Sunday, September 25, 2011

Immigration

I read the article about Lake off and one about the immigration reform in Arizona. Reading these articles anger me because i do not like the way conservatives refer or frame immigrants. Just because they aren't born here and cross the border that makes them criminals now? They are desperate families looking for a better future, for a better like. How does that make someone a criminal? Anyone that wants to take care of their loved ones would do just about anything for them. These conservatives talk like that because they have no idea how it is to have to work everyday for so little pay. That's how it is in places like Mexico for instance. I've visited Mexico, in fact I have family over there and I get shocked when I see the amount of work they do and how little pay they receive. Some of the people over there work full time jobs everyday and yet get even less money than I do at my job working for less than twenty hours a week. If I complain about how much I get paid, I imagine how horrible it probably is to get paid how people in Mexico do and that's why families over there try to find something better out there, even if it means having to risk their lives for that, therefore it shouldn't make them look like criminals. I know some friends that are just my same age and are immigrants and have lived here since they were little girls. They pretty much always had the same rights as I did except when we started growing up, I'm able to go to college because I get financial aid help and it's not as easy for then to get help therefore they do not attend college and it makes me wonder, how are they different than me? How come I get all these benefits but they don't? It just doesn't seem right. Also, they aren't able to get a job so easily because they don't have papers. Framing is wrong because unless we are in a person's show we cant form a proper opinion because we do not know what it feels like to be in a situation like that.


The Link: http://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2010/06/14/indian-tribes-oppose-new-immigration-law/

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Strict vs. Nurturing

When I read Lakoff's article about the differences between a strict father model and the nurturing model parent, many examples came to my mind in terms of my own life and also other people in my family, or just what I see around.

Lakoff intends to explain that mostly in every family there is someone who is the strict parent and someone who is the nurturing parent. The strict parent is the one that usually sets the rules and wants things done his or her way. In most cases, it's the father in the family that is the strict parent, in other cases it happens to be the mother. The strict parent can be the one that sometimes we might be afraid just because they show so much authority that we feel like we have to obey all the time and if we do something wrong we are scared or worried about the consequences.

The nurturing parent is a whole different story. It does not mean that the nurturing parent is not respected or obeyed, it just means that as kids it's easier to be less obedient with the nurturing parent because that parent is not as strict and can be a lot more forgiving than the strict parent.

In my case, it kind of goes both ways because, my situation changes constantly. Both my parents have a side of strictness and also of nurturing parents. When I was very small, I've been told that I was very attached to my mom, and I don't really know why since my dad spoiled me more than she did because my brothers came along and she had her hands full; she had to be equal with all of us. I guess it's because at the age of two to five years old it's normal to want to be around the mother more. When I was older, but still a kid, I started wanting to be around my dad a lot more, simply because since I'm the only girl he spoiled me a lot more than he did the boys. In a childish kind of way, I knew how to bribe my dad to get what I wanted, and with my mom that was impossible to do and she was stricter with me than he was. However, I was also very afraid my dad because even though he spoiled me, he was also very strict and wanted things done his way, I wasn't scared of my mom even though she wanted to be obeyed too because she was a little bit more lenient when it came to punishment . When I was small, I didn't really have a problem with that though. However, when I reached my teenage years, I started considering my mom the nurturing mother more just because she's a girl and she understands the issues that start to show up as teenagers, like when it came to boys for instance. My dad could be a really hard head when it came to stuff like that, he simply didn't understand, and wanted me to pay attention to stuff that actually mattered like my education, so I saw him later on more as the strict figure.

Now that I'm older I realize that the mother is always the most nurturing one because even though she didn't spoil me as much as my dad, she's always the one that worried about my health, if I eat everyday, she worried about us being home, not out onto the streets till late. My dad didn't really do any of that, I know he cares but he's not the one staying up late at night if any of us is sick or worrying about us eating everyday. I have to admit his strictness along with personal experiences made me a strong, independent woman. My mom taught me to care about my family, she showed me the responsibilities of being a mother so if one day I were to have a baby of my own, I would know how to take care of my family.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Points of View

I read the article about the air racing events that go on every September and about the accident that happened on one of those events. The article says that one of the planes crashed killing the pilot and eight spectators that were in the very front seats where the plane landed after it crashed. A lot of people were injured in this incident and among the witnesses there are those that explain how the horrifying event happened but no one can actually explain what caused the plane to crash. The speculations begin and people start suggesting some reasons as to why the plane probably crashed. What is portrayed in this article that I didn't agree with is that some people begin suggesting that maybe it was the pilot's fault because of his age. They begin believing that because of his age he might have had some health problem that might have stopped him from doing his job right. I do not agree with this because from the article it is also stated that the man had perfect health conditions and that he has been doing this for a long time, therefore he knew what he was doing. Truth is, like any other accident that happens, no one is absolutely sure why they happen, the causes can be numerous. It could have easily been something wrong with the plane itself. However, I can understand why the investigators of the crash might think of the pilot's age as a possibility for him not being able to control the plane and use that as one of the possible causes of the crash. When events like this happen, it is easy to blame the person who was in control and not the plane itself. That's why I believe for those who wrote the article it seemed like a likely possibility to blame the pilot and his age for losing control of the plane even though they also agree that there could be other possibilities for the reasons of the crash, as stated, with cases like this, some may never know.

The link to the article is : http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/09/18/scene-deadly-reno-air-race-crash-shows-planes-missile-like-impact/

Friday, September 16, 2011

Links

Here are my links:

http://mluna-liveyourdreams.blogspot.com/2011/08/1st-blog.html?showComment=1316239175560#c6621137350539584843


http://tchurley216.blogspot.com/2011/09/work-is-just-that-workblog-assignment-2.html?showComment=1316240015069#c8095242834522671279

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Frames upon frames

All the articles in our group's packet were mainly attempted to frame violence. Every article that we read discussed nothing but about the violence that exists in Chicago and how many offered some solutions to try to minimize it but nothing really seemed to work. Frames were built implying that especially teens were the reason for so much violence that has been happening. Poverty was also another frame that was portrayed because it was basically implied that poverty was the main cause of violence among teens, and that the development of new laws to prevent so much crime were needed. There was a lot mentioned about African American neighborhoods about being the worst when it comes to violence and that is kind of a stereotype because in Chicago every race is in a way involved with crime, not just African Americans. The way that both of these articles try to offer the truth in a different way is by attempting to come up with solutions to eliminate the violence in the city with no such luck, because if the reason for violence is poverty then that is what has to be changed. More availability on jobs is absolutely necessary, because the lack of good jobs is what is making teens turn the wrong way. Some of the articles however, spoke in resignation as if there was really nothing to do when it came to crime in Chicago and they try to develop their same truth by showing how the city is not really doing much to stop all these crimes happening. These articles actually make sense since violence is something of concern today, it also makes sense that crime in the city is a lot more overrated than it is in the suburbs and that's because violence is not as common in the suburbs so it's a lot more shocking when it happens in places that are not as busy as the city streets. These frames reflect differences in power in the way that the less power someone has the more dangerous that person can be to a society because they are those who are trying to seek a better life by making other mistakes. Whether someone that actually has a lot of power and should have the ability to make the city a better place doesn't really do it because it doesn't affect them directly since they aren't those that are going through the poverty that other's are going through and which is causing the outrage among youth.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Framing

It is not clear what were the intentions of the network by editing this video. It does seem kind of racist because they were advertising this like if the boy wanted the gun to be a murderer. They referred to that as "scary". However, like the person that posted the video up in youtube it is "scary" that there is people out there that are trying to frame little kids who are just growing up and don't even know exactly what is going on around them. It is true, an environment influences a lot the way a person acts towards other people or things, but that little boy clearly stated that he wanted the gun because he was going to be a policeman and he wasn't scared maybe because he felt he would be able to protect people by being a policeman and having a gun. This video is a re-framing of what really happened because it's as if the network is trying to make like boy look like a future murderer, because of course when someone hears a 4-yr old boy say he is going to have a gun when he grows up, that person will immediately think wrong. This video does portray some wrong stereotyping because it provokes the viewers to think that only because it's an African American boy, the network edited this video to make African American people look like they are abusive since childhood. The last part of the interview that was cut off works against the stereotype because the guy posting the video shows that what is in reality scary is that there's people out there that would go through such extremes as making an innocent boy sound like a future murderer. If I were to write my own version of this story, it would be concentrating on how of course its damaging for a kid that age to experience an event like that but they can  be given the proper guidance so that they don't grow up wanting to be murderers or anything that will screw up their lives. For readers or viewers the frame that I would be trying to make would be about understanding the danger that especially children go through because of the shocking events that they witness as they are growing up but that there is something that we can do to prevent anything from shocking children and marking them for life.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

The significance of work

When it comes to the term work, I have several different reactions that have changed throughout my life. Back in elementary school I wasn't really good at doing school work nor homework. It's not that I didn't want to do it, it's just that I had a really hard time concentrating on what I was doing, I'm guessing because work didn't really mean much to me then. As I grew up though, I started trying harder especially on school work, I always wanted to get my things done and have them done the right way. I would still slack a little when it came to homework because again I would devote my attention to other things. However, in high school homework and school work all became very important to me, that's what I would be doing most of the time. I wanted to set my future straight and I know in order to do that I had to work very hard in each course. After graduating high school, I got a job to help pay for college and for my own necessities and of course it was a new type of work that I had to get adjusted to. So now I deal with three types of work, school work, homework, and work in general. Dealing with the three of them at the same time can be very stressing but I take it very seriously because all the work will make me the person I'll be the day of tomorrow. They are different types of work but all of this is work nonetheless and it has to be dealt with the same way. When I imagine someone working, I picture someone doing all in their hands to get their job done the right way without slacking off and having responsibility to do things right. This image makes me feel that people actually take their responsibility seriously and that we can all work together for a better life. The reason why I now feel so strong about work is because I've witnessed all my life how my parents works everyday just to give my brother's and I a better future. Working has actually made me a responsible person with a strong attitude towards life. When I think about work, I also think of responsibility, commitment, patience, and of course strength. This suggests that our brains relate certain terms to others because one way or another they are all connected. Most likely other social classes think about work very differently. For instance, wealthier people might not see it as much as a necessity as those with fewer resources, therefore, they might not take it as seriously. I could think of work as an imprisonment, as something preventing me from having nothing to do at all, but that wouldn't be a more productive way of thinking simply because it would lead me nowhere in life.