Macheddie Baker
English 101
Professor Gardner
March 17, 2016
Final Reflection
I truly believe that the format of a letter is something that adresses the reader personally and engages their interest. A letter usually specifies who it is directed to and therefore makes it more intimate and exclusive. From the moment the viewer reads the hook of the intro and the point of the thesis, they are more inclined to continue reading and take what the author has to say to heart. In society, the composition of a letter is familiar and commonplace; we read and write them everyday. The writer is therefore discussing and displaying their thoughts in an orgnaized fashion and the appeal of a letter can be welcoming. By making a letter conducted towards the reader themself, I am thence exposing my logic and understanding to the public in a more generalized sence, as opposed to a memoir or a news article, (which doesn't seem to involve the readers as much on a personal level.) It is also true, that letters are usually intended to be concise and condensed. Since discrimination is an issue that needs to be discussed, it is something I want to publisize and hopefully encourgae a change or inspiration in others.
By choosing to focus on discrimination, intersectionality, and the source of the Eyes On The Prize documentary, I feel as if I am addressing some of the biggest and most important issues of our world today. Sometimes, it seems as if these negative traits have been institutionalized into our everyday life. In class, I often here other peers using stereotypes in their jokes or comments among one another. Sometimes those who lead our country can interweave different traits of racism, and in our everyday language, certain words meant to apply to anyone, is gender specific, like "man kind" rather then using the word humanity. While these are just a few minor examples, I wanted to point out the common types of discrimination that needs to be seriously examined and dealt with.
As I wrote this social media project, I learned much more about myself as a writer and how passionate I am about this topic. The oppertunity to adress issues and flaws in our society and speak to the public is a kind of freedom that I have never experienced before. I am a rather reticent individual myself, so to be able to be a part of this type of project is surprisingly enjoyable; journalism and writing has a certain charm to it, especially when it is linked to something I find to be applicable, sincere, and genuine. By writing this letter, it helped me channel my thoughts, and gave me the oppertunity to explain my opinion in my own words to the world, rather than always reading and hearing it from someone else. I can only hope that from this point on, I will continue my interest and focus my abilities in the small changes I can bring day to day on important matters and subjects universally.
~Reflections and Conclusion~
Bryan Badgley
There are three main benefits that I found with writing a letter for society. The first main benefit is that society gets to see both sides. Society gets to see the side of not only what the letter is about but also the side of the person writing the letter. This benefit gives a deeper meaning to what the reader is reading. The second benefit is that a letter can connect with more people than a research paper would as an example. This help society because more people will understand on a deeper level the issue you are talking about. The last benefit for society in writing in a letter is that people get to see how these issues relate to the writer and they can find similarities and differences with these connections to better help them understand themselves.
I picked discrimination because it was an important issue back during the time of Martin Luther King and it also is a very important issue in our world today. Since it is so important we can learn things from the past and not repeat them in the present or implement them so we can make the fight on discrimination better, like in the instance of being non-violent like Revered King was.
I learned a couple of things about myself as a writer and citizen of society after participating in this social media project. The first thing I learned about myself as a writer is that I believe I am becoming better at writing on more complex and serious topics that are impacting our world today. The second thing I learned about me as a person of society is that I truly want to be myself and that I will not let anyone define who I am because when it comes down to it I am who I want to be, not what others think of me. I truly feel like this is the most important thing I learned from studying discrimination is that we are all different, but that is a good thing. We should cherish diversity ever chance we get because society is interesting because we are all not the same people.
Myranda Buiquy
Reflection on Discrimination
I chose to write the movie review of The Help. I chose to write it because I think that since The Help deals with racism during the Civil Rights, writing it in a movie review format would help certain people understand that time through a movie. The entertainment industry is something that is incredibly successful in America and makes a lot of money. Having important issues in popular movies does bring these issues to light. By writing a movie review, hopefully people will take a closer look at the movie and the issue of racism.
I also picked this movie review because it dealt with the large issue of racism. Being an Asian-American, I have dealt with racism my whole life. Racism is something that frustrates me but I know the issue will probably not disappear anytime soon. Minorities are called names, have their culture made fun of, and are looked down upon. I really wanted to talk about racism in the movie review because it is so important to talk abouot this matter that is dealt with in mainstream media.
By writing this movie review, I was able to analyze the movie in its detail but also take a closer look at racism. I was also happy to do it in the fact that we could post in on a website. Social media and entertainment are huge platforms in society currently. By posting these discrimination issues that our group has written about, we can get out voice out there and publicly discuss what our views are. I think this social media prokect is one of the most enjoyable things I got to do because I got to participate in something that matters to, which is rare to do.
Adicus Finkbeiner
News articles are essential to society, for hundreds of years they were people’s primary forms of keeping up with the current events, news articles are just as important today but sadly too many people choose not to read them and just read summaries in the comments. This however does not diminish the necessity of news articles, news articles and editorials are very essential to keeping the average citizen up to date with current events in a clear manner. I chose news article because I’m not a fan of writing letters and have literally no experience writing a memoir.
Our topic was discrimination, not even sure who picked it but it's incredibly broad and let us each focus on what we wanted. I picked my more specific topic or politics in specific the 2016 presidential election because this is something of great interest to me. Seeing as how I will turn eighteen this year it will be the first time I am able to vote which alone is significant enough but the acts of some of the candidates on the Republican side are just appalling to me. They make statements that violate basic freedoms and I don’t know why so many people take them seriously, it may be due to the fact that I am generally more of a liberal but this election just makes me mad.