the american dream

The American Dream is what defines this country, the United States, as the land of opportunity. The American Dream is searching for a better life, sometimes not only for ourselves but also for our future generations. For example, working hard to succeed and offer our family and children what we were not able to accomplish at their age. The American Dreams never ends because, suppose a family is well established and recognized in our society, as human beings we always want more, we always want to reach the top, to be the best. This idea goes for every class being lower, working, middle, or upper class.
The American Dream, definitely, can still be achievable today. Some people might say it isn’t because the rich keep getting richer and the poor poorer, but, to my understanding, it is possible with hard work and determination rather than connections and inheritance. There are facts supporting this idea. School professor, business owners, immigrants, and other people who start from the lowest level and succeed are examples.

Readers Response

I agree with Garland’s point that high schools should be required to wear uniforms. One of the reasons is that it would avoid several problems. First high school students would be easily recognized inside and outside of campus. School officials would have an easier time distinguishing students who do belong to the school from those who are there just to hurt others or cause problems. Secondly, making a school policy requiring wearing school uniforms could save some parents’ money, especially those of low income. Schools seem to be fashion places of competition instead of a place of learning. Some students are constantly pressured by their peers to buy the newest and expensive shoes and clothes. Sometimes it becomes their main focus and getting distracted from their studies. Finally, some teenagers worry too much on what they are going to wear fro school. Some of them even get their matching clothes ready the night before. This causes distraction from their studies because some are just focused on outside looks.

“How They Got You to Do That”

After reading “How They Got You to Do That,” I recognized that I am sometimes influenced by a few of the persuasion techniques listed in the essay. The techniques that apply to me the most are reciprocity, social validation, and scarcity. I think that most of us are influenced by reciprocity techniques because as a society we are taught to pay back favors. For example, every time a friend gives me a ride to school I feel that I must do something I return. What I end up doing is inviting her for lunch or paying for her gas. Social validation comes mostly with school reading assignments. Sometimes when I am asked by an instructor to read an essay and I do not understand the task, I tend to believe what most people say and think about the subject. For that reason I believe I am persuaded by social validation, because someone else does the thinking for me. Every time I get the mail advertisements I feel that I must buy something because the stores seem to have very good specials. What I most persuade to buy is shoes and electronics. For these three reasons I fell that I am mostly persuade by reciprocity, social validation, and scarcity persuading techniques.

The Most Hateful Words

Most people think of failure as a negative experience but other think of it as an opportunity to grow as a person. First, when people face failure, it helps them to not make the same mistakes again. For example, when a similar situation comes, one knows how to act so things come out better. Secondly, most people face failures because they want to accomplish a task by their own means, but after they learn it does not work, sometime they learn to seek for help. For instance, seeking for help reduces the people’s pride to accomplish something on their own and forces them to look someone to give the m a hand. Finally, people become wiser and mature after a failure. To illustrate, when they reflect on the consequences of their actions, they learn a lesson. As a result, they become wise and mature experienced people. Therefore, it is good to not relate failure with something negative because it can also have positive effect on people.

Obesity

Obesity is a huge problem faced by the American society. After reading this essay interesting argument essay “” I learned there are at least three factor – lack of exercise, electronic entertainments, and fast food consumption- leading to obesity. Along with these factors, I also discovered some helpful solution to the problem. First, I learned that most people, of all ages, do not get enough exercise. For example, decades ago people used to walk around their neighborhoods, go to the park, bike or skate, but they do not do it any more. Instead, they stay home to watch TV, which brings us to the second cause of obesity. Also decades ago, kids did not have as much electronic entertainment as they do today. For instance, today’s kids have easy access to many TV channels, DVD players, Internet, and video games. Instead of going outside to play, they stay in their houses playing with their electronic toys which do not require any physical activity. That is the second reason why they get heavy. Finally and most importantly, obesity is cause by the increasing sizes of meals in fast food restaurants. To illustrate, these restaurants do not provide a healthy nutrition but salts, fats, and sugars. In addition, these restaurants, in one large serving, contain almost twice the amount of calories needed daily. The solution to the problem can be taking some time for a daily exercise, reducing the time of inactivity, and having a healthy diet, that means, reducing the intake of fast foods.

Rudeness

Watching Julia’s rude attitude makes it clear that she does not know how to relate with others. There are three real life events that demonstrate how her rude and impolite manners get in the way when talking with others. First, her daughter Anna suffers the consequences of her rudeness. For example, one day Anna asked her mother to let her go to her friend’s party but because she was not feeling in a good mood she refused to let her go. Secondly, Julia fails to control her bad temper at fast food restaurants. To illustrate, one Friday afternoon she went to a fast food restaurant and ordered a hamburger and large regular fries, but she end up getting a chicken sandwich and small regular fries. Julia got so mad to that she screamed to the casher, “This wasn’t what I had ordered. Thanks fro nothing,” and left with no order. Finally, Julia has mistreated cashiers at supermarkets. A Saturday night, while she was drunk, Julia went to the closest supermarket to buy beer. When she was ready to pay the cashier deny the purchase, as she was required by law, because she was too drunk. As a result, Julia got mad and got out of the store yelling obesities to the polite cashier. Watching these three kinds of Julia’s behavior leaves no doubt as to why she does not know how to relate with others.

Dropping Out of School

Dropping out of school affected her life seriously. Dropping out of high school might seem like a good idea, but my friend’s experience has taught me otherwise. It affected her in three negative ways: low wages, no permanent job, and early marriage. First of all, my friend thought it was a good idea to drop out of high school because, according to her idea, she was getting a large amount of money at her job. To illustrate, she worked as a fast food restaurant earning a minimum wage, seven dollars an hour. For a high school student that seem too much money, but she id not take into account that obtaining a high school diploma and a college degree would make her earn much more that that amount. Secondly, not after a few months my friend found out that working at a fast food restaurant was not a permanent job. She struggled to find a good paid job because she had no professional experience and no degree. Therefore, she found jobs at fast food restaurants and grocery, earning, again, minimum wage. Finally, dropping out of high school also caused her to get marry at the young age of nineteen. She had her first kid at twenty, and as a result it was more difficult to work and take care of the child at the same time. Low wages, no permanent job, and an early marriage were three main factors caused by dropping out of high school. Do not ever consider dropping out of high school, it is not a smart idea.

My Group Experience 3

Most of the people I meet think I am a quiet, introverted, and intelligent person, which is not always true. I think I am sometimes shy and other times outgoing, but above all things, I am a mature woman. I do not become irritated when some people tell me that I look a little Asian when in reality I am a full-blooded Mexican. But, from the students that were in my group, I think that Alma would think of me as an independent, focused, introverted, and open-minded person because she pay more attention to my conversation than the other students. On the other hand, Carlos would think of me as a friend who shares something in common with him like coming from the same high school, having a similar heritage, being a first generation student, and a Mexican-American person. Finally, I believe that Javier would think of me as being an extroverted person because I talked more than he did in the interview. I feel that we also have some few things in common like having math and physics our favorite subject and being open to new experiences.

While this assignment helped me become more familiar with some of my classmates, it also made me realized that in the real world most people do not have the chance to select the people who they want to work with. So, it is a good idea to become familiar with many different types of personalities and to be open to new experiences because it can help people get along with their colleagues.

My Group Experience 2

Alma was the only lady besides me. At first I thought she was an extroverted person, out-going, party person, not really focused on studying, and a friendly person because of her appearance, make-up, and the clothes she wears. When she started to introduce herself to the group, I found out that some of my ideas were actually true. Alma is a twenty-year-old lady who graduated from Rancho Verde High School in 2005. She has attended RCC for three years and has finished a cosmetology course. Alma now has a cosmetology certificated, continues studying, and works at a beauty salon.

Javier seemed to be the quietest person of the group. For some reason I thought that he had a passion for Biology or any other kind of science, but, as time passed by, I found out that his favorite subject was math and physics, just like me. He looks smart but shy. While he was introducing himself to the rest of the group, I discovered that this was his first year at RCC and that English is not his native language. I would consider him an introverted person, open to new experiences, and with a desire to learn; he constantly asks questions in class.

My Group Experience

Even though we did not meet many times, this group experience has support my idea that everyone is different in many ways. One would find these differences by actually meeting, talking, and engaging in a relationship. For this group project, I was assigned to work with Carlos, Alma, and Javier.

I believe that the first impression is significant. Before knowing anything about Carlos, the first thing that passed through my mind was that he looked like a Mexican-American student because of his physical appearance: dark hair, dark mustache, brown skin, and an English accent. I also noticed that he liked football because he was wearing a football jacket from Moreno Valley High School Football Team. While he was introducing himself to the group, I found out that we had graduated from the same high school. I also learned that this is his second year in RCC. Carlos is a first generation student who has plans to transfer to a four-year institution. I would rate him as an extroverted person; he looks serious but as we kept talking he became more confident.

“But What Do You Mean?” Women and Men in Conversation (2nd part)

Unlike women, men like discussions that involve fighting or when their ideas are being challenged. Because most of the time this is not a woman’s characteristic, they are seemed as weak and not able to attack back. What women need to learn is that they need to get tough sometimes. Tannen’s essay shows that when they learn how to get tough and how to argue, they are more accepted by their men colleagues, probably because that shows having something in common. In addition, when it comes to praising, men tend to lack the ability to recognize the good performance of someone. Women like to give recognition as well as to be recognized. When they do not receive any kind of praise for their performance, they believe they are being unappreciated. Furthermore, men and women also differ in the way they complain, when men hear complains they are most likely to try to fix the problem while women just tend to talk about it. Finally, the types of humor women and men like to use are different. Men like razzing and teasing. Women like self-mocking. Even though women feel more comfortable joking with their female friends, they feel out of place when joking with men. Women have learned that when they joke as men they are taken more seriously.

I believe that most of the differences between men and women are due to gender (the behaviors and attitudes that a society considers proper for its males and females; masculinity and femininity) because society and its environment has taught them to act this way. I also agree with most of the point Tanner makes. As I was reading, agreed when she stated that giving “thank-yous” and “apologies” is jus a woman’s speech style. Sometimes women expect the other person to reciprocate but if the person is a male, it is most likely that it would not happen. I believe it is true because I have been through a similar situation. For instance, when I text message or e-mail my friends I enjoy getting responses back. Most of the time female friends just write thank you, but male friends never write back. Finally, I believe that the seven aspects given in the essay place women in disadvantage over men, a term called glass ceiling (the most invisible barrier that keeps women from advancing to the top levels at work), because our society expects competitiveness and toughness and most of the time that is a man’s characteristic.

“But What Do You Mean?” Women and Men in Conversation

In the essay, “‘But What Do You Mean?’ Women and Men in Conversation,” author Deborah Tannen analyzes and describes the differences between men and women in aspects such as apologies, critics, thank-yous, fighting, praise, complaints, and jokes. Tannen starts by stating that men and women differ in the way they talk which can be due to their sex and gender. For instance, most of the time men like to talk sports or competitions while women like to talk about fashion and clothing.

Men and women differ in many ways. First, when it comes to apologies, women sometimes apologize too much that is not longer taken as an apology but as a way to start or end a conversation. Sometimes women say “I am sorry” just a speech style. For men, an apology is seemed as putting oneself down, a negative aspect when they supposed to be tough and strong. Next, the way in which men and women make critics is very different. Women tend to give a response in a nice, soft, and tentative manner while men respond without thinking that the person may get hurt. Also, women tend to say thank you for anything, even if is not required. Again, this is just an automatic response. Women also expect that males do this but that is not their behavior or characteristic.

White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack [cont...]

I disagree with some of the other example found in the essay because I believe that they apply differently in different places of the United States, particularly in California where there is a more diverse society.

In the last few paragraphs of the essay McIntosh summarizes the huge advantages of being white. The author states that white people are more protected than from violence, distress, and hostility than people of color. Another advantages of being white is that, most of the time, it is considered a dominant race. McIntosh mentions that in addition to race advantage, there is also sex, age, religion, and nationality advantage. But the greater advantages people have come from social class, economic class, race, religion, sex and ethnic identity.

White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack

In the essay, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” author Peggy McIntosh describes and explains some of the advantages of being “white.” McIntosh states that just a males pretend to ignore or deny the advantages they obtain from being males, white people, too, are not aware or tend to deny the advantages the y obtain from being light skinned.
McIntosh presents 50 advantages that white people have. Some of the strongest examples are the following: for a white person it is easier to rent or purchase a home in the area that he or she wants to live; white people are widely represented on television, newspapers, magazines, etc; white people tend to be heard even if they are is only one person representing their race; racism does not affect white people because they are not people of color; white people can easily buy magazines, toys, dolls, and posters portraying people of their own race; and finally, white people have less trouble finding blemish cover or bandages matching their skin color.

The second part of the sociology chapter describes Angela’s two sons. Angela’s two sons turn out very differently because each of them lived an opposite family experiences. The oldest, Nicholas, grew up very quick. Nicholas was “a street-wise man who lived too much too soon” (218). Since he was the son of a single mother, he had to take the role of a father. At a young age, he had many man’s obligations and learned to take care of his younger siblings. In addition, he lived in a dangerous neighborhood where drugs were easy to obtain. He also dropped out of high school. At the young age of 22, he was a father of two children. Nicholas was also in jail for stealing. On the other hand, Angela’s youngest son, Christopher, had a different life experience. By this time, his she had a college degree, earned $83,000 annually, and was married. Her attitudes and expectations towards her children’s education were higher because she now belonged to the middle-class rather than the working-class. She was a more mature woman and taught her kids, including Christopher, values and discipline. She spent time with him and helped him with his science projects (something that she did not do with Nicholas).
The story of Angela’s two sons shows that, sometimes, SES determines how a person might end up in life, for example, as a professional or with out a degree. The higher SES a person has the more and better opportunities the person would receive. Sometimes it opens the door to better jobs, higher salaries, maturity, and success.

This section of the sociology chapter describes stories about people who worked in factories and hospitals earning about $100,000 without a college degree, but after 30 years or so they lost their jobs. This is an example of how people can lose their jobs so quickly and struggle to find a similar one since they lack a college education. This also shows how factory and industry jobs, where most non-graduates work, are not permanent because they close down or relocate later. As this topic explained, a college degree is more important today than just the skills and experience built during years… When this happens in a family, it sets an example for children living in that home to not make the same mistakes but go to college, earn a degree, and become a professional. People should not take a second guess because they will regret it sooner or later.
As one can see, technology is advancing everyday and it will keep moving forward over the next years. These changes have positive and negative effects. Positive effects are that many jobs requiring technology will be completed in less time, and negative effects are that technology will replace the workers.

The Uses of Poverty: The Poor Pay All (2nd part)

Gans also provides possible solutions to the problem. Some of his solutions are to pay higher wages to those who perform the dirty work in our society, to give other roles to those people who benefit from the poor, and to equalize the difference between the rich and the poor. But with these alternatives Gans comes to the conclusion that many of these solutions could be dysfunctional to our society. For example, aiding the poor requires a high cost. If this is done, then there would be a social dysfunction because of the amount of money required. If the poor were to be affluent, then they could take over the roles of others. All of these alternatives would make the poor resistant to the cost of growth and social change. Therefore, poverty has to exist because it is functional to some parts of our society.

Some of the information presented in this essay is common sense but other is very informative. First of all, I think that the introductory paragraph is very interesting because it explains why there are more studies and researches about the poor people than the rich people. In the introductory paragraph, I did not understand why Gans stated that we need the poor. The first thing that came to my mind was to disagree with his idea because the poor, people in our society, suffer from this condition and suffering cannot be functional, I thought. But after reading the whole passage, even though I did not agree with most of it, I understood why poverty keeps a balance and why it functions in our society. On the other hand, the first and eleventh function of poverty really caught my attention. It is sad to now that most of the dirtiest work that no one wants to do is performed at a low wage by the poor people. I thought that the eleventh function of poverty was inhumane. I believe that it is not fair to take someone’s home way just because were they live is a good location for the establishing of new buildings and projects. Even though it is disappointing to acknowledge that poverty does have functional aspects to our society, it is important to recognize that this is not just happening in the United States but also in other countries of the world.

The Uses of Poverty: The Poor Pay All

This is a summary from a sociology assignment based on the functions of poverty.

In the essay, “The Uses of Poverty: The Poor Pay All,” sociologist Herbert J. Gans uses the functionalist perspective to explain the functions and dysfunctions of poverty. He provides explanations to thirteen functions of poverty as well as possible solutions to the problem.

According to Gans, poverty and the poor satisfy many positive functions in the American society. He begins his essay by explaining that the poor perform most of the dirty work at low wages. Dirty work in the fields, hospitals, and restaurants, for example, depend on the poor for its existence. Poverty creates many jobs in our society. Jobs like social services, whose main purpose are to provide service for the poor, would not exist without poverty. Poverty provides income (money received, usually from a job, business or assets) for poorly trained professionals like doctors, teachers, and lawyers. Since the poor are more likely to be caught when committing a crime or deviant act, it serves a measure to identify these acts and as a way to enforce the law by punishing the transgressors. Poverty also serves as a measure of superiority. It makes the distinction between the elite social class (a large group of people who rank close to one anther in wealth, prestige, and power) and the working-class. Poverty is functional to the political system. Poor people are less likely to participate in politics than the middle-class. This enables the Republican system to stay in power. The poor, without power (the ability to carry out your will, even over the resistance of others) sometimes pay the cost of social growth. When projects such as establishing markets, universities, hospitals, and expressways need to be built, locations where the poor live tend to be the targets. As a consequence, the poor are pushed off of their property without recompense. These are only some of the functions Gans describes in his essay.

Outlaw Motorcyclists (2nd part)

Watson also describes their toughness, smartness, excitement, and fate. Trouble is a major theme in this subculture. This involves demonstrating distinctiveness and masculinity as well as engaging in illegal behavior. The may also stole bike part of fire-arms. All of these activities show toughness. Toughness is another important characteristic because it proves their masculinity. This is the reason why they tend to get in trouble without showing signs of weakness. Smartness is not emphasized in the bikers’ subculture. Watson states that most bikers think of themselves as being dump and ignorant. Most of them do not have a permanent job. Their various forms of looking for excitement are hanging out at chopper stores, clubhouses, bars, and riding their motorcycles. Most bikers like to live in the moment and do not think of their future. Therefore, if a biker becomes economically successful, then he is not longer a group member.
In addition, Watson describes how bikers threat women. These women are like objects to them. Generally, these women come from working-class or low-class families and display premature aging due to their lifestyle. They are usually single mother looking for excitement and opportunities with the motorcyclists. Even though bikers treat these women poorly, bikers depend on them for money. Group members do not fight over women; most of the time they exchange their women as tools.

Outlaw Motorcyclists

These following paragraphs make a summary I wrote for myself after reading an article from my sociology class called “Outlaw Motorcyclists.”

In the essay, “Outlaw Motorcyclists,” J. Mark Watson, a university professor, studied four groups of outlaw motorcyclists. To collect enough valuable information for his report, he did three years of participant observation in the subculture of outlaw bikers. Watson’s purpose on doing this research was to gain more information and understand the value system and characteristics of these adult outlaw bikers.
Watson studied and interviewed four groups. The Brothers and The Good Old Boys were two small local groups from the middle Tennessee. The Bar Hoppers were members of a regional group from North Carolina. Finally, the Convicts were the largest regional and national group of outlaw motorcyclists observed and studied.
While collecting his information, Watson found out that most of these bikers used certain objects symbolizing their lifestyle. Some of these symbols are tattooing, beard, dirty jeans, earrings, cut off jackets, knives, guns, chains, and their Harley-Davidson V-twin Motorcycle. Another of the bikers’ characteristics is that among them they are all considered brothers.