Talking Point #4 on Christensen

After completing "Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us" I have a few different feelings about what I read. First off, he started off talking about how cartoons are portrayed people in many ways. He says that most use "hidden meanings" and younger people don't realize that because they don't understand. He uses many examples like Popeye, the Ninja Turtles, and Duck Tales. Now since I use to watch all three of those cartoons when I was a kid, and not once did I ever consider any of them to be "offensive". I was well educated considering I would turn it on here and there even when I was in middle school.
Now after reading this, I feel a tad different about all three of those cartoons. I do indeed realize that Duck Tales did indeed focus on nothing much money. Popeye did make it seem like fighting was alright. Ninja Turtles do indeed show that fighting is alright. I think that Christensen is exactly right when he says that cartoons portray many things to the younger children. We need to make sure that things like that are taken out of cartoons because if some children begin to catch onto these hidden messages, they could begin to use that as a way of their own lives. I believe that it could lead to something dangerous. I believe that cartoons using hidden messages within their shows need to notice all that and rid that of all of their shows for the sake of every young person in this world.

Talking Points #3 on Carlson

After reading "Gayness, Multicultural Education, and Community" by Dennis Carlson he talks about how a Homosexual is portrayed within the community and argues that portraying a person like that is wrong. It seems like he believes that portraying someone like that is against not only himself but God. Being only a sophomore in college, I do indeed know what being portrayed like that was like because there was quite a few homosexuals in my school and they were always the center or jokes, comments, and ridicule. He talks about how "throughout much of this century, the dominant idea of community in America was represented by what I call the normalizing community." I think that what he means is that most people in society live life using a "normal" system. I think that since someone is homosexual they are not considered to be normal because people consider them to be different than they are. Since I believe that it is wrong to look at someone differently because of a lifestyle choice that they have made I feel that people should learn to consider everyone to be equal. I mean think about this, Blacks were considered "different" at one point, so why can't we see a gay person and consider them to be one of us just like we did in the past with blacks when Martin Luther King told us that everyone was created equally. I believe that this is his argument during this whole piece.

Talking Points #2 on Richard Rodriguez

Why is this story called Tongue Tied? This story is called that because Richard Rodriguez feels in a way violated because he wasn't addressed in Spanish like he would have liked to be when he was in school. He felt that since he was Hispanic that he would have felt more comfortable if he were addressed in his native tongue. I feel that he makes a great point because I know that if I were to go into a different atmosphere and had to speak a language that is not comfortable for me I think that I would feel the same way as he does. I find it to be a bit odd that at his very own dinner table they would practice their English and not speak in Spanish. I feel that school is a different place than at home. Home is where you should be able to not worry about a language barrier and should be a place where you don't have to worry about fitting in just because you don't speak the "common" language. I agree with him when he states that "he hears bilingual educators say that children lose a degree of individuality by becoming assimilated into public society." I feel that if an person cannot express themselves then they are being discriminated. I have to say that I absolutely agree with this piece because I believe that everyone should be able to express themselves the way that is most comfortable. Everyone lives in this country together and everyone should be able to work with each other in order to have a most comfortable society.

Talking Points on Johnathan Kozol

The article that I read for this talking points was "Amazing Grace" by Johnathan Kozol.

• The article is about Kozol going to the heart of New York City and seeing the "ghetto" and taking a walk through the city with a kid named Cliffie. They walk through various parts of the city and walk through streets that include seeing a park where Cliffie tells Kozol that he sees a bear in a bush where he watched a child get shot in the head and die. Kozol then talks to other people about the hardship that is the heart of New York City.

Kozol talks the most about how much hardship goes on within the city of New York especially parts like Harlem and the South Bronx.

He backs those points up within the text when he goes with Cliffie on the walk when he talks about what they saw on the walk.

• They see the bear that is in the bush from the kid that Cliffie saw get shot in the head.
• Kozol talks about how some families in the winter are so cold the city must provide them with sleeping bags and how they would sleep at night with jackets and hats on.He also talks to the women who talks about how hot it can be on some days. He sees her on a 94 degree day when she says that the heat takes a lot out of her and she rarely has the strength to get up and open a window but is afraid to do so at the fear of theb heat being worse outside.
• Reverand Overall talks about most streets have prostitutes roaming the streets as well as many houses who have lots of people with the AIDS virus.

I thought that this read was not only very interesting but also very scary. The fact that so many people in that area had AIDS scared me but i thought that it was very interesting that Kozol got to go on a walk through the streets where he saw everything that Cliffie saw. I thought it was a very descriptive piece and I really enjoyed it. I recommend this to any person who would enjoy something like that. Cliffie was a lot of fun to read about but I felt really bad that a person that was said to be so nice as he is, has to deal with a hardship like the one he deals with every morning when he wakes up.

Hola World

Hello world,

My name is Steve Cambio. I'm 19 Years old and in my sophmore year at RIC. I have been playing soccer for 15 years now and I enjoy it a lot. So far my semester is going well. I have taken a lot of challanging courses, but I'll find a way to get through them. When I am not in class I am either hanging out with friends, working, or doing something to pass the time. I look forward to meeting everyone in the class.

Steve