Comments for web{er}log

Comment on “At War with my Skin” by JMD

JMD — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:00:58 +0000

I have a text to self connection with this situation. I know a very good friend who has this disease psoriasis. This person has the same issues that the authors talks about. His confidence is very low such as my friend. They hate the summer because of the summer clothing. He dislikes his skin marks I found out that this story is for everybody. Because I think that everyone at one point has the problem of being comfortable on their own skin. “psoriasis keeps you thinking strategies of concealment ramify and self examination is endless” I think this statement is so true, because with this disease you have too keep on putting ointment and all these other anti-cream in order to control your skin.

Comment on “Hooking Up” by JMD

JMD — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:55:44 +0000

I really like this essay because it was discussing a controversial topic. I really like how Wolfe’s interpretation of how sex has change throughout society. “In the year 2000, girls used “score” as an active verb indicating sexual conquest.” I think that it’s true what he saying neither does girl nor boys have their sexual life secret. I think we should go back to our traditional ways only to a certain extend. He does point out some viable points. I also wanted to point out how in society, times has change and has a country we need to change together to create progress. Maybe we should just have some traditional ideas in order to move on in the concept of change.

Comment on “Hooking Up” by JPL

JPL — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:36:18 +0000

To add on to what is being said here about the american family, there is no true definition of the term. In reality it is a term used as a way to create a false stereotype in order to show people what they should be, almost like barbie dolls if you will. The supposed typical american family, as shown on tv, in books, and movies, is a white middle class family living in a house in the suburbs with a white picket fence, two and a half kids, and a dog. This is an unfair generalization about how americans should be.

Comment on “At War with my Skin” by HOB

HOB — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:59:51 +0000

In his essay, John Updike, tells how he has been able to live with his sickness. He did not have an easy childhood and he remembers how he had to stay away from certain sports and people were cruel to him. His teacher asks him :” Good heavens, child, what’s on your head?”. It is very clear that he suffered and adjusted his life because of the psoriasis. He did not choose any profession that needed good presentation like a salesman or a teacher and he married and has children young because he did not want to lose his wife and wanted to have people around him who were not sick. Although he had to give up many things, Updike didn’t let the sickness rule his life, instead he found ways to control it and lived a full life.

Comment on “Hooking Up” by HOB

HOB — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:18:17 +0000

In this essay Tom Wolfe talks about how society changes over time, things that were not accepted before become normal. In the year 2000 the economic situation and technological advances, like the internet gave people a lot more information and freedom, specially sexual freedom. All the changes also helped to give new meaning to many words and expressions as Wolfe explains: “Hooking up” meant a sexual experience to young people, but to their parents still meant “meeting” someone. I think things are always changing and our parents always comment on “how things were” and the year 2000 was no different. The author highlights how moral changes took place and how young and not so young viewed sexual acts and brought them into the open.

Comment on “Mother Tongue” by HOB

HOB — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:19:54 +0000

I guess many people, including myself, can relate to what Amy Tan talks about in this essay. Many of our families are not born in the US and they speak with an accent or in “broken” English. My Mom and Grandmother are part of this group. My Mom tells me many stories about how she was treated and how she felt when she could not understand when people were talking to her and even worse when the laughed at her attempts to speak English with an accent and misspronounced words. I think that because of her experience, she has always insisted that I read a lot and write “proper” English. I read an article about a commitee in France that constantly reviews words beign used specially in English or on the internet and they translate them to French to preserve their language. They are having a difficult time agreeing with the translations because spmetimes the real meaning of the words is lost.

Comment on “Mother Tongue” by R.V.

R.V. — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:05:10 +0000

This essay is good. Amy Tan reminds readers that not all people who speak the English language speak it the same way. In “Mother Tongue” she reveals the truth on individuals being identified as an outcast, and discriminated against. Amy describes the pain and shame she felt from observing the negative reaction her mother got from others in public places. “some say they understand none of it, as if she were speaking pure Chinese. But to me my mother’s English is perfectly clear, perfectly natural. It’s my mother’s tongue. Her language, as I hear it, is vivid, direct, full of observation and imagery.” (291).

Comment on “Mother Tongue” by B.W

B.W — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:51:57 +0000

I enjoyed reading this essay;in particular, I liked how Amy Tan incorporates how difficult it is to speak a foreign language. Especially since English is not her native language, Tan’s mother tries to speak English because it is the language people use most often in the society they live. I do find it embarrassing to listen to people speak in “broken” English because I find it difficult to understand what they are saying. I am;however, sympathetic towards them because I also find it difficult to speak in a different language. When I first attempted Spanish, the words seem like a combination of random letters. It was the same when I attempted French. Sometimes the grammar of a language is native to a person that he/she tries to incorporate it into the another language being spoken. When Tan wrote “I believe that it affected my results on achievement tests, IQ tests, and the SAT,” it reminded me of how difficult it was to take the Writing section of the SAT because people of multicultural backgrounds have a difficult time differentiating the grammar for English to another language such as Chinese ( 293). It is certainty difficult to communicate in a different tongue because we are more native to one language which conflicts speaking a different language.

Comment on “Mother Tongue” by JMD

JMD — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:37:35 +0000

Amy Tan essay about her mother’s tongue is similar to her book The Joy Luck Club. I enjoyed this essay because I like the author’s point of view of the different perspectives of mothers. I like how Amy is always mentioning women in her writing. This particular essay reminds me of my mother. I love my mother’s “tongue” as English as her second language. While I was reading the essay it made me able to imagine the same situations she had to deal with her mother I do with mines. Such as making appointments for her, acting like I’m my mother when she needs me to call for problems she has with her health care plan. I even call for her when she too sick to go to work that she needs to stay home and doesn’t like to embarrass herself. I don’t really speak to my mom in English and when I do she has her know way of saying certain words and I’m perfectly fine with that. I know the difficulties my mother faces when she hears me using big words in English. The only difference with me and Amy, math doesn’t come easy for me, I like the fact English doesn’t have an exact answer that the answer varies in different ideas and ways of different people. “Lately, I’ve been giving more thought to the kind of English my mother speaks. Like others, I have described it to people as “broken” or fractured” (292). This statement is true, because my mother does speak broken because she hasn’t gone too school to learn English like I have, she never really gave English a tried but she understands it and knows how to read it. My mother chooses not to express it with her tongue and I think that’s the only problem, but just as Amy when her mother finish reading her book she was happy to hear her mother enjoyed the book, I felt the same when my mother was proud of me getting into a advance English classes and receiving high English scores, by challenging myself.

Comment on “Hooking Up” by SE

SE — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:27:01 +0000

Once you get past the complexity of the essay you begin to grasp what Wolfe was trying to say and begin to truly enjoy the essay. I personally did not like it until I began to understand what he was saying. It reminded me of the morals of “The True Patriot.” America has come so far and accomplished so much, but we as a whole have drifted away from normality and the path that led us to success hundreds of years ago. Our society’s values have drifted away from those of past generations. I agree that we no longer acknowledge the past and I think technology is partially to blame. Being so technologically advanced America as a whole is being dumbed down, we take the easy way out of everything which does not allow us to think for ourselves, which allows us to make logical decisions. I agree with Wolfe and the points he addressed in his essay, we America as a whole must refer back to our routes and get back on the right track.