Research Paper Abstract

The purpose of this research paper will be on the importance of physical education to the mentally handicapped children and teens. A study will be done to include the opinions of three physical education teachers and their thoughts on how daily physical activity effects mentally handicapped children. Interview subjects will be physical education teachers throughout the district that teach at the elementary, middle school, and high school levels. They will be questioned on their views on the importance of daily physical education to mentally handicapped students along with other questions concerning the topic. Interview subjects will include Tyler Kondos from Horace May Elementary School, Kate Whittington from Bemidji Middle School, and Donna Waliczek from Bemidji High School. A compare and contrast will be done between the different teachers and the levels of P.E. they teach, along with a psychological conclusion on mentally handicapped and how physical activity in daily P.E. classes improves their lifestyles. The results have yet to be concluded, but a generalization has been made. The predicted concluding result shows that daily physical activity in mentally handicapped children and teens decreases levels of hyperness, improve levels of self esteem, and build healthy relationships with other people.

Research Paper Proposal

Topic- I want to do my paper on the importance of physical education to the mentally and physically handicapped. (I picked this topic because it is what I plan to go into after high school.)
Potential Interview Subjects- Tyler Kondos @ Horse May, Kate Whittington @ BMS, and Donna Waliczek @BHS
My approach- I plan to interview physical education teachers at the elementary, middle school, and high school level on their views on the importance of physical education to mentally and physically handicapped students. I know Tyler Kondos has his license in regular and adaptive P.E., I'm almost positive Ms. Waliczek does, and I'm not sure about Mrs. Whittington. I have never spoke with Mr. Kondos before, but his name was referred to me as a good resource for this project. I have looked over Mrs. Whittington's website and she seems to be a very well educated teacher with a true purpose in the improvement of her students health and education involving their health. And Ms. Waliczek, as we all know, takes her job very seriously. I plan to do a compare and contrast between the different teachers and the levels of P.E. they teach along with a psychological study on mentally handicapped and how P.E. improves their lifestyles.
*I'm not 100% sure I did this proposal right so any extra input would be great*

The Heart of Darkness thesis

I want to answer the questions, Looking through a gender lens, how does the author portray the main characters of Marlow and Kurtz to look upon women in a sexist way? How does direct characterization play part in their description of women?

quote: "Girl! What? Did I mention a girl? Oh, she is out of it -- completely. They-- they women I mean-- are out of it-- should be out of it. We must help them stay in that beautiful world of their own, lest ours gets worse." pg 125
quote: " 'My Intended, my ivory, my station, my river, my---' everything belonged to him." pg 126
quote: "The last words he pronounced was -- your name." pg 164

Heart of Darkness

 

In Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness the rulers that work to colonize Africa are described as "Hunters for gold or pursuers of fame, they all had gone out on that stream, bearing the sword, and often the torch, messengers of the might within the land, bearers of a spark from the sacred fire." (Conrad, Heart of Darkness) Looking through a postcolonial lens, one can see the irony in how the colonists perceive themselves as greatness coming upon Africa and how they actually mistreat and dehumanize the Africans. The colonists are described as great pioneers pushing forth into the dark uncivilized world to bring civilization to the different African colonies. The irony present throughout this quote and majority of the book is that the colonist also bring fear, terror, enslavement, and death upon the Africans. As Marlow travels through the Congo he notices the mistreatment of the Africans through them being over worked and starving; he even sees piles of dead bodies lying along the walkway. He is caught off guard by all that is occurring in his surroundings, but doesn’t find it necessarily troubling. Marlow brushes off the horrifying scene and keeps along his merry way. The men of the upper class who are the ones mistreating the Africans find nothing wrong with what they are doing or how they are treating the Africans and their homeland. They believe they are there to help civilize the Africans, but the irony holds true in that they are the ones destroying their land, raping their women, taking their food, and killing them. The dehumanization that is at hand is described throughout Marlow’s arrival, showing Marlow what he has signed up for in his task to find Kurtz. He is exposed to this mistreatment but does nothing about it because it is seen as the way things are supposed to be done.

Thesis Statement

Using the Marxist Lens one can answer the question as to how Jon Hassler portrays the roles of power throughout his short stories Rufus at the Door, Dodger's Return, and Agatha McGee. Each story is told from a narrative standpoint and always contains a character that resembles the lower class in comparison to the main character. Hassler uses this difference of classes to portray power through himself as the author and through his writing.

"Rufus at the Door"

Rufus at the Door

The short story “Rufus at the Door” can be interpreted as mildly disturbing and unethical in comparison to society today. Looking through the reader response lens one can compare the treatment of the mentally handicapped in the setting of the short story and to society in today’s world to see how the comparison shows what is considered ethical and unethical.  “ … Ms. Sylvesteri led us single file through the series of gloomy wards and hallways where we were smiled at, lunged at, and jeered by all manner of the mentally deficient.” (pg. 21, Rufus at the Door, Jon Hassler). In this quote we are presented with the words “gloomy”, “lunged at”, and “mentally deficient” to set the tone and setting of the insane asylum that the kids are brought to visit. Reading this leads the reader to believe that the mentally handicapped are locked up like animals, separated from the rest of society, and treated as more of cite to see rather than a human being. To a reader in today’s society where mentally handicapped are treated much differently than in the short story, this appears to be an unethical tragedy. The words “lunged at” and “jeered at” give the reader the sense that they are dealing with some sort of animal rather than a human being. This troubles a reader living in today’s society where mentally handicapped kids do many of the same things that the nondisabled kids do. These activities include play sports, join clubs, and even attend the same school. Never would someone in today’s society find it acceptable to keep the mentally handicapped locked up and away from the rest of society, never to be attend to or taken care of. Comparing the treatment of the mentally handicapped in the short story “Rufus at the Door” and today’s society is much different in the sense that today’s treatment is seen as much more ethically acceptable.

In my compositions I chose to blog about the short story of "Rufus at the Door" because that was the one that I had the least amount of changes to make. Overall everyone who read it and proofed it didn't have much to change. I did take Mr. Westrum's suggestion of adding the words "gloomy", "lunged at", and "mentally deficient" to my analysis to make it more clear and tie into my thesis better. I mainly believe this was my strongest composition because the people who proofed it were satisfied with it just the way it was.

The Third Man Looking Through a Feminist Lens

In the movie, The Third Man, we observe how Holly Martins tries to hold power over the other characters. Looking through a feminist lens, we can see how  the character of  Ms. Schmidt instead holds power over Holly Martins because of her advantage of knowing the language that is being spoken. Ms. Anna Schmidt who was Mr. Harry Lime’s lover lives in Vienna and speaks the native language of German quite fluently along with English. Martins tries to make it seem that Ms. Schmidt needs him in order to figure out the murder case of Mr. Harry Lime. When really, Martins himself needs Ms. Schmidt to translate all that is said to him because he doesn’t know how to speak German. Throughout the scenes during Martins’ investigating, we see how he depends upon Ms. Schmidt for many translations of words spoken by different people who are being questioned by him. One scene in particular was when the Porter dies and the little boys reveals to the surrounding crowd that it was Martins who murdered him. The boy yells in German, “Papa der ist der murder!” translating to “Papa there is the murder!” and points to Martins. While this is happening Martins the whole time is begging Ms. Schmidt for a translation so he can understand what is happening and what it being said. Looking inside the shot  and what is happening, we see how the camera angles also make Martins look the same height and even shorter than the surrounding characters . This indicates how he has no higher power than the surrounding people including Ms. Schmidt. Not being able to understand what the boy is saying shows as a weakness of Martins and a strength for Ms. Schmidt all at the same time. Here we see how Martins fails in defining the roles of masculinity by being dependent upon Ms. Schmidt and therefore her holding power over him.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs-Post Colonialism

Looking through the Post Colonialism lens, anyone who watches the Disney production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs can see that the dwarfs are very separate from the rest of civilization. They live in a small cottage out in the forest very distant from the kingdom and any other towns or villages. One could argue that they are treated differently by not being treated, or not payed attention to, at all. By that I mean because no one pays attention to them or sees them as regular people, they are treated differently. Never in the movie does anyone besides Snow White visit and interact with the dwarfs. The animals don’t even interact with the dwarfs until Snow White comes along. Noticing this, the audience gets the impression that the dwarfs are very different from the rest of society. When Snow White first enters the home she seems shocked at the size of everything and assumes that several small children must live there. The small miniature sized chairs, tables, and other appliances led her to make that assumption. By making this assumption, the audience is also making the assumption that those who live there are different from Snow White and the rest of society. Snow White and even the Queen are portrayed as normal humans while the dwarfs are seen as different almost creature-like because of their appearance. All these situations show how the dwarfs are shown as very distant from the rest of society.

One TED Talk that I really enjoyed listening to was Haley's. First, her own experience of how a sport has changed her was very relatable from my point of view of also being an athlete. Although I don't know every little detail of the sport of gymnastics, I know the main jist of it and I thought Haley did a really good job of point out the things that we don't think of going on like perfectionism and such. Second, I like how she stuck to the three main key points of how being in gymnastics changed her and thought the repetition of the three really worked. Each of the quotes on the different slides Haley used were relevant to each topic she talked about. The only thing I would change would be the size of the quotes so they would be a little more easy to read. Finally, another part of her TED talk that I really thought was neat were the home videos she incorporated. The first one was hilarious of Haley showing her super shyness as a little girl just starting gymnastics. The second one was really cool to watch and see her progression in her self confidence. I thought it was a really good way to conclude her TED talk and prove what she was talking about true. Great Job Haley! :)

Full House

When deciding what to blog about this week, I wasn't sure at all what I wanted to write about. I even googled "what to blog about today" but I didn't find any results worth blogging. I then took a glance around the room taking in all that was happening. Heather and Hunter were breaking each other’s wrists while playing a game of mercy, my mom was sitting at the table paying bills, my dad was fixing dinner for tomorrow night, and I sat watching my favorite TV sitcom on nick@night, Full House. It then dawned on me that I wanted to blog about Full House and the connection I share with it. (If you've never seen the show you might not find as much interest in this blog: fair warning)

Short summary: Set in San Francisco, this is a show about a very loving family headed by Danny Tanner, who became a single father when his wife, Pam Tanner, was killed in a car accident. Pam's brother Jesse, and Danny's best friend Joey Gladstone moved into the house to help Danny raise his three daughters D.J., Stephanie, and Michelle. Full House consisted of 8 seasons, 192 episodes and was first aired on September 22, 1987, its last episode was aired May 23, 1995. Reruns are still on regularly today.

I’ll start from the beginning. I began watching Full House due to the suggestion from my childhood best friend Bailey Windecker. I can still vividly remember being 5 years old and standing in the kitchen of her old house making a turkey sandwich for lunch when she asked what my favorite TV show was, my response at the time was SpongeBob. Bailey then suggested that we watch Full House, I wasn't going to disagree just because I hadn't seen the show before so we watched it. Due to the handsome Uncle Jesse (John Stamos), I was hooked after my first episode.

As the show grew older with different storylines and more characters being added, I also grew with different storylines and characters added to my life. I found that each different situation and scenario in the show was handled similarly. Most of them began with a problem, attempted to be solved, and ended with a life lesson of some sort. With something to be learned every episode, it keeps me an avid watcher still today. I can't put my finger on it, but there's something about the show that it comforting to me. It's the show that I watch almost every night between the times of 7-9:30 when I can, it is also the show that makes me feel better and comforts me when I'm sick or down in the dumps. It always manages to cheer me up. The show also brings me back in time to days I would spend with Bailey sitting and watching it with her. I have fond memories and connections with Full House and continue to watch all the reruns to this day.

TED Talk Thesis: Big Sister

Thesis/Goal: I want my listeners to see the struggles, but most importantly the rewards of being a big sister. I will work so that my TED Talk can appeal to those who share the same role as I do in being the oldest, to those who are the younger sibling to give them a sense of what it means to be the oldest, and also to those who don't have any siblings to show them what's it's like to have a brother or a sister.  

For my TED Talk I want to incorporate definition, narration, and cause and effect into my personal experiences of being a big sister. I want to start out by defining what a big sister is in both a literal sense and a personal sense. By using a literal route I can have the listeners understand what a big sister is and by bringing in personal experience, I hope to grab their attention through both humor and seriousness through telling personal stories. I also want to include cause and effect in that the actions and decisions someone makes as an older sibling can and will have an effect on younger siblings. 

HELP: So I don't know how to better word my thesis statement so it's more of a thesis statement rather than a goal. Or if it works fine as it is for a thesis statement? comments would be much appreciated :)

TED Talk, My Favorite Quote

TED Talk, My Favorite Quote

“He watched where everybody was going and went the other direction.” (Mike Rowe, TED Talk)

This was my favorite quote in Mike Rowe’s TED Talk about his different experiences with some of the dirtiest jobs this country has to offer. In this quote, Mike Rowe describes the pig farmer’s individuality by telling his story of how his job makes him happy and satisfied. The pig farmer shares with Mike how he is contempt with what he is doing in life and doesn’t need to be conformed to today’s society of the uprising business world. His job that consists of physical labor and tending to pigs and other livestock all day makes him happier than sitting at a desk job for hours on end. When offered billions for his farm, he turned down the money because it would not be something that would make him happy in life. Although the farmer has one of the harder, more enduring jobs this country has to offer, he doesn’t let that part of the job phase him. When Mike describes the farmer’s perspective on his job he states how he thought he was crazy for turning down the money. Mike realizes though, that it is what makes the man happy and he himself was reminded of that life lesson to do what makes you happy in life and not stray far from it. When stepping back and realizing that there is so much more to life than money or the “happiness” money can bring you, one can find the key to true happiness and satisfaction in life.

Analyzing One of Sam's Quotes

Analyzing One of Sam's Quotes

One of Sam's favorite quotes was: "As wealth goes up, compassion goes down." (Does Money Make You Mean?)

In the TED Talk "Does Money Make You Mean" Paul Piff illustrates how in the world today the generalization that money makes you mean can be proven true in some cases. For example, in his testing of the monopoly game, results showed that as the players who earned more and were winning were more likely to take the pretzels from the bowl. They felt more comfortable taking because they were wealthier in the game. Another example is when they were in the room with the candy jar. After being told the candy was for kids, results showed that the wealthier upper hand of the bunch took two times as much compared to the less wealthy. A third and final example was the car example. When tested it showed that the nicer and more expensive cars where less likely to stop in comparison to the no so nice and less expensive cars. All three examples show results that lead to the generalization that money can essentially make you mean and less compassionate.

         One thing that can contradict the generalization that money makes you mean is that being poor humbles you. Being less wealthy will give you a different perspective on life because you will see things differently without money. Often times people categorize the poor as either very greedy or very generous. More times it is often very generous because they know what it is like to have nothing so they too will give everything. There is always two sides to a story, so when saying money makes you mean you also can argue that being poor humbles you.

TED Talk Topics
Define what it means to be a big sister.
I want to talk about the different struggles and rewards of being a big sister. I would relate my talk to my own personal experiences in life with my family in a narrative way. I would like to also capture the attention of the audience whether they are an older sibling or not by using comedy but also seriousness.

Define what it means to be a teammate.
Because Sports have been the biggest part of my life I would like to talk about what it means to be a teammate. I would like to talk about the different obstacles I have over came by being on a team and also the success and rewards it has brought into my life.  I would talk about how sports have impacted my life and how they have made me the person I am today.

How to avoid doing housework and cleaning your room.
This would be more of a process definition essay on the numerous things you could do to put off doing work around the house and cleaning your room because when I asked my mom on what I should write about that is what she said. Apparently Im really good at it and procrastination.

Argue about college tuition expenses and how they are too high.
I really wouldn't get into this as much as I would my other topics it was just something that I thought the whole class could relate too.

School uniforms?

Fallacies on "The Wife-Beater"

"Am I reading too much into a fashion statement that return is also to male dominance where physical abuse is acceptable as a means of control?"

The fallacy that can be used in this quote is argument from analogy. The author is trying to make an analogy between a piece of clothing and physical abuse to say that there is some relation between the two and that male dominance has to be done through the act of physical abuse.

"One woman stated that it even made guys look "manly"... so manly equals violence?"

The fallacy that can be used in this quote is appeal to doubtful authority with syllogism. By quoting only one woman in her essay she makes it appear as that one woman speaks for all females in her opinion that men look manly in that piece of clothing. She also comes to the conclusion that manly equals violent by using syllogism. Only using one doubtful authority to speak for women as whole and using invalid syllogism creates a fallacy.

"Wearers under 25 don't seem to be disturbed by the name."

 The fallacy that can be used in this quote is sweeping generalization. Not quoting where she got the statistic that wearers under 25 are not disturbed by the term "wife-beater" makes her statement invalid and opinionated. The author makes a generalization that the younger generation does not take offense to the title "wife-beater". This generalization was not proven factually and therefore is invalid.

-I don't know if I did any of these right but it's what I came up with.