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EARLY ESSAYS

My Self Description

The name I would like to be called is Nate. I really don’t have a lot of computer experience. I have worked with Microsoft PowerPoint a little bit. This is about as extensive as my computer experience goes. I have, on the other hand, done a lot of service work. My freshman year in high school I traveled to Lithuania. During my trip there I volunteered to build playgrounds at elementary schools in poor cities. I also put in a lot of hours working through the National Honor Society. As for media, I have never been the kind of person who pays attention to anything except for the evening news. The last novel that I read is called, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. It is about a boy growing up in Alabama during the depression. He become obsessed with a strange neighbor and eventually learns a lesson from him. Another novel that I have recently read is called, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. This is about a boy who grows up in Afghanistan. It tells a story of how long his people have been fighting violence.

Nacirema Essay
The Nacirema is a tribe is located between Canada and Mexico. They have many odd behaviors. In this writing I tell of one of these potions that the Nacirema use to get people into the looc crowd.

Rough Draft
Final Draft

Quiz 9-20-05

Library Tour

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Abstracts From Class Readings

These are Abstracts of readings assigned during the course.

 Carter essay

Jimmy Carter was the 39th. president of the United States. A feeling of uneasiness in the American minds brought forth Carters address in the Crisis of  Confidence: Energy and National Goals. This speech, better known as The Malaise speech, brought to attention the self-indulgence and over consumption of the American people. The people lost confidence in the U.S. government after the murders of JFK, Robert Kennedy, and Martin luther King Jr. The Vietnam war, watergate scandal, inflation, and American dependence on ail also contributed to the lack of confidence. He dared to tell American to wear a sweater in there own home instead of turn up the heat and use more gas.  

Miner essay
The Nacirema essay is an essay about a tribe in North America. This tribe is very into potions and rather odd behaviors.This tribe turns out to be the United States people. Miner shows us the United States through a whole new perspective. He looks at our culture as a tribe in the middle of nowhere without influence of any other culture. In his studies he came to a conclusion that Nacireman people are very different people when compared to other cultures.               

Newman essay

In this essay Newman tells about a man who loses his job. He plummets down the social and economic standings. His whole family suffers from the loss. It is not his fault though. The computer industry and other industries have suffered declines for a while and many people lost jobs because of this. While this has happened to so many people, downward mobility is still not considered a top priority for news and media. Downward mobility just isn't something that American people think fits into our culture.                

Derber essay

The Good Man Fills His Own Stomach is an essay "wilding". Brutal beatings and murders all for self greed. No love for the fellow man. Wilding is just what people did whether it was profit seeking or simply for fun. The essay not only talks about wilding in America but also  tells of wilding in Uganda. Though  Uganda is worse than the U.S. we are still a wilding nation. It all fits in to the American dream. "Look out for number one".              

O'Rourke essay

Slammin' and Jammin' is an essay about a group called the Guardian Angels. This group of men believe that drug use is a dominant factor in shaping the environment. This group of  27 men travel around South Bronx and rade drug houses to try and rid the community of these horrible drugs that are bringing down society. While many people dislike this group many of the people look up to them. They are after all the men who will make there community a better place to live.              

Grisham essay

John Grisham poses an idea that we act as a third world country and push away the homeless as if they do not exist. He learns to sympathize with them and eventually shows that there is only one way to help this growing problem in America. Stating that  America needs to come to reality and give everyone somewhere to live.               
 

Parker essay

This is a piece that takes you into the life of poverty. She takes straight to the heart showing us exactly what it is like for poorer people in America. The lack of food, electricity and money to support the children brings reality to the whoile situation.  She does not want remorse, but for people to simply realize this is a problem that can be fixed with the help of others.               

Terkles interview

This interview tells of a man named Mike LeFevre. Mike tells that the American dream is not what it used to be. Growing up as a laborer he knew what it was like to worked and that was very respectable. Today, on the otherhand, people are more interested in the money in hand than the pride in building it. His only dream is that his children can grow up and be respectable by todays standards.

               
Marin essay

Marin tells of how American seem to hate the homeless. But as he also explains, this will not make them go away. Many of todays hoomeless were actually once part of the working middle class. His solution is to give them a meal every once in a while and not to shun them away as Americans are so apt to do. Just because people don't know what can happen does not mean the fearshould drive them away.               

Alter essay

This piece is based on the division of the rich and the poor. It states the evidence through those who have computers vs. those who don't. He believes that we could be headed straight for another great depression. The rich seem to keep getting richer while the poor seem to get poorer. If America can reach a point to stop this change Alter believes that we could have a lot greater economy.

               
Recer essay

Recer examines the use of guns in this peace. He believes that younger level of Americans seem to use guns as more of a symbol for social status. He points them out as more of a fad just like the new pair of jeans you would find at the mall. This fad easily dying out the same way as a clothing fad. POinting out the cost of housing prisoners to day Recer asks if it is worth the cost as to just letting a murder slide.

Shaft essay

America is the richest nation in the world. Why do many of its people live on or below the poverty line? Shaft seems to think that the reality of the government being more concerned with other countries is not so far from the truth. Building countries across sea, costing 4 billion dollars a month, is more of a priority than the constant lowering of our American economic value. This brings us a awareness of what is truly happening with our hard earned dollar.

               
Santich essay

Santich bring to attention the level that the cynicism in American minds has reached. She believs part of the cause dates back to the distrust of our government  with the assassination of John F. Kennedy. She wonders if Americans really don't give a damn or if they just see the world for what it is. Everyone has caught on to the "life sucks then you die" attitude. What do you do to pull up the morale.               

Quindlen essay

Since the September 11 attacks, Americans have been on a downfall.  No longer is the beliefs and and ideas that were once accustomed suffice.  America is turning their heads to new ideas because they fear uncomfortable situations. Every mistake seems to have some sort of underlying effect on everyone.  This paranoia has shoved America into a nation of conspiracy theorists.  She points out that we need to keep an open mind in the future and try not to be so paranoid.                

Reich essay

This is a classic depiction of an American hero story. Though it may take place in a present time it still follows the basic plot of a hero story. A man must overcome adversity to help the overall good of the community. Showing courage and not only physical strength but also mental strength a classic American hero is shown to always overcome evils.