Course Summary

Although I do read, I am not a reader.  I like short pieces and things music-related.  So, the fact that this course was all shorter essays was great.  I haven’t read so much in ages. I liked quite a few of the stories although 30 Little Turtles and Women Confronting War were the easiest to comment on.  Code Breaker was my least favorite.  The essay was interesting but I’m sure there was something more that I should have got out of it that I didn’t.  Here’s where the blog thing is helpful.  I could read what others commented on and get a better understanding of the essay. I liked the distance format of the class- it's my first (the other classes I have are face-to-face).  I think I actually got more from it then I would have if I’d been sitting in the class.  When I was writing I could actually refer back to questions and answers from others in the class so I think it helped me make fewer mistakes (we’ll see).  This was probably my heaviest course and definitely the one which has had the most reading.  The assignments were well spread out – sometimes I wondered if it were necessary to do both a discussion and a blog in the same week – the responses (mine included) got lesser as other assignments got in the way.  I know I have to work on my sentence structure still but maybe that’s just practice. I know that more reading helps make you a better writer so as much as I would have preferred to read less I know more is better.  Thanks.

To be or not to be?

Kurt Vonnegut essay How to Write with Style provides writers with valuable information which will help them with their own writing.  Vonnegut speaks from experience. He is the "author of such novels as Slaughterhouse-Five, Jailbird and Cat's Cradle" (p. 66) as well as many other novels and short stories. His book Cat's Cradle was reviewed as one of the best books of the twentieth century so it can be surmised that tips he provides in How to Write with Style have served him well. 

Vonnegut breaks his essay into manageable subsections and in each subsection he provides examples to support his topic sentence.  Interestingly, the examples he chooses to illustrate his points are from writers whom I always thought were outside my grasp. For example he refers to excerpts from Shakespeare, and Joyce, both themselves exceptionally accomplished writers.  

Vonnegut doesn't insist that we write novels, but he encourages us to write about things we care.  Great stories say  ".... precisely what their authors meant them to say" (67) and do so by selecting the best words for the job.  Neither does he set limits on what one can write about and points out the Americans are utterly unlimited on their topics unlike other countries. 

Perhaps, for me, his best recommendation was that "if a sentence ... does not illuminate your subject in some new and useful way, scratch it out" (p. 66).  It sure cut down on the filler in my paper for Engl 150. 

Did you find any of the information particularly useful?

Heaven or Hell

Japan’s Kamikaze Pilots and Contemporary Suicide Bombers: War and Terror written by Yuki Tanaka creates interesting comparisons between the actions of Kamikaze pilots and Palestinian suicide bombers.  Sadly, the use of suicide bombers is employed when the country is aware that they have insufficient military and technological know-how to suppress the opposition.  It then seems even more outrageous that the use of a man (or men) against, for example “… F-16 jet fighers, Apache helicopters, tanks, missiles and the like” (p. 299) would be anything other then futile.  But, as Anwar Ayam, the brother of a Palestinian suicide bomber says in Tanaka (2008) the purpose of the bomber missions was to paralyze the population by destroying their economy and their social life (p. 298). In neither case did the attacked country respond in such a fashion.  They retaliated and the result was devastating.

But, what is unique to Japan’s culture is that suicide, especially in the mid-twentieth century was culturally acceptable. In fact Alton Trevino in Bushido and Seppuku - The Code of the Samurai and Ritual Suicide
(http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alton_J_Trevino  <http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Alton_J_Trevino)  says that ritualistic methods (disembowelment) of suicide performed by Samurai are a point of honor not hopelessness and despair.  Additionally their Confucian heritage that stresses the group over the individual (and their Buddhist religion which does not prohibit suicide) supports the decision to end one’s life in such a fashion – especially, as in the case of the Kamikaze, when there are benefits to be gained by community. These young men can commit suicide without dishonoring their beliefs. Infact, they died on honorable death.

Conversely, Palestinian’s practice Christianity which considers suicide to be a horrible sin. In the eyes of their Church, one’s life is a property of God so that destroying it is an act against God. Therefore, their mission becomes very difficult to justify in the eyes of their God and for which they will not receive his forgiveness. In life and in death they will dwell in Hell.

Realizing the ineffectiveness of Kamikaze pilots against the Americans why do you think a militarily deficient country like Palestine would employ the same strategies against the Israelites?

No ovation here

In Thomas Friedman’s 30 Little Turtles he explains the benefits garnered from outsourcing low-end American jobs, such as call center attendant, to people living in places like India or Pakistan (p. 177).  However it also demonstrates how powerful countries, such as United States exploit communities/countries where opportunities are limited. 

Friedman indicates that the opportunity to work, for example, at a job which starts at $300 a month helps give these people self-confidence, dignity, and optimism (p. l77).  However, in exchange for that, Friedman indicates that a newly-hired employee is expected to loose their native accent through a process called “accent netralization.” An instructor teaches “would-be Indian call center operators to suppress their native Indian accents and speak with a Canadian one …” (p. 176). or British or US, depending on where their job market is.  So part of what we ask of them if they work for us is to give up their culture.

Friedman indicates that many of these unemployed men and women have college degrees yet have limited employment opportunities in their own country. So, rather then providing any likelihood of an education-relevant job, but yet tapping into these individuals’ desire to better themselves he purports all the benefits they garner by accepting these token opportunities.  These jobs “transformed their lives” (176).  We fail to recognize that by tapping into their intellect they may transform our lives.

Finally, companies which offer wages as low as $200 to $300 a month should be called upon to be accountable. This is an impossible wage to live on or to support a family in a more industrial country so the job described can only target a disadvantaged group. It is an example of a larger, wealthier company or country exploiting those who are less so.  This doesn’t seem like an appropriate time to stand up and accept an ovation because we threw them a crumb their way.  

Do you think companies, especially those that show such huge profit margins, should be required to pay fair wages to their employees so that they can have a means to support themselves and be less reliant on social services?