Emily Nelson essay questions

Do women dress to impress other women? Why is there a constant judgement among women?

Emily Nelson Blog 8

    Suheir Hammad’s performance of “First Writing Since” hit home with many different Americans. She spoke about a very important day in American history in a very serious tone with a very heart felt intent. Hammad’s use of logos, ethos and pathos was very apparent throughout the entire speech. She used logos when saying “these are my friends and fam, me in those buildings and we’re not bad people, do not support America’s bullying,” (Hammad). Here she relates to the American’s who aren’t apart of how other countries view us as bullies. She reasons with the majority of America who are the little men in this country who have no effect on what goes on with war and our countries technicalities. She uses ethos when she states “one more person assume no arabs or muslims were killed, assume they know me or that I represent a people or that a people represent an evil,” (Hammad). This definitely appeals to the speaker in this case. Hammad belongs to a race that was harshly judged after the attacks of 9/11 and people looked at that foreign descent much differently after that day. When she said this she was speaking of how people assumed she had some form or relation to the attacks after they happened, just because she resembled some of the attackers culture. Hammad relates to her audience when she says “and when we talk about holy books, hooded men and death, why never mention the KKK,” (Hammad). This is an example of how she uses pathos, after Hammad makes this point you hear a strong crowd reaction. The audience from time to time would clap after strong points were made and thats how you can tell she made her argument to her audience.
    Hammad used a form of poetry to make her argument about this sad day in American history. She spoke with rhythm and emotion that kept her audience engaged and attentive. Her passion was felt through her speech, making the argument toward how different races got terrible judgement after the events of 9/11. I feel that she was persuasive in proving her points and I think a lot of that has to do with the reality and truths found in all of her arguments that she made.

Emily Nelson Blog 7

    When writing an exploratory essay, there are many important elements to consider during the writing process. After reading chapter five in The English Mercury Reader by John C. Bean, June Johnson and John D. Ramage, I noticed a few very key points in composing an exploratory essay. “The essential move for exploratory thinking and writing is to keep a problem alive through consideration of multiple solutions or points of view,” (Bean, Johnson and Ramage 107). I find this important because keeping a problem alive keeps a reader interested at all times. If you stray away from your point a reader may get lost in irrelevant thoughts. Another point I found important was about contrasting views, “the key to effective exploratory writing is to create a tension between alternative views,” (Bean, Johnson and Ramage 108). This to me also goes back to keeping a reader interested. Exploring different views not only lets the reader see different sides to a problem, but it lets the writer open up to alternative solutions to the problem at hand. This statement doesn’t only apply to writing exploratory essays, I feel like it applies to general life situations as well. If you only allow yourself to see one side you miss out on a lot of new experiences. The third key element I found important to an exploratory essay was “instead of a single, focused question, you might start with a whole cluster of related questions swimming in your head,” (Bean, Johnson and Ramage 110). When keeping this statement in mind, a writer won’t have to limit their essay to answering only one question. There is one problem that is being explored in the essay but answering multiple questions about the problem will allow a writer to truly explore all of the different angles to view a solution. All three of my points essentially relate back to keeping a reader interested by viewing a central problems at many different view points. These elements will always keep a reader interested and in my opinion it is very important to do so.

Emily Nelson Blog 6

    After reading chapter three of Guyland by Michael Kimmel, I found a lot of what he had to say about masculinity to be very thought provoking. One of the first statements I found to spark my interest was about men trying to impress me, “masculinity is largely a “homosocial” experience: performed for, and judged by, other men,” (Kimmel 47). When I first read this, I immediately thought of the group of guys my friends and I hung out with in high school. They were so worried about image, none of them ever wanted to look dumb in front of each other. It really annoyed me a lot of the time because I could tell they weren’t very sincere. It relates to this quote because boys do try to impress other boys just to keep or gain status. They need to look well in the eyes of other men, and then the women come along after that.
    Kimmel later brings his passage to talking about violence associated with men and the results of the guy code. “Most guys are good guys, but that doesn’t lessen the reality of the violence that surrounds them,” (Kimmel 58). I completely agree with this part of the piece. This example shows how men are good, and that there are some out there that really do have good intentions. It is not fair for those who are good to have to be overshadowed by all the crime associated with the bad men in this world. Not saying there aren’t bad women, but from our activity in class, we can see that crime is more so associated with masculinity. I like the fact that Kimmel points out how men are good and men are bad, all we typically hear about is the bad, but at times it is refreshing to hear about how there are still good people around.

Emily Nelson blog 5

After viewing the Tropes vs. Women video I was opened up to how some women really are portrayed in movies. Through out the video the phrase “manic pixie dream girl”  was referred to countless times, meaning the girl in movies who saves the man for his benefits only. I found it particularly interesting when clip stated “women are not here for your inspiration, celebration or to coax you out of your troubles,” (Feminist Frequency). I agree with this statement but I don’t think the movies used as examples were necessarily trying to portray that in the film’s message. Yes, in those films the men are the main characters but there are plenty of movies where men play the supporting role to the female main character. 

Another hot spot I found in this video was “manic pixie dream girls supporting character used to further the story line of the male hero, she really has no life of her own, she has no family or interests or much of a job that we ever see,” (Feminist Frequency). I strongly disagree with this statement. Even when women are the support role they are still a huge part to the story line. I view it as without the woman’s strength in the films used as examples, the male would have no chance in succeeding.

As for the Doofy Husbands video, I did think it was funny, but I didn’t agree with it. In the beginning when Sarah Haskins stated “spend five years trying to land this guy, mother f***** can’t even make breakfast,” (Haskins) I instantly disagreed. I have a dad that makes the best breakfast in the whole world, I know dads can make breakfast. I also found it mean when said in the video “you need them around to do three things, barbecue, breed children and take care of the lawn ,” (Haskins). This is just unnecessary. Everyone knows that husbands and fathers are worth way more than that. Yes men are particularly good at those things, but they aren’t worthless as this video makes them out to be.

Emily Nelson blog 4

August
Believe
    After reading August’s essay on anti-male bias, my initial thoughts disagreed with a lot of the main points made. After playing the believe in doubting games, introduced by Peter Elbow, I opened my eyes up and started to understand why August has made these arguments. “Male victims are simply not news; women (and children) victims are,” (August 131). After reading this part I started to agree with August, not because I strongly believe that women are extremely sexist towards males, but because there is a lot of truth in this statement. The number of times you hear about women victims in the news completely blows male reports out of the water. There is truth in what August is proving here.
Doubt
    Although I can agree with some of what August has to say about anti-male bias in English, I have to argue against most of what is said in the essay. I understand where August is coming from, but I do not think the arguments are a reflection on all women. There are points women could argue back about sexist males in our society, I personally could argue rap music and everything it stands for, but I know it doesn’t reflect all males as a whole. Just as I don’t think it’s fair to argue all women are held to this standard that August describes. If everyone is so worried about sexism in our society then why does everyone keep pointing fingers?

Tannen
Believe
    I hate this essay, I strongly disagree with almost 100% of it, but I did open myself up to accepting what Tannen had to say about being marked and unmarked and understand where the points are coming from. Women are judged all the time by appearance, I don’t agree with it, but it’s true and how you are labeled or ‘marked’ says a lot to people. Men sometimes are left for open interpretation, as in they aren’t constantly being judged like women. The points Tannen makes are good arguments, but I think there is a lot more to being unmarked and marked than what is described.
Doubt
    As I previously stated, I was not a fan of what Tannen was saying. I think women are way more than what they wear or how they present themselves. I believe all people shouldn’t be prejudged, I don’t think everything is based on the surface. You have to listen to what people have to say to understand what they are fully about. Tannen states in the essay, “...but a woman whose hair has no particular style is perceived as not caring about how she looks, which can disqualify her from many positions, and will subtly diminish her as a person in the eyes of some,” (Tannen 142-143). This statement makes me angry. I don’t agree with this mainly because if appearance truly does further you down the totem pole, then those judging aren’t worth what one has to bring to the table in the first place. I don’t like prejudgement and don’t agree with Tannen’s beliefs of women being marked all the time.

Emily Nelson blog 3

    Amy Tan’s essay, “Mother Tongue” gave a very unique perspective on language barriers. Overall, I noticed Tan’s writing style was in an open prose form of an essay. All of her thoughts and stories were about the different types of english she encounters. Tan ends the introduction stating “Language is the tool of my trade. And I use them all-all the Englishes I grew up with,” (Tan 113). I can tell from how she phrased this that she will be explaining to her readers her experiences with english and that she is not trying to persuade us. “Mother Tongue” always stays on topic but there was never anything said that was trying to persuade the audience. Tan never directly states a thesis but she entertains the journey of her english experiences well.
    I believe Tan is trying to speak to people who aren’t accepting of different cultures. She showed the instances when her mother was at the hospital and talking to her stockbroker where the language barrier set her apart from other patients or clients. The simple fact that Tan’s mother couldn’t speak great english put her on a lower level than others. I think Tan wanted to address that and let people know that that is not the right way to handle things. In this case, stockbrokers and doctors in Tan’s essay are shown to be lazy because they don’t take Tan’s mother as seriously as others.
    This essay doesn’t conform to the typical essay writing style. It is more of a story being told, but it is done in an essay format. Tan uses quotes to prove points, like in a typical essay, but doesn’t follow a normal essay format. Tan is informative and direct to her audience, but she isn’t stating facts and quoting literature to argue a point. She uses personal experiences to show her side and where she is coming from and that sets this essay apart from an average essay.

Blog #2 Emily Nelson

The first hot spot that stood out the me in Everything’s a Text by Dan Melzer and Deborah Coxwell-Teague was “As Janelle’s writing demonstrates, we each have individual histories as readers and writers,” (Melzer and Coxwell-Teague 66). I believe in the excerpt for many reasons. I mainly find truth in this because it explains why everyone has their own writing style. Writers form their opinions based on their beliefs and their own experiences through life. People see things differently from how they were raised and where they grew up and can form a completely original opinion that someone like you and me would have never even thought of. Readers also can relate to this because everyone interprets what they have read differently. People understand literature differently and that is where it is helpful to be open to hear outside opinions on the same material, it could always open your eyes up to something you would have never thought of.

Melzer and Coxwell-Teague stated a second hot spot that stood out to me in this chapter, “It is important to move outside of your experience as you explore your personal literacies,” (68). The passage later goes on to explain that one could do this by doing some research on cultural histories and background. I find this intriguing simply because when I think research I think about finding sources and recording it, but in this case, I begin to think about how I need to change my research process. I see where finding background can make thoughts flow together more because when the background is known, it’s easier to explain why you have arrived at your argument in the first place. Researching is key to any piece you begin to write and this excerpt really stood out to me because it opened my eyes to different ways to go about finding support I will need in future writing.