Ferguson and Mexico's Violent Protests 

      Ferguson, Missouri is a city ripped apart by conflict, riots, and disagreements about a white police officer who shot and killed and unarmed black teen this past August. Some witnesses say that Brown had his hands up in surrender when he was killed while others describe the situation as a physical altercation between Brown and the officer. Currently, the city is awaiting a grand jury's decision on whether to indict Wilson, the police officer. Besides disagreements and conflict surrounding the shooting itself, individuals from St. Louis are not understanding of the reasons behind inviting in the National Guard. "The National Guard is called in when policing has failed. Military presence in my city will mark a historic failure on the part of (government),"  French, a St. Louis an elected member on the municipal council, said on Twitter, "This is not a war. There is no military solution."   The Ferguson case and riots are not only described in depth on Twitter, but also in thousands of newspapers, websites, journals, and every other form of global communication.

     Ferguson is not the only city that is going through a protest battle; Hundreds of towns and cities all across Mexico are in rage about the recent capture of students. According to the Mexican government, the trouble began on September 26, when police stopped the students as they traveled on buses. Authorities say that the town Mayor, José Luis Abarca, ordered police to stop the students from disrupting a speech given by his wife. The government says that police then handed over the students to a drug gang, Guerreros Unidos. In the weeks following, over 10,000 Mexican soldiers and police officers searched the area and discovered assorted graves. Last week, Mexico’s attorney general, Jesús Murillo Karam, said that burned remains, most likely of the students, had been uncovered at a dump and in a river in Guerrero. He displayed videotaped admissions of drug gang affiliates talking about the killings. 

         The families and communities connected to these kidnapped children are not believing this story that the government has produced. “The parents are enraged by so much waiting and so few results,” de la Cruz, a spokesman for the victims’ families, told the crowd on Wednesday. As of Monday, he claimed, “the flame of insurgency has been lit.” Numerous buses drove all around Mexico to spread their resistive message, as protesters in different states closed off highways, annexed town squares, closed airports, and burned buildings and cars. In the seven weeks since police drove away with 42 students, the efforts made by their relatives has gained the attention from those across the country and the world, even from world leaders like President Obama and Pope Francis. The atrocity has attained Mexico’s attention unlike any other crime and generated an objection evolution that shows no signs of dwindling. 

A Semester of Growth

     Now that the semester is a little over half-way completed, I am beginning to see my writing techniques develop and I am emerging into a better writer. In English 110 here at UNE, we are taught how to respond to articles and stories in bulk that have maybe one thing in common. Recently we have been told to read up to three sources and connect them all in essays. I am happy to say that I have done so successfully, providing good thesis's backed by strong paragraphs. I have received grades that I am very proud of and I only look to have those grades increase in the future. I believe that my extensive research and choice of words are what makes my essays better than most. I put a lot of concrete evidence into my essays, leaving the reader with no doubt. My essays also flow well, going from one point to another with a smooth transition. The areas where I struggle the most is connecting the authors mentioned in my essays. It seems that I do a good job of discussing them individually and in their own paragraphs, rather than using both to make one point at a time and connecting the two. Another aspect in writing that I do not do very well in is using a lot of quotations. I am not used to using more than five quotes an essay, so using one per paragraph seems somewhat excessive to me; something that I am not  used to and something that I overlook before I pass in my paper. 

     In order to produce a well thought out paper I must be in complete silence with no distractions. I will read the prompt numerous times, brainstorming what take I'm going to have on the issue and what ideas I can produce that will back it up. I highlight the main points that I like in the readings that we are told to discuss, maybe to use for quotes in my own paper. I then like to think of a good hook, something that would capture me if I were to be the reader of my essay, because who likes a boring essay? Not me! I then form my thesis, which usually is not very good the first time and is something that I reconstruct multiple times as I realize what it is that I actually want to talk about in the paper. The body paragraphs are usually the easiest parts for me. I pick one main point for each paragraph, taking quotes from the readings, explaining them, forming transition sentences, etc. I do my best to explain my main points the best I can as well as making them flow into each other; the less awkward-sounding the better. 

     I do not exactly have any concerns regarding my own writing, as I believe that I am a somewhat strong writer. I enjoy this class and how we focus on worldly issues rather than grammar and spelling- it makes things much more interesting and enjoyable. One thing that I wish was different about this class is that it was only 50 minutes rather than an hour and 20 minutes. The extra hour of class time a week makes me kind of resent the class. Other than those last thirty minutes on Tuesday and Thursday, I enjoy the class and seem to be learning a lot. 

 
                                             The Impact Lobsters Have on the "Islanders"


       Lobstering is a way of life. It is not only a crustacean, but it is a source of income, a hobby's

target, and a meal that brings families together. Residents on Isle au Haut rely on lobstering as a job

and income to support their family. These few individual put up with an island that has very little in

terms of entertainment and activities just so that they can lobster. Linda Greenwall, author of "The

Lobster Chronicles," describes the two seasons that the island considers, "... the calendar year can be

best described as a two-season system: the lobster season and the off-season." This depiction of the

calendar year truly shows what is important in the islanders' eyes and in this case it is lobster. Isle au

Haut would not be inhabited or "put up with" if the lobstering gig were to go out of business. If

individuals considered the inhumane and cruelty aspects of consuming a lobster and discontinued

 their consumption, the "islanders" would serve little purpose. Many may not even stumble when

weighing out which is more important, the "humane" technique to cook a lobster or the success and

wellbeing of hundreds of families up and down the East Coast. An animal is an animal; they are

created to drive the ecosystem and keep the world a healthy place for humans to survive.

     
                                               

                                                                      David Foster Wallace's  Essay Structure

      David Foster Wallace, author of the essay titled "Consider the Lobster," writes about the ethical dilemma that cooking a lobster alive presents to the consumers. He is a popular journalist, assigned by the food and travel magazine "Gourmet," to write an article on the annual Maine Lobster Festival. He begins this essay by describing the Festival and his assignment, neither of which he discussed thoroughly. Secondly, he writes about the etymology and taxonomy of lobsters. He tells the readers that lobsters are part of the marine crustacean family Homariadae and are of the class Crustacea. By naming the lobsters scientifically. he gives ten a more meaningful identity. Next, he informs the readers of the history of lobster consumption. Apparently, it was not until after the 1800s that lobsters were considered a delicacy. Before then, it was considered cruel to feed them to prisoners more than once a week. Wallace soon transitions to talk about the preparation of the lobster, whether it be boiling, baking, steamed, or grilled. It is now that Wallace introduces the topic and question of suffering. By breaking down the lobster's anatomy and physiology, Wallace is able to make the readers feel terrible for doing such inhumane tasks. Wallace takes the pain away from the sciences and into the realm of philosophy. He says that although lobsters do not have a cerebral cortex, they still may feel pain. Pain is mental, and we are only able to gauge our own pain- it is purely subjective. Lobsters also suffer; they have an awareness of pain as unpleasant and they fear death. Wallace does not reach a final conclusion but instead projects the question directly to readers, asking them, “Do you think much about the moral status and suffering of the animals [that you eat]? If you do, what ethical convictions have you worked out that permit you not just to eat but to savor and enjoy flesh-based viands?”

Alisha Starbird
English 110- Section U
Professor Owens
                 
                                                                   A Time and Place
                                                             
   Black talk is a form of the English language with thrown in energetic phrases with boundless variety and somewhat disorder. It is fun variation of the language, sparking with wordplays and code games. With that being considered, black talk is used heavily in commercials and ads, capturing the attention of both the young and the old.
   It all started with hip-hop. In 1989 MTV started airing black rappers, aspiring young viewers to be cool like the rappers and promoting hip-hop-ish vernacular in the market. In the marketing world, black vernacular became extremely valuable and the most efficient way to advertise. To the young viewers, the hip back man represented the next level of cool, a level that they wanted to achieve as well. Large companies such as Sprite began to feed into the new hip-hop culture and were able to advertise their product in a way that mostly white kids felt that Sprite understood that they were tired of other commercials telling them what was cool.
   Another marketing achievement began when companies started abusing the alphabet. It was a quick way to make young people believe that they are cool and hip. Advertisers would do things like add a "Z" to the end of a word or replace a single "X" rather than spelling it out as "ex." Using one letter in marketing was a way to make a company seem fun, diverse, and hip-hop-ish.
   Black talk phrases were introduced in the advertising and marketing world as well. Phrases like "whaaazzzaahhh?!" and "cool" allowed individuals such as sports-enthusiasts to express their manliness and make them seem more culturally diverse. Black talk, in advertising cases, is more than acceptable, it is encouraged. Using black talk expressions captures attention and screams "cool" or "hip." It relates to todays young culture and makes them feel understood.
   Unlike in commercials and advertisements, Black English is not deemed correct in certain environments such as education institutions. A part of being educated is understanding and being able to speak English correctly; standardized English, that is. Standardized, or proper English has specific rules, grammar, and spellings- most of which originated from political and military powers. The more affluent individuals were able to assert authority culturally by deciding what the standard language was, thus changing the culture of others. If one does not adapt and display the knowledge of proper English then they are usually looked down upon as ignorant. This makes little sense to me, understanding that 1% of the population controls 99% of the money. With this being said, most of the population is poor or in the working class, where a very small number of them are affluent. Why does the smallest population get to decide what is standard and what is viewed as ignorant? Amiri Baraka is able to answer my questions by writing that in order to change the standard, one must become and/or acquire the standard.

Alisha Starbird
English 110 Sec. U  
Professor Owens
                                                         Hiding Behind a Computer Screen

   Malcolm Gladwell, staff writer for the New Yorker, composed an essay titled "Small Change" in which he discusses the ties that bind society, both "strong ties" and "weak ties." Gladwell takes a look at the power invested in social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter and compares them to the traditional social networks of the 1960s. He believes that the number of "friends" one may have online does not compare to the quality and success rate of actual human-to-human interactions in the real world.
   What bothers Gladwell the most about modern-day technology and the interactions involved is the fact that individuals are able to get acknowledged and praised without getting off the couch. One can simply sit behind a computer screen and manage to make the world surrounding them believe that they are a great person. An individual is easily able to post pictures, videos, pass on articles, etc. to their "friends" under the impression that they are doing an amazing, world changing thing. Demonstrating this type of "activism" takes very little time, effort, and commitment, thus it is considered to be low-risk activism. Considering the small amount of participation necessary to become active in the social networking, many people hop on the bandwagon and support whatever cause is popular at that point in time. Internet sites such as Facebook succeed in activism by motivating users to do the things that people are willing to do when they are not motivated enough to make a legit sacrifice.
   Another aspect of modern-day social networking that bothers Gladwell is the networking itself. The networks made online do not have a single central authority. Decisions are made by the entire group and the connections included in the group are loose and weak. There is no leadership or structure involved, thus leading to conflict and error. Unlike online activism, real life activism is usually high-risk and has no room for conflict and error. Boycotts and sit-ins were used frequently during he civil-rights movement. They required leadership, strategies, large followings, and execution. Although they were high-risk, they were extremely effective. Social media may make it easier for activists to express themselves but it makes it more difficult for the expressions to have any impact on the issue at hand.
   Dana Boyd, author of "White Flight," expresses the significance that politics and culture has on social media. Unlike Gladwell, Boyd has an understanding and acceptance for social media and expands to further discuss how it emulates the real-time-world-environments. After years of research, Boyd creates numerous hypothesis as to why specific groups of teenagers and adults migrated from Myspace to Facebook. The theory that Boyd configures that speaks to me the most in the idea of the Digital ghetto.
   Myspace was the original "hot" social media site to go to, connecting people with bands and other strangers. It allowed people to personalize their profile with flashy backgrounds and a variety of music. This was popular with the young crowd until Facebook came about. Facebook has a metaphor of the suburb because it has a higher-class outlook to it. This outlook originated because it was strictly for Harvard students only. Eventually it allowed other top tier colleges access and finally, in 2006, the rest of the world. Myspace, now the digital ghetto, had adamant users that came from the less-privileged, lower-class individuals. These people usually were of the black or latino race and did not attend these top-tier colleges that originally were allowed usage of Facebook. When Facebook became public, friends and family members of these elite college kids followed and also became Facebook users, thus moving into the suburb. Others joined the networking site because it was the latest thing and the new "fad." These types of individuals were mostly upper-class, usually white or asian. With these people came their friends who were sometimes of the same race and ethnicity. While friends of friends of friends continued to follow each other to the Facebook suburb, Myspace became almost deserted. The less-privileged individuals were left in a dirty, unrepeatable ghetto with wild street gangs otherwise known as spam.
   The comparison and transfer between Myspace and Facebook illiterates how race and class influence both social media and real-world environments. Individuals of similar race and ethnicity self-segregate and create this separation in every aspect of interaction. Both Gladwell and Boyd discuss in their essays how social media accurately depicts how individuals act in real life. People will only put themselves in high-risk situations if it benefits them, otherwise they may put little time and effort in. This shows via social media because individuals are easily able to support a cause with a touch of a couple buttons and in return they receive praise. Also depicted on social media is the segregation of individuals based on race, ethnicity, and socio-economics.
 

Alisha Starbird

ENG 110 SECTION U

UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND 

PROF. RICHARD OWENS

                                                             A New Race Shines

 

     Leslie Savan, a former columnist for the Village Voice, writes "What's Black, Then White, and Said All Over?" to discuss "Black language" and mainstream media. "Pop talk" is language deriving from African Americans but may not be expressed as "Black English" or "Black dialect" because those terms suggest that all Blacks speak this one type of English. The accepted and correct term is considered to be "spoken soul," a term used to describe the unique actions, styles, and dialect that African Americans created. 

    Times have changed since the late 1800's and early 1900's- for years, the white society mocked black talk. The only acceptable people to use black language were white men in blackface in front of large audiences, often insulting and imitating the language. Back then, black language was viewed as improper and seemed to make one sound uneducated. Besides African Americans, white males also spoke the black language. It was the males rather than the females to speak the language because males seemed to associate "standard speech" with femininity. Males were more worried about being masculine than obtaining social status. 

    Years when by and the black language boomed, taking over mainstream music, fashion, and music. It was finally "cool" to have the hip-hop lifestyle; unfortunately, no matter how much time and effort they put in, white individuals could never become black.