#rws200

This is the American Dream.

Hello! The photo essay American Dreams presented by Ian Brown depicts the many walks of life all in one convenient place. He delicately facilitates what ordinary, who are not so ordinary, people want in their life. Whether it be change to make the world a better place or ideologies about living free, growth is stressed among the multitude of letters. The strive to want something is the uniting force, like the combining agent for hot dogs, that make the American Dream come together. 

On the topic of American Dreams, one must understand that there is perspective to each person in the article and cannot be cubistic, or one-sided, toward a single group of people. Brown’s work is credible as he includes that there are as many as 300 people he photographed. The fact that the list goes on and on provides a plethora of views for people to interpret in their own ways. Individuality is an aspect to what those want in life as we all come from different backgrounds and although you may know names, you do not know the story.

The way information is shown in the article relates to the real world by showing these perspectives on the American Dream. The struggle is real for many of these people depicted in the essay. Many of them focus on growth, as Skylar Kergil plans to “never stop growing” in his dream for a successful gender swap. Mary and Tom Cory experience growth in their farm in Iowa as they pursue their dreams through keen physical, mental, and spiritual health. Along with the Cory couple in Iowa is Hector Salamenca, a Mexico native that has a dream of growing his communities influence on immigration by running for Office.

Don’s American Dream is to prosper in life, like how the Oscar Mayer Wiener does to American BBQs in the summer. (Yes, I did just refer to myself in the third person.) Ever since the debut of the 1965 commercial, the Oscar Mayer Company would be a staple for many consumers up to this day! The same would go for other companies as they would sprout from the same growth accomplished by Skylar, the Cory’s, and Hector. I really want to make my parents proud and show them that what they endured to get to where they are now is not wasted. I would relate closely to the supposed Star Wars fanatics, Justin and Audra Ferrell. If there would be anyone in the world that I could use to explain their situation, it would be skateboarding youtuber John Hill, whose slogan is Progress Daily. Again, growth is the recurring theme that I see when it comes to the American Dream, regardless of how little that growth may actually be.

On that note, I would like to thank you for taking the time to read my 1st ever blog post and hope you enjoyed making yours as I did mine!

Goodbye! 

Hello fellow classmates and avid Palm Springs attendee! I hope you all had an amazing Labor Day weekend and enjoyed eating hot dog sausages at any gathering that was held in that period of time.

In lieu of such nationalistic views, I must say that argument is used by a society that “values democracy and equity” (64). This quote comes from University of Tennessee English professor Rebecca Jones’ publication “Finding the Good Argument OR Wh Bother with Logic.” The need for a “good argument” would call for logic, or the lack thereof in many arguments that we may find ourselves in today. Pressing issues are to be resolved only when both sides of an argument now what it is that they are arguing about and are passionate about the cause that they believe in. It takes a lot to pursue one side and not think about the other. The use of counterarguments provides for a solution to that specific problem for I think that in order to debate a crucial topic one must understand both sides of it and be open to multiple perspectives. Otherwise, opponents would just be ignorant as information from the counterpart comes in one ear and out through the other. An example being news shows when “prepared speeches are hurled across the long distances” (62) rather than actually engaging in the skirmish to resolve the conflict. This metaphorical war provides for two sides and no middle ground, which only means that progress would be at a standstill until a compromise is made. Like Jones stated, news shows would be considered as a “four ring circus” where the host as analogous to the ringmaster and the other three political advocates would be the lion, trapeze artist, and fat lady who sings until the show is done. I’m not saying that it does not make for good media, but there is a shift of focus from actual politics to entertainment. The video of Jon Stewart on Crossfire would basically replicate what I said in actuality for he calls out the hosts for putting politicians on edge with their ethics in the way they deliver their questions. How do you call that for “fake news?”

Alternatively, Jones may be appealing to her primary audience of first-year university writing students with certain devices that I have seen throughout reading the introduction. At first glance, one may notice that the diction used in the publication is similar to that of a first-year college student’s vocabulary. Her reading would well be in the range of what we are capable of understanding due to prior knowledge or context. I could tell that she would try to make the transitional period from high school to college a great one. Along with diction is the use of a political cartoon, which in my case shows how she can portray her argument with a cat fight. Terminology is implied to the point where a basic human being would be able to discern what the main idea of the text is about: argument. One last thing that Jones might have used to appeal to us would be the use of the television sitcom The Brady Bunch in relation to our age and generation where “Netflix and Chill” was relevant for a time. More like “Hulu & Commitment” if you would have asked me!

Well, I would like to thank all two of you(if not more) who took the time to read this saucy sausage post and have a wonderful rest of your day & night!

DISCLAIMER: I accidentally erased my first version of this blog post so hopefully I can get by with this new and improved one