Brent Staples Black Characters in Search of Reality. By: Maitreyah Bell

Brent Staples’s Black Characters in Search of Reality (02/12/2012) asserts that representation of African culture in American dramatics both commercial and theatrical is biased towards the expression of the black struggle. He supports this by providing examples of roles that have won Grammys and characters that are used and not used in advertising as well as providing proof that the alternative lifestyle of affluence exists. Staples wrote on this subject in order to bring awareness to the subject of stereotypical media in order to stimulate a shift of the way black are portrayed in American media. Staples wrote this essay to the populous that  consumes media on the regular basis.

I conditionally agree to Staples argument on the basis of the time period.  It is true that racism in media was opaque and un-malleable in the past , but now the characters portrayed by blacks in theater and commercials has been forced to change. The standard of living for a considerable percentage of blacks has transcended the status of deep poverty, and media has accepted degrees change. It is to be understood that there is much room for improvement in media representation, but many of the stereotypical roles of blue-collar employees are still the deployed in movies but, at least the context has changed from maid by force to maid by choice.

The essay used specific language that highlighted the examples of stereotypical media subjection of blacks to uneducated states of being. He talked about “pancake –mammy” , “ Jemima and Rastus”, and other Maids that have graced the hollowly wood kitchens with their service.  She also gave examples of black resistance in Hollywood to the assigned stereotypes, naming  Sidney Poitier as a member of the black resistance. Over all I appreciated the writing and felt that it was written well. 

The Poor and Their Psyche

The author of "Why Can't More Poor People Escape Poverty? A Radical New Explanation From Psychologists" is Jamie Holmes claims that poor people have a harder time with willpower. Jamie Holmes essay is written in groups of general ideas related to an experiment or study. Holmes apparent purpose is to explain depletable self-control in order to show the difficulties poor people have. I think the audience could really be anyone, i don't think it is directed towards a certain group of people.

The text sort of confused me because of the amount of experiments mentioned. I understood her main point about willpower and self-control. The text has a lot of information to back up her thesis and that made it difficult to read and understand. She mentions a theory of depletable willpower and that was a hard concept to grasp at first but she goes more into detail during the middle of the essay which makes it easier to understand.

Holmes uses a lot of quotes in her essay from different authors or scientists. She gives many examples of research to support her claim. In each paragraph she uses a different thing of evidence to support her thesis. She is formal with her writing and expresses herself in a very educational way. Her thoughts are complete and supported.

Cheating doesn't come naturally

In Wendy Shalit's "Is Infidelity Natural? Ask the Apes"(02, Sept. 2010) she states that men feel as if its ok to cheat because they're considered animals. Shalit doesn't write in chronological order, she quotes words from articles on the subject. The author's purpose was to entertain in order to show how ignorant men in this society think after cheating. The intended audience would be women and men because women should know how they think and men need to know how stupid it sounds.

I liked this essay because I always wondered what would make a man cheat. I never knew they would do it for such silly reasons, for ex: what a woman brings in the house money wise. I feel as if you're in love with a person it shouldn't matter how much money they're bringing in vs. yours because you're in it together. Men have to learn self control and understand that just because something happens in nature doesn't mean that they're supposed to act that way too.

Shalit quotes the title of an article "Men More Likely to Cheat on Women With Bigger Paychecks" (116) she states that the headline quoted "A man who makes significantly more money than his girlfriend or wife is also more likely to cheat"(116) she thought it was ridiculous that something like that could cause a man to cheat. It made high and low-earning ladies everywhere beware of men like that. She states "I have already notified my husband that I am onto him, and that he may no longer defend or accumulate me for "pair bonding".(116) She said that in a joking matter after saying that men marry women only to have possession of something for "women duties" around the house and have a mistress on the side for other things.

The World of Happiness Part 2

Analysis of the World of Happiness Report

In John Helliwell, Richard Layard , and Jeffery Sachs’s non fiction persuasive essay called The World OF Happiness Report (2012) the authors propose that happiness should be at least more if not  as equally considered as financial success to policy makers. The authors develops the thesis by addressing the general activities of life that make up the social reference material that politicians use to guide there decisions and plans. The authors’ purpose is to convince and gather support and awareness to the subject of happiness and its importance to the way humans interact with one another, life on the planet and the planet itself.  The authors’ audience is abroad brush stroke , including any one concerned with happiness and or policy makers .

I was glad the authors chose to cover this humanitarian topic. I believe the subject matter is an important sign that the human condition is becoming a more commonly considered and discussed. The way they introduced the subject matter made it clear that the issue of happiness has an effect on more than just the individual. I was confused why the authors chose to cover so many ways happiness is important. If there point was to convince lawmakers to clean up the environment then they should of focused on that. If there purpose was to get more awareness around environmental issues then they should have been very specific and left the unrelated information out of it.

The text provides an alternative view on how people move through their lives with out considering the most important facets. The most important information I think the essay offers is that a simple raise in income does not  necessarily grantee in increase in happiness unless poverty is the state of affairs.

The World of Happiness Report Part 1

In John Helliwell's, Richard Layard's and Jeffrey Sachs' The World of Happiness Report (Apr. 2012) argues that the quest for happiness is linked with the goal for sustainable development. The authors do not write in chronological order but more in sections of relevance. The authors' purpose was to show the readers how dependent we can be on material things and how it affects our level of happiness in order to get the readers to be less materialistic. The intended audience could be anyone looking to benefit their level of happiness or be less dependent on material things.

I feel that Helliwell's, Layard's, Sachs' "The Word Of Happiness Report" was interesting. I agree and also disagree with this essay. There were sections I agree with, for example when they explain that many people's happiness if based of the materialistic objects they have. I disagree that happiness can be measured. I believe happiness something you find on your own and I just do not think it can be measured. I really enjoyed the section of the essay where the authors explain that happiness can effect a person's physical health. The authors state some very interesting points in "The World of Happiness Report" that really make you think.

I think the meaning of this essay is to get countries to understand that their main goal for their country should be to boost the happiness level. The whole text states nothing but facts about surveys taken about happiness around the world. I also believe that the authors are trying to stress that materialistic things do not make long lasting happiness, only temporary happiness. The authors go on to say "the world's economic superpower, the United States, has achieved striking economic and technological progress over the past half century without gains in the self-reported happiness of the citizenry." Thee authors are basically saying that we, as Americans, depend on technology and have made many advances but cannot enhance our level of happiness.

Stay positive, Be healthy.

Sara Rimer's research article "The Biology of Emotion-What It May Teach Us about Helping People To Live Longer" (2011) informs that a positive outlook on life will improve your health. Rimer gives facts about health from researchers and her own research from being in college. Rimers purpose was to inform people on the health rates and how to stay positive in order to live a healthy lifestyle. The intended audience would be anyone trying to be healthy or who isn't healthy already and needs to get there.

I feel like Sara Rimer's "The biology of Emotion..." was uninteresting because I don't usually focus on my health and what I eat, but it was also very informative. Being that I am a teenager and we're known to eat unhealthy things and most of the time not care about our health, this article gave me a different outlook and makes me think about my health. At the end I was learned something new so I was more interested in my health and how I could better myself in life.

"Could a sunny outlook mean fewer colds and less heart disease?, Do hope and curiosity somehow protect against hypertension, diabetes and respiratory tract infections?"(83) are rhetorical questions that Rimer asked in the beginning to get the audience attention. "emotional vitality- a sense of enthusiasm, of hopefulness of engagement in life and the ability to face life's stresses with emotional balance appears to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease"(84) is the example she gave to say that being able to be stress free and have an balance on your emotions reduces your risk of getting a coronary heart disease.

Brent Staples' Black Men and Public Space

Brent Staples' personal narrative Black Men and Public Space, (12 February, 2012), explores racism and it's difficulties. Staples tells his experiences with racism and what growing up as a black male was like. Staples describes his hardships with racism in order to show how he overcame these incidents and become a better man. The intended audience could be anyone really, particularly people struggling with racism themselves.

I feel Brent Staples' Black Men and Public Space was insightful. He really expresses what racism was like for him and every struggle he went through. I also felt that there was no point or ending to his story. I understand his meaning to writing this narrative but his conclusion could have expressed his point more clearly. He never comes out and says why he is writing the narrative, it is like an underlined meaning you have to read into or just understand by yourself.

"My first victim was a woman-white, well dressed, probably in her early twenties.", is the first example of the racism Staples' gives to explain his struggle as a black male. In the first paragraph of the narrative he gives a detailed example of a white woman who just takes one glance at him and writes him off as a black male who might possibly rape her. This is racism and that is what Staples is trying to stress throughout the essay. Another says "The proprietor excused herself and returned with an enormous red Doberman pinscher straining at the end of a leash." This memory of his just shows the real life difficulties Staples overcame. Staples says I whistle melodies from Beethoven and Vivaldi and the more popular composers. Even steely New Yorkers hunching toward nighttime destinations seem to relax, and occasionally even join in the tune." In this quote Brent Staples explains the changes in his life he has made so he doesn't get pegged as a rapist or a thief or a criminal. Changes he has made so he can go on to have a normal life without people judging him and being racist towards him.