#28 Politically Correct Fairy Tale

Once upon a time, in a huge temperate forest up in the northern part of France, lives a happy wonderful family called the “white” due to their extremely pale face, probably inherited from their vampire ancestor. Anyway, there lives a happy naïve princess called snow white who survives perfectly every day under her parent’s rule of the kingdom with capitalistic idea yet an authoritarian regime. Despite how snow white’s parents basically rule everything in the kingdom, people were relatively happy that they are used to have a strong centralized government or people to rule over their life. People are able to own their shops, if they were able to become a boss of their magical potion or horse carriages industry, and exploit their workers with more than 20 hours of work every day and dangerous working condition experimenting with new potion that can potentially diminish the very existence one’s being. Under Snow White’s parents’ huge imperial magical potion factory that dominate the whole France lives an old lady who spent every day cleaning a magical mirror. 

        The old lady was excessive obsessed with her own appearance that she would continuous ask the magical mirror who is the best looking women in the world. Afraid the old lady would raged and smashed the mirror out of jealously, the mirror would said “You, Madame, are the best looking women in the world.” However, one day, the mirror got too drunk singling halleuya who the other magical items in a “Items only bar” that he accidentally said Snow White was the prettiest in the world. Out of jealously and long compressed anger from the exploitation of the White family, the old lady began to study books of Marxist and started a whole serious of riots in France in various magical potion factory with Marxism-Madamnism that held a communist idea to overthrow the “White” family with an establishment of “Madame” regime. With strong feminist movement backing up the revolution, the White family was soon eradicated and eliminated, leaving poor Snow White alone in the forest, who escaped through the escort of seven royal little miniature men who are commonly being laughed as the “elf” due to their royal uniform with a pointy hat and pointy shoes.

        Despite a successful revolution, the old lady was still anxious and wishing to eliminate the Snow White as she might threaten her place as the most beautiful women in the world. Using her pretentious communist idea, which is instead purely dictatorial, she ordered thousands of female to search the forest for Snow White. Despite how royal the “Elfs” are toward the White family, through continuous seduction of the female army sent by the old lady, the elfs eventually sell out the location of Snow White. Snow White was, of course, captured and tortured badly by the old lady. Despite how Snow White is punched and kicked in the face by the mentally unstable old lady, surprisingly, Snow White did not turn ugly from the beating. Instead, Snow White turns more sexy and beautiful. With her inner vampire instinct arise from the beating, Snow White breaks open the cuffs on her hands and legs with her superhuman abilities and are able to shoot out beam of justice from her eyes which incinerate the old lady’s communist idea

        In the end, like all fairy tales, it ends with a happy ending. Snow White introduces democracy in France and people live happily ever after.

#27: Triple blog entry: Not all men are Sly foxes

I agree with Brott that young children are strongly influenced by the books parents or teachers read to them or allow them to read. Since I’m small, I would read tons of illustrated books that primary focuses on how children, either in the form of human beings or animals, seek to exceed in life despite all the difficulties surrounding them. However, in my memory, there are not really any parents involve in any of the fairy tale stories. For example, in the three little pigs, the three pigs were left along to live in the miserable fill with wolves at an early stage. The brothers seem to never work together that they were always on a separate path and left along to suffer. Commonly portrayed in many stories, the youngest ones were always the smartest and toughest in the story. There are always a happy ending to every story. However during the course of the plot, family member of the protagonist were always faced with death or trouble that led the young reader like me to understand how certain choices in life are bad and foolish. The illustration is extremely interesting that there are never a single blood in the illustration despite it portrayed how pigs were swallowed by the evil wolf and died. The language it uses is also extremely optimistic that every thing would eventually turn out well if the characters were to make smart choices. Nothing is accidental that every time a person failed is due to that person’s own mistake. Now looking back at these stories, I find them to be extremely unrealistic.

       

        Speaker: The speaker is the author who is a men and a father who has kids at the age of reading illustrated books

        Occasion: The main occasion is the observation of a trend in children books that portray fathers as uncaring. Another occasion would be observation of the children’s bookshelves when he tries to find appropriate readings for his 2 years old daughter.

        Audience: The audience is certainly for parents who have children at the age of guided reading from parents. Also, the audience is for book publisher to realize how the trend of the children’s book has negative stereotypical view of father.

        Purpose: The purpose of the passage to illustrate how father are unfairly, negatively portray in children’s book as uncaring and seem to have less role in effecting children’s life than mother. He wants to show that these negative stereotypes are unrealistic that not all fathers are abandoning their family, despite some do. He wants parents to carefully select stories for their children in order to save the image of father and not to let their children to have this stereotypical mindset since an early age.

        Subject: Father are portrayed unfairly as uncaring in children’s literature

        Tone: The author’s tone is analytical that he carefully used details and examples to support his argument. He is quite anxious and worried about how father are portray as uncaring which he seeks to change by telling parents to not buy that kind of literature.

        Question of Meaning

1.          The thesis of the essay is “There is, however, one very large group whose portrayal continues to follow the same stereotypical lines as always: fathers” as stated in the beginning of paragraph 2.

2.          Brott assume his audience to be stereotypical or just ignorant the fact that many fairy tales hold negative portray of father’s role in the story. I also fit into his assumption that I am totally unaware how father is portrayed in many fairy tales until I come across this unique essay.

4.          Brott implies that after the essay has identify how certain fairy tales hold negative stereotypical view of fathers in the story, parents now have to then carefully select children’s reading in order to prevent their children from absorbing such unfair views of father. This way, we can eradicate discrimination at an early age.

Question on Writing Strategies

2.          Reference to books for parents indicates that these stereotypical portray not only has an influence on children, it also influences the parents. This kind of book will only further create this kind of bad, uncaring father because father are expected to take less role in taking care of children than mother.

Question on Language

1.          As stated in paragraph 3, caregivers are people who take care of kids by providing with materials goods and care for children by bouncing them around before putting them to sleep. However, nurturers are those who spend 24/7 around children and raise them with care. They constantly fulfill the needs of children and tell them stories and play games with them. Nurtures are those who participate in raising the children, not just giving them occasional care.

#26: Double Blog-Obligation of a Husband and Father

       I agree how Brady is complaining how wife and mom are mistreated with tons of responsibility piling on them. Although I’m a male, I’m starting to leaning on her side that I really feel her agony. However, for a women or wife, husband or father is also important and responsible. First of all, I want a husband who can support me financially. To support a princess inside me, he would have to make tons of money in order for me to spend on LVs, expensive bags, fancy big brand shoes, 10 new whole set of dresses everyday and treat me to dinner once every weekend although I may only want to take a bite of an expensive 5 star hotel steak. Next, I want a husband who can be respected by our neighbor and lots of reputation to let me look wealthy and classy. I want a husband who can also do choirs and pick up children when I’m gone to socialize with my friends to salon or shopping. I want a husband who can be athletic and play sports with my energetic boys. I want a husband who can protect me when I’m in trouble and willing to stand out bravely to speak for my mistakes. There are so many things a woman wants an ideal husband and men to have.

        In “I want a Wife”, Judy Brady argue how woman or wife has to take more responsibility than man does. Traditionally, all men need to do in a family to take jobs and support the family financially. However, women need to stay home and quit working to take care of children and house choir. Women tends to play a supporting role to support things back at home by preparing dinner, taking care of kids, keeping the house clean, satisfying husband’s sexual needs and keeping detail record of appointments and daily schedules. “Who wouldn’t want a wife?” said Judy. According to Judy, women are simply treated like a slave for men. Once a man finds another person who may be more suitable than the current wife, the man would simply divorce and expect the wife to take care of the children that he can start a new life. Also, women can never take a rest. Although the family is on vacation, the wife has to continue to take care of the children and husband. Judy makes the man seems like a devil that would tortures the woman and makes her life difficult although she doesn’t have to take jobs.  

       

        Speaker: The speaker would be the author, who is a wife /woman who is sick of taking all the responsibility that she also wishes she is a man who can have a wife.

        Occasion: The main occasion is from seeing how traditionally women are expected to have certain role and responsibility in the family. The second occasion would be her friend’s recent divorce and his search to a new wife. These spark her interest in examining what would it be like to have a wife.

        Audience: The audience would certainly be for male, in specifically to husband which she finds them to be abusive against women.

        Purpose: The main purpose is to let the reader understand the agony of women and realize how husband/ man can be abusive and treat women like a household machine. She wishes to change the expectation place on women that these expectations are unreasonable and women should have rights too.

        Subject: The unreasonable expectation of women that they are treated unfairly by their husbands.

        Tone: The tone is sarcastic that the author pretends she is the husband which she explains how she wants her wife to behave. With her description, we can infer that she is pretty furious with how wives are treated that husbands often make unreasonable request and place overwhelming expectations on them.

#25 Going for digital

Should we digitalize everything in school, including our text book, class work, home work and report card? Digitalization has become a new trend for school. For most of our homework, teachers have hope students to type out essay and submitting paper through email and electronic files. What exactly are some of the benefit for school to go all digitalize? In my point of view, there are 3 points that digitalization of academic materials benefit both school and student. It is efficient, green and easy to categorize. Back in the old days, teacher would expect students to write an essay on a piece of paper and seek for good hand writing and neatness on paper. However, it is extremely hard to not make a single mistake on the paper. If students were to write with pencil, it would be easy to erase mistakes with an eraser. However, even doing so there will still be pencil marks imprinted on the paper. Paper form is extremely hard to edit. With electronic files, it is extremely easy to edit and have a neat font on official paper. Second, using electronic files is green. In the world today that is extremely concerned about our environment. By using electronic files, we can kill fewer trees and create an environment friendly environment by creating less waste. Finally, electronic files are easy to categorizes. If the school were to organized files with paper, it is extremely easy to get paper to be lost into the wrong folder or cabinet. With computer and electronic files, it is extremely easy to categorize files and store lots of data that takes up little space in the room. Office can be rid of potential shelf of paper and document that can be easily messed up.

# 24 Fair use: online Piracy

What is considered a fair use of sharing files in terms of a piece of music? Am I breaking the law by sharing music that I brought on the CD online in a forum where people can download the music I share? Many people will argue that this will be piracy that I shouldn’t be allowed to share intellectual property online and let people download things that should have been brought legally through music stores. There’s a big issue of what is the fair use of sharing music. In the old days where music can only be played on a black disk or CDs, people share music by lending CDs to people as if it is like a book. It is fine to share books and share the information you have in your possession. However, when technology starts to improve that mass producing books by photocopying become common and cheap, it becomes a problem that book maybe shared illegally. It is the same as essays. People are not allowed to plagiarize because it is some other people’s work and intellectual property that needs to be charged if it were to be used. Music nowadays are made electronically, which make it extremely vulnerable to mass copying and downloading due to the easiness to assess to the technology to perform this heinous act (For the recording industries). For me, the only fair use of music is when music are played directly and only on CD album that can’t be mass produce and upload to any other electronic device. However, this proves something hard to do as these paradoxical issues are occurring even in company such as SONY.