Rhetorical Analysis

Freedom of speech can mean many things and cause different outcomes. Every now and then its clarified and sometimes misunderstood. The hanging of the confederate flag by two students at Harvard University mentioned by Derek Bok in Lunsford et al. 2009:123-125 was quite disturbing. In the Bill of rights, the first amendment protects the right of freedom of religion and freedom of expression from government interference. Sometimes people interpret that statement “freedom of expression” in an unjust way. Just because you’re free to do whatever you want doesn’t mean you can do something that’s insensitive and harms more people than it gives satisfaction to others.

When you look at a confederate flag a bunch of words pops into your head slavery, segregation, white supremacy etc. Whether those two students wanted to show pride that they’re from the south, they should’ve been more sensitive to other people’s feelings. I think in this society we live in today, people are losing their character every step along the way. For example, look at rap music and the use of the N-word. Before in the past everyone took the word very seriously and you couldn’t say the word without sparking any type of controversy. Nowadays, you hear it over and over on the radio, everyday life, and in normal conversations. People just don’t care anymore and if Dr. King knew this was happening, he definitely would be turning in his grave. What saddens me even more is that in result of the confederate flag being shown, another student had the audacity to roll up a swastika. Haven’t your mother always told you, “Two wrongs don’t make a right?”

In response to Derek Bok’s article, Milena Ateya analyzed that Bok despised the actions of the three students but he doesn’t believe we should make such actions illegal just because we disagree with them. I like how she pointed out that Bok didn’t make the effort to talk to the students to help them understand the emotional distress they caused others.

Subjected to my believes,freedom of speech is like a double-edged sword. Yes, it’s good to express your feelings for whatever reason but at the same time—your personal satisfaction could be used at another person’s expense. We are all made to think differently so that no matter what topic we talk about, there’s always going to be clash of different opinions.

"Nafsi in Lunsford

The argument Nafsi is presenting is the way we connect to one another throughout "mysterious connections." Her mysterious connection to her life story was Huckleberry Finn. She mentioned that a woman was shot to death in a football stadium in Kabul because she was dressed improperly. That is really shocking how a country let some else shoot their eyeballs out, It's just silly. What does it mean exactly to dress improper? I believe that everyone should dress in their own unique way and style. I wonder why Muslims tend to have the most ridiculous regimen for example, women can't show their face in public. Nafsi used this article based on characters and values. She mentioned that Huck Finn helped the slave, even thought she knew it was forbidden. Sometimes, you just have to do the right thing no matter what and stand up for what you believe in cause if you do, you'll feel a surge of self-righteousness flow in your veins.

""List of This I believe"

1. Honesty
2. Treat others the way you want to be treated
3. Respect other people's opinions, no one is always right
4. Be Humble
5. Always look on the bright side no matter what happens in life.
6. Never steal what's not yours
7. Respect your elders
8. Try and be a role model for kids
9. Always give back to your community where you grew up
10. Take care of your parents in their old age, no matter what happens.

Ariel Dorfman “If only we all spoke two languages” reaction

Dorfman's article about bilingualism really interested me. I always wondered why people in other countries called America a "mixing pot" when we focus on one language, English. To live up to the title of "mixing pot" I feel that it should be mandatory for people in America to learn a second language of their choice. I mean it isn't fair for other countries to learn our language if we can't do the same. As Dorfman wrote this argument, I felt that she was very on point with his feelings about America's school system rejecting bilingual education. She referred to America as a "stubborn monolingual country" I totally agree with him. In my opinion, the more languages you learn equals numerous opportunities knocking on your door, cultural diversity, and self-gratification. I can relate Dorfamn when she was a child sick in the isolation ward of a Manhattan hospital. She was shocked that the doctors and nurses only spoke to her in English and from that point on, she didn't speak Spanish for the next ten years. When I just entered in high school, I was kind of apprehensive about the deaf people there and I was asking myself, "Are they going to hate me because I don't sign? Would they accept me?" After that first day of being immersed in the deaf world, I loved it. I even caught myself signing to my parents at home numerous times. I loved everything about sign language how different movements, emotions, and your fingers are used to create a story. Now, looking at myself I can call myself a bilingual American since I do know how to sign and talk. Learning a second language is challenging but it's worth it. The feeling you get when you push yourself to learn something new is amazing. In the process of learning a new language, you'll learn more things about yourself, relate to another individual's culture and their way of life.

GSR 102-1

Who am I? You will never know. I guess I could tell you a handful of things about myself. I'm 17 going on 18 in December. I LOVE to play basketball with my friends. Music is my life, I can't imagine my life without it and my favorite color is red. If you ever buy me a half-gallon of cookie dough ice cream, I will love you. I was born into a hearing family who had no experience with deaf people. You could say when I was born, my parents were also born into the deaf world. When I was a 3 months old, my doctor said that since I was deaf, I could not talk. My mom was livid. She went to all the doctors in the state looking for a different diagnosis but they all were the same. Luckily, I had a mom who really cared about me. She bought me hearing aids at a young age and every night she will read to me until I fell asleep. When I was about a year old, my first word was "please". My mom was crying that her deaf son could talk, it was like a dream come true. As I was growing up I didn't have any deaf friends nor knew any. From 1st grade to 8th grade I was mainstreamed in a public school. It was challenging but I was lucky to have the whole class supporting me and always having my back. Up to this day, we still keep in contact. How often do you come across friends like that? Then the summer of 05' came. I was all ready to go to PCTI (Passaic County Technical Institute) a trade school close to my hometown. I was very psyched to see my friends all over again. All of a sudden, my parents had the audacity to tell me at the last minute that I would be going to MLHS (Mountain Lakes High School) a school 25 min away. The school also had a deaf program. I was so pissed. I couldn't believe they could do that to me and yank me away from my friends like that. Later that day I calmed down and decided to suck it up and go with the flow. On the first day of school, as I approached this entirely new environment, I saw people signing in a group. For the first time in my life, I saw sign language, seriously. They came up to me and started signing away, my guess was that they saw my hearing aids and assumed I could sign but I couldn't. I've never signed before in my life so we communicated on paper. I decided to take sign language classes but my friends insisted that they will teach me. As you can see, it was a success! I was signing like a native in 2 months. I would never forget that moment to finally accomplish something that would take people months or even years to do. Usually when a deaf person meets someone who's also deaf but cant sign, they tend to get frustrated and just forget about you. Luckily, I had friends who believed and cared about me. Right now, there are a handful of people on Gallaudet campus who taught me how to sign including my roommate. I will never forget that special group who taught me how to sign, they will always have a special place in my heart.