I am African American. I've heard this word used many times throughout my life not just from the same color of my skin but also from other races as well. From an African American stand point the word used just really depends on who's mouth it is coming from and how it is being used in the sentence. The word Nigger is defined as a offensive but is still used in a slang word. It has so many meanings where it can be a good thing or a bad thing, but in my eyes I think its just another word used as low class and it shows a lack of vocabulary just as well as other words that are considered "bad or curse words." Each race has there own word that is used just like the word nigger. In the society we live in today if a black person use the word no matter in whatever term it does not look bad. If a hispanic use the word most of the time its fine since we feel like there closer to blacks than any other race. But if they use it at a black person directly than it may cause problems where the black want to fight. If a white person use the word towards a black person it makes them want to fight. Some whites blacks make an acception for because they grew up around blacks mainly there whole life but than again it just depends on the usage of the word. Any other race really ties in with white unless they grew up mainly around black people. I don't like being called one personally since it does have such a negative connotation.

Why does Naylor include a description of her family?
Naylor includes a description of her family to show the way a word can be used to show different meaning by whom it is being used by. The boy in the class room meaning was in a negative way. But when she opens up about her family it shows the many ways blacks use the word to this day. I think she also includes her family in to the story to let it be known that she had encountered the word previous but it didn't dawn on her the true meaning of the word until she came in contact with the third grader and it made her feel a different way than normally when her family used it.