child to adult

So, the book we are studying at the moment, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, has a lot to do with the theme "coming of age".  Huck is becoming an adult and through our contrasts, we can see how Huck is changing into more of a mature person than he was in the beginning of the book.  My question is, what has occurred to mark his transition into manhood, if anything? Was it the death of his friend Buck? Or has he found maturity through his relationship with Jim? Is there a clear place in the book where it is visible that Huck has begun his transition into being a man?  I think that when he first went out in the canoe and was on his own, that marked the beginning of his transition into adulthood.  What do you think?

In real life, when does a child lose their innocence?  I know i wrote a blogpost earlier in the year about children believing in Santa Clause.  Is it when they stop believing in the tooth fairy?  Or when they realize that magic isn't real?  Is there a specific ritual they have to experience, such as a bar/bat mitzvah or confirmation? Is it when you finally decide that you don't need your blanket or stuffed animal or the night light?

For me, a death in the family was the first time I saw my mom and dad cry.  That was a pivotal point in my life when I first noticed that people pass on and can not be with us forever.  I saw my parents (who I thought were the toughest two people in the whole wide world) become vulnerable and scared, and that is when I began to look at things differently, my world was changed forever.  

What marks the transition into adulthood in a child's life? Is it the loss of their innocence?  What has happened in your lives that you think made you begin your transition into adulthood?

HE'S A RACIST!!

I was telling my grandpa about how we were talking about race the other day. When i asked him what he thought defines race, he said that he sees it as physical features that you can see when you pass a person on the street. He said he grew up like Mr. Bolos where there was a different color for every person that looked a certain way. Race was important when he was growing up. He said that some of his friends' parents wouldn't let them have black people in their homes. Much less talk with them.
Immediately I said, "That's horrible! They don't even know the person! What racists."
And he replied by saying, "No, this wasn't horrible at all. To many of the people, this was normal. Blacks were inferior to whites, it wasn't as much a belief to them as it was a fact."
What do you guys think about this? What would you do if you went into a household in this day and age and the parents said that you could not bring and African American into their home? It is unheard of. This was about seven decades ago. What do you think will change in our society in six or seven decades? Do you think that racism will be abolished for good or do you think our world will be segregated as it was back then?

How are conversations started??

When Mr. O'Connor told us to listen to our lunchtime conversations and find out what was talked about and how topics were brought up, it reminded me of a game I used to play with my friends... It really has no name, but i guess I'll call it the "Chain Game" (compliments of Cpatt).

So here's how it goes, someone starts with a topic, and then they have to make a chain of subjects through connections.  Whoever does it the fastest and with the best (usually funniest) connections wins...

Here's an example:

Doc OC - Teacher - Mr. Bolos - American Studies - Funny - Gutty - Blogs - Mitchel -South Africa - Warm - Summer - Sun - Little Miss Sunshine - Movie - Oscars - Celebrities - Rihanna - Chris Brown - Assault - The Assault On Reason - Al Gore - Politician - Obama - McCain - Sarah Palin - Alaska - Russia - Country - Ireland - Doc OC!

Well look at that, starting with Doc OC, I made 28 connections until I made a connection back to Mr. OC! There could be 28 different conversations started on different subjects through that chain... Thought it might be fun/ interesting!

You guys try to make one like Cpatt's in her comment on this blog!!!

GOOD ONE CP!

The West In Our Society

So as I was looking at the blogs of my fellow american studies students, i came across the blog of Cpatt (check it out!!).  She had a video on her blog of a chevy commercial which i watched and found to be very interesting.  Then, I was watching TV, and found a ford commercial that was very similar...

In the words of Mr. Bolos, "coincidence? I THINK NOT!"

here's the chevy commercial...

along with another chevy commercial...

and here's the ford commercial...



So, what do these pick up truck commercials all have in common??  There's a reference to the WEST! A "cowboy" is in each of them.  As we discussed in class, the cowboy myth is that they are very rugged, tough, and masculine.  In the last one for Ford, Toby Keith literally said, "I ain't got no boundries, I don't compromise," which in my eyes is displays a cowboy according to the myth.

Now, look at the people who drive trucks like these, wouldn't you say a good percent of them are men?  If you ask me, I'd say that men are the market for these trucks and what man doesn't want to be masculine, have no boundries, and not compromise?  What do you guys think??

what would you do??

Allright so I was watching the movie X-MEN a few minutes ago and a scene came up where there was a hearing in the United States, where they were having a discussion about mutants that have supernatural powers and whether or not they are dangerous and if they should live among normal people.  A woman was arguing that the mutants should not be given less rights than normal people.  She argued that mutants should not have to register themselves and reveal their gift, if you will, in order to live.  She also brought up that mutants whose identities were revealed "were met with fear, hostility and violence".  A man that was arguing that they are too dangerous to live with normal people and he brought up the fact that one woman could "walk through walls" and he asked, what is to stop her from walking into a bank volt or the white house, or innocent people's homes.  He said there is one who is so powerful that they can control minds which is taking away free will.  The man argued that they should be exposed to show humans who they are and what they can do. 

I thought this was a very controversial issue (if it were true) like the issues we talked about with civil liberties.

If this were a real issue today, if this happened in real life, what would you think?  Should these mutated people be allowed to live among humans even though they could possibly be dangerous?  Or should their freedoms be taken away from them and live a life filled with fear, hostility and violence?

Here is the trailer for X-MEN 4: