Part 1: Questions
1. Do you consider your parents' desires when making important decisions (who to date, where to go to college, ect.)?
2. Is betraying your parents' trust worse than betraying the trust of a close friend?
3. Do you feel you owe your parents for raising you, if so what?
4. Would you put your parents in a nursing home?
to be continued....
Monday, May 17, 2010
HW 55
Independent research question:
What is the root of one's feelings of loyalty, obligation, and devotion to one's parents, specifically, one's mother?
What is the root of one's feelings of loyalty, obligation, and devotion to one's parents, specifically, one's mother?
Monday, May 3, 2010
Homework #52
The most obvious human relationship is with family, and more specifically, one's mother. Everyone on Earth lived inside a woman for about 9 months. In the womb we are all parasites, eating what our mothers eat, breathing their air, and pumping their blood through our fetal bodies. After we are done growing inside the womb, the woman is put through excruciating pain in order to bring us into the world. The relationship between mother and child is expected to be an unconditionally loving one. I want to understand where this specific love comes from. Is it a beautiful, deep connection based in trust, gratitude, and understanding? That would be nice, in a "Little Women" kind of way. However, as cold as it may sound, my mother is the woman who carried me around for two weeks longer than her due date, put up with my kicking, 36 hours of labor, and eventually a C-section to get me out. If anyone else had exploited her body everyday for the better part of a year, only to torture her before leaving, she would hate them, consider them them an enemy, but not me. She kept me, fed me, bathed me (until I could be trusted not to drown myself), why would I fuck that up?
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
HW 36- Comments
1). To Kate:
Kate,
After reading your rough draft I understood your main idea to be that all the efforts one makes to be cool are merely done to deny the true self and hide feelings of emptiness.
By discussing hair and tattooing, you covered two major ways we try to make ourselves cooler. To go along with the idea that "all the world's a stage," these act as the costumes. They are the first thing, often the only thing, the audience can see and analyze about the character being portrayed. If the viewer can be tricked into seeing only what you want them to see, cool is achieved. The mask has successfully done its job by hiding our big ugly void, even to the point where we can fool ourselves.
To be considered:
1). I feel you could make your arguments more clearly connect to the thesis.
2). The first couple paragraphs focus on the "mask," while the later paragraphs focus on feelings of emptiness. Because feeling empty is a major part of your thesis, the paper might read better if you weave the two ideas together throughout.
3). I was confused about your views on henna vs. permanent tattooing, could you expand on that? Maybe explain the differences, if any, in what message each puts out to the world.
After reading your rough draft I understood your main idea to be that all the efforts one makes to be cool are merely done to deny the true self and hide feelings of emptiness.
By discussing hair and tattooing, you covered two major ways we try to make ourselves cooler. To go along with the idea that "all the world's a stage," these act as the costumes. They are the first thing, often the only thing, the audience can see and analyze about the character being portrayed. If the viewer can be tricked into seeing only what you want them to see, cool is achieved. The mask has successfully done its job by hiding our big ugly void, even to the point where we can fool ourselves.
To be considered:
1). I feel you could make your arguments more clearly connect to the thesis.
2). The first couple paragraphs focus on the "mask," while the later paragraphs focus on feelings of emptiness. Because feeling empty is a major part of your thesis, the paper might read better if you weave the two ideas together throughout.
3). I was confused about your views on henna vs. permanent tattooing, could you expand on that? Maybe explain the differences, if any, in what message each puts out to the world.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Essay Outline
Facebook friends, unique tattoos, new apps on your iPhone, clothes from a hip store, gossip magazines and a big screen TV provide some relief from what would otherwise be a grey hopeless misery. Unfortunately, any sense of relief will be temporary and leave us wanting more. Being cool, or trying to be is masochistic.
I. the hamster wheel
a. celebrity worship
b. cool hunters
II. living dangerously (sex, drugs, rock n roll)
a. young, famous, dead
b. maintaining your badass
III. physical- choosing appearance over health
a. tattoos
b. lengths gone to be thin (women) or muscular (men)
Sources:
· The Cool Hunters by Malcolm Gladwell
· Merchants of Cool
· Anatomy of an Attitude by Dick Pountain and David Robbins
· Rebel Without a Cause
· No One Here Gets Out Alive by Jerry Hopkins
· Interviews with tattooed peers
Need sources for:
- Drastic measures to be thin or muscular
- Celebrity worship
Monday, January 4, 2010
HW 32 - Tattoos & The Presentation of the Self
What is the relationship between the body and mind? I don't believe my body is on loan from god, and if it is I doubt he'll want it back. My body is the physical representation of Samantha Kaplan, no matter how much it changes. My appearance has changed greatly over the years; I got taller, I lost weight, ect. and yet I am still recognizable. Around age 11 I decided I wanted some say in my physical appearance, so I dyed my hair. Being able to change aspects of my body made me look at the body I hated in a completely new way. It was no longer a curse that I had to hide, but a canvas. Tattooing, plastic surgery, hair dye- these are all just tools available to create the body I want.
I can only speak for myself, but the search for a "cool" appearance is much like the hero's journey archetype. We start with our bodies in their original form, just a mass of organic material. When we develop a sense of self awareness, this can feel boring, and thus the journey to invent ourselves begins. "The hero starts off in a mundane situation of normality from which some information is received that acts as a call to head off into the unknown (wikipedia.com)." The information is awareness of both ourselves and the possibilities our world offers. For example, a young girl may one day notice that she has a large nose and desperately want to change it. She knows that her large nose is not considered classically beautiful, and will limit her possibilities in life. Fortunately, she does not have to be stuck with the face she was born with. She can take control of her body by making the decision to get a nose job.
I can only speak for myself, but the search for a "cool" appearance is much like the hero's journey archetype. We start with our bodies in their original form, just a mass of organic material. When we develop a sense of self awareness, this can feel boring, and thus the journey to invent ourselves begins. "The hero starts off in a mundane situation of normality from which some information is received that acts as a call to head off into the unknown (wikipedia.com)." The information is awareness of both ourselves and the possibilities our world offers. For example, a young girl may one day notice that she has a large nose and desperately want to change it. She knows that her large nose is not considered classically beautiful, and will limit her possibilities in life. Fortunately, she does not have to be stuck with the face she was born with. She can take control of her body by making the decision to get a nose job.
All efforts made to change one's look take time and energy, and can often be painful. I have a strong "no pain, no gain" mentality when altering my appearance. The harder the struggle to achieve my goals, the better the story and eventually a more gratifying result. I recently bought myself a rather expensive christmas gift. They have about a 5 inch heel and a steep incline, but no matter how uncomfortable they are I'm going to rock them. To some, these are just an impractical waste of money, but I get more out of them than sore feet. Being able to afford and walk in them and being taller are all things that give me a sense of power, and achieving that despite the pain they cause make me feel that much stronger. There is also an element of danger and mystery that grabs the attention of others. "How does she walk in those?! She's gonna twist an ankle." By using the tools available we not only have more control over our appearance, but the possibilities life has to offer and the value of the process. In the words of RuPaul, "You're born naked, the rest is drag."
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