Male Fixations

Summary
Nowadays, there is still a kind of gender stereotype that men should have abilities to know how to fix the things in our daily life. The author mentioned that it is man’s typical trait to fix the things, however, they didn’t have to clean the bathroom because they need to keep energy in case a machine breaks out suddenly.
Nevertheless, when women asked them to fix things, they always pretend as if they know everything well. Take an example from this article, one day the wife told him that the commode groans loudly, there may be something wrong with it. The man walked aside it and examined as carefully as he was an expert. After this, he would say “There is nothing wrong with the commode” to avoid the responsibility of fixing it.
Besides, the author accused the reason that made he couldn’t handle these problems well was caused from tonsillitis when he was in the ninth grades. Absenting school often made him have little chances to discuss the machines such as carburetors, gromments, “dado joints” and so on with his classmates.
The author concluded that because of the fear, he usually disguised and denied there‘s ever anything wrong with anything.
In the end, the author considers “guys have a natural tendency to act as though they’re in control of the situation even when they’re not.” Even the federal leadership is a basic group of that guys we mentioned.
Response
Even living in modern life nowadays, people still have a gender stereotype. In their traditional thoughts, they consider men should know everything and have abilities to fix household electrical appliances while women should have responsibilities to clean the house such as washing dishes, laundering clothes and so on. But in my opinion, I totally not agree with these principles. I think women can also fix electrical, similarly, even men can do housework. There is actually no difference between genders; the relationships between men and women are equal.
In traditional thought, some may think it is shamed for men who couldn’t fix things. But in my opinion, I don’t care about this. I think a man shouldn’t pretend as he knew everything and could deal it well. If he couldn’t handle things, just spend some money hiring an expert to help him solve the problems. Then referred to aspect of housework, most important of all, men should share housework together and not think it is whole matters of women.
In conclusion, we should get rid of gender stereotype. We should complete one thing together and not divide it into a man’s duty or a woman’s. If we change our thought, everything will seem more fair and equal.

Appearances Are Destructive

Summary
The article “Appearances Are Destructive” which was written by Mark Mathbane, who urged that dress codes can not only protect students from school violence but also promote students’ learning. Take Mark’s two sisters for example, Mark enrolled his sisters at the public school in America because the better educational environment than South Africa’s. However, students seem to pay more attention on their bodies than minds in many areas. So the dress styles of Mark’s sisters became mocks at school. This reason contributed to their desire to transfer to another school. The strong competition among students is often the expensive objects than their academic achievements. Teachers feel failures to teach because of those who care about their appearances disrupted the students who are willing to learn in such a disordered class. We can take parents as the results of this situations, they over pampered their children in luxuries. Parents who don’t have so much money to satisfy their children may be considered as uncaring and cruel.
When students are asked why they pay much attention on their daily dress, they always answered “it’s the cool thing to do,” and it not only gives them high status but also earns them more respect. Mark saw the argument by civil libertarians against dress codes as misleading, for dress codes were everywhere in our daily lives without harming freedoms, which demonstrated by flight attendants, employees of fast-food chains, military personnel and so on.
School dress codes can enhance a proper learning environment for students. It can also make students feel more neat, disciplined in learning because they don’t need to care about their dressing styles.
Response
No matter dress codes exist or not, it is students’ responsibilities to focus on schoolwork than appearances. Nowadays, students pay too much attention on their outlooks. When passing through the classroom, you can see almost each student all has a mirror in their hands. They paint their fingernails, comb their hair, shine their huge shoes, or even compare with the brands of jackets, caps, and jewelry. Although appearance is important, it is not suitable in the age of students. Teachers should act a role to instruct students how important a wisdom is, and one’s values lies not on looks but minds. As we know, a handsome boy often attracts a lot of girls. Similarly, even girls, who are beautiful, are more popular. But have you ever thought that if one day they lost their beauty, shall they still be attractive as before?
In my opinion, I agree with schools to have dress codes. Some may think dress codes infringe on the freedom of expression, but it has no influences on those who work as flight attendants, bus drivers, sports teams and so on. Dress code may restrict the way people wear, but on the other way, if people all wear the same, isn’t it represent they are the team, community, and organization. In conclusion, dress codes have their pros and cons, sometimes what you dress may not represent whole your personality.

Ordinary People Produce Extraordinary Results

Summary
This article “Ordinary People Produce Extraordinary Results” which was written by Paul Rogat Loeb, is about Rosa Park, a woman who refuses to get up and give her seat in white section to white people. This behavior earned Rosa a name of “mother of the civil rights movement.” A few years ago, the author had a chance to go on CNN, and Rosa would be interviewed in the same show. We knew Rosa had spent a lot of time on many different activities in order to pursue the human right for a long time. However, everyone was still shocked by the courageous action that Rosa refused to give up the seat to a white person on the bus. Brief to say, Rosa was not a single-handedly person fighting for civil rights efforts. She was one of those just representations of movement for change. It reminds us that her ordinary motivation of getting involved was just as courageous and critical as the fabled moment when she refused to give the seat.
Although people shaped Rosa as a model of our society, the rewrite of her story creates an impossible standard to meet our real life. The media represent Rosa Parks as a large-than-life figure and create dramatic standard; nevertheless, by knowing Rosa’s story should inspire our courage and conscience. The actual story is Parks involved a lot of meeting and kept on the deeply uncertain projection.
Rosa’s personal story conveys a moral that is lost in her public myth. So in our society, despite with all uncertainties and doubts when we act, we still have a chance to shape the history.
Response
After reading this article, I find that media often mislead people to shrine a heroic as a larger-than-life figure. It established an image as if we cannot achieve the same level as them. In fact, what makes them success is they have a courage and confidence to work hard and pursue their goals.
For this reason, we must know what we do can make our life better and no matter who devote to have contributions to our society would have a qualification to call hero.
Everyone can do such a worthy thing together to have a better life. For example, you can help others not only for others but for yourself. Take 921 earthquake for example, many people come all over the world as volunteer to help Taiwan rebuild the hometowns. They gathered together and worked hard in order to achieve the same goal. No matter what human races, their major aim is to rescue the people who suffered from a natural disaster. This is totally different from the article that the media consider that a hero as a dramatic standard.
In conclusion, all of us are a gear of our society, in order to make life better, we should know how to shift public sentiment, challenge entrenched institutional power and find the strength to persevere despite all odds. So, if we want to make a new revolution, we should have more courageous than those ordinary people.

A View from Mount Ritter

Summary
The article “ A View from Mount Ritter” which was written by Joseph T. O’ Connor when he was just an eighteen-year-old senior high student. This article described how a mountain climbing event changed the way of the life Jo` 1qzseph thought.
In their first week of journey, the weather was nice and there had no cloud in the sky. However, in their second week, the weather changed fast without any prediction. The dark cloud black the bright and blue sky with a bolt of lightning and thunder cracked. The unforgiving downpour lasted long time and they began to seek a place to be their shelter. After having constructed the tents, they found something wrong that they set their shelter on a small island which was around the streams. As a result, they experienced the rain poured down continuous and a small stream made its way through the tent.
During these adventure experiences, the author found that the power of nature was invigorating, fulfilling, and stimulating. This was an important turn for him to change the way of life he thought.
Robert Louis Stevenson said that, “Youth is wholly experimental.” There may be mistakes but also successes in its mean. Joseph chose to ignore the suggestions that parents, teachers gave. He failed to study and addicted in playing soccer. He thought it is unnecessary to do practice and to get good grades. In the first, he didn’t agree with what quoted from Oscar Wilde, “To get back one’s youth one has merely to repeat one’s follies.” But now, he totally agreed with it after he realized the results of his own follies. Joseph changed a lot after experiencing the camping, he become a hard work person and be more responsible for himself.
Response
After reading the article, we can easily find the author used many marvelous words and sentences to describe his journey. The vivid description makes me feel as I was living in the scene that he described. In the article, the author experienced an unforgettable adventure and really learned a big lesson from this chance. The change of the way author thought really affects the entire of his own life. He really turned a new leaf for himself and made some changes in his future. I learned from the story that it is never too late for us to make a change.
Now, I will take my personal experience for example, when I was just a primary school student. I once took a vacation to Yu Shan National Park with my family. This trip really made a big impression on me. I still remember the beautiful scenery in that place, the orange-red sun suddenly appeared from the hill and the spectacular view of sea clouds.
I really believe that nature can cultivate people’s minds. After experiencing the marvelous moment, I told to myself that I should keep an optimistic attitude towards life in the future. I must live as that orange-red sun and with powerful energy all day long. In conclusions, beautiful scenery can relax one’s mind and sometimes it will be an important key to change one’s thoughts from pessimistic to optimistic.

Ordinary People Produce Extraordinary Results

Ordinary People Produce Extraordinary Results

Summary:

By refusing to proffer her seat to a white man she has got a name to herself, Rosa Parks, an African American. She used to be an ordinary person but she produced extraordinary results and rewrote both her and American history that indicates us every featureless people may succeed with no doubt. And we have a chance to write world in a new form.

Her achievement is not an accident. She did it by attending many opposing racial segregation and meeting old civil right activists to success. However, media presents her as a heroine, someone is so noble not like us, common people, that she can achieve the great thing suddenly. Author points out that the media misunderstands the figure of hero. People all take in a wrong sense on Rosa Parks, they thought she was born to be a heroine. Instead, the author wants us to clearly see what efforts she did before. She never gave up every action to show her mind on opposing racial segregation. Further, he explains that the success takes place on someone who is prepared ready. Also if we can tie-up and combined efforts together, the next new history will be written by we, and the social change will come soon. Because everyone is equally brought to this world, and all of us have a probably chance to change this world.

Reflection:

Rosa Parks encourage me a lot that I believe we, common people, also have an amazing power to do what we want. Probably you when you see a certain celebrity on the report you will take your eye on his or her achievement at first. And sometimes you may think it takes a quirk of fate to turn a man into a hero. But the efforts what they had paid behind them are so hard that we can’t imagine it. The media always like to portrait the bright side of the issue, and exaggerate or even stretch the words that easily to misunderstand the reader. The fact is only with the more effort and striving toward the goal, and the most important of all is not to give up that you may be a hero one day. After all, holding a noble title is not an easy job. There is no such thing as a free lunch, and you must work for what you want. Such as Napoleon and Albert Einstein that who had not faced continuous fail? But they did, they are not defeated and success in the end. No pain no gain. That’s what we learn from them. Base on these famous examples, I can much more certainly say “ordinary people produce extraordinary results.”

Appearances Are Destructive

Appearances Are Destructive

Summary:

In the new semester of public schools, the school violence is always debated again and again, and metal detectors and security guards can help to reduce these problems. But author, Mark Mathabane finds there is quite a another big issue to discuss in campus, after his two sisters were sent from South Africa to American public school, with more modern and advanced instruction. It’s dress codes used to protect students and promote learning. However, Mark’s sisters intend to transfer to different school, because they are frequently taunted by their classmates then and this situation never happen in their former school in South Africa. In South Africa students have to wear uniforms instead of putting jewelry or using brand objects. He finds it’s not only happen in this school, but also in other schools. Many students take more attention on the brand on their body rather than the quality or knowledge they own. Also the teachers are frustrated how to teach students the different meanings on study and appearance. Today students would think it’s the way to represent their status and to earn respect from others. Their parents, as meanwhile, base on the parental love would give them money for buying expensive objects to compete with their classmates, and if their parents don’t do so, they will be considered uncaring and cruel. Then the worse things like doing illegal trades to make money for consuming would happen on these children.

After these cases, Mark points out dress codes wouldn’t reduce our freedom of expression supported by civil libertarians, and jobs could show the evidence, such as bus driver, sport teams and so on. Or the students under the dress codes perform better due to there is a proper learning environment. In the end, he suggests it’s time for Americans to figure out the dress codes doesn’t that really infringe on freedom of expression and is better to protect students and promote learning.

Reflection:

Today, the rule of dress codes is not as harsh as before. In Taiwan, the students should wear the uniform in school for a long time. But in recent years, some schools relax the limit of the dress codes or even broke this rule because of the voice from civil libertaians. The teachers can easily find that students are not as obedient as before, and they can’t control them very well. Students only focus on whose appearance is the best and everyone would want to be more attractive. By wearing expensive clothes to earn other’s respects, or putting shinning earring and jewelry, combing their hair and using anything as possible as it were famous brands. The more ridiculous thing is that they can own such objects are all because of the parental love. They get these all from their father or mother not by themselves. Why wouldn’t they go to find a job to earn money to buy what they want, and instead of crying for mother for money without any pay. Distinctly, the value in our society is getting worse. We shouldn’t judge a person by his or her appearance, like the classmates of the author’s sisters. What is the more important thing we suppose to care about is the knowledge or the connotation inside the body. I surely believe that that can represent our status and quality. The manner what you talk and stand also speaks out who you are. So why not starting from your sprit rather than buying brand if you want to promote your individual status. Most of all, the insider beauty is far more important than outside.

Male Fixations

Male Fixations

Summary:

Most of guys think it’s their responsibility to fix things well instead of cleaning the bathroom. Or a guy can just go into a bathroom rather than clean it, because he is afraid of facing a problem of Mechanical Emergency. The author gives a example for that. A guy would ultimately say there is nothing wrong with the commode after he pretends he knows how to fix it, and even the commode keeps making so loud groaning noise that seems to have a baby commode soon. Author blames his non-ability for tonsillitis which happened in his ninth grade that he missed the lesson of mechanicalness. His college roommate, Rob, just like some guys can fix things well, comparing with him, author would be puzzled with toolbox. And another experience of author is he lied to the salesman he can repack a bearing even he totally knew nothing about that. He did so because the salesman said “all guys come out of the womb with this instinctive ability to repack a bearing” and he didn’t want to be laughed.

He always answers to his wife that there is ever anything wrong with anything. He uses positive reasons to respond the troubles such as the engine with the grinding sound and a big hole and the abnormal hall light switch due to electrocuted houseguests with sparks from their body in the hall. Lastly he concludes that it is guy’s natural tendency to perform they can control the situation even they actually can’t. He instances that it’s just in a second before the Titanic slipped into the sea, there are still some guys explaining to his mate that everything is perfectly normal. Or the federal leadership tells citizens it’s no problem with budgets.

Reflection:

I don’t think the guys must have a great ability to fix things whether the girls must should do all the housework. It is not shame to admit that what things you can’t do. Refusing to admit the fact is only to cause a larger problem. Also, just to ask someone for a hand is that hard? No, for sure. Some guys don’t do this simple acts is just because of their sense of self-respect and face. They think it’s a kind of ways to show their manhood. But it doesn’t seem effective if you did it. Because the problems are still not solved, and it may become worse day by day. However, if you don’t have a mechanical ability and you also want to fix things by yourself, then you can learn such skills rather than cheating others like Beth, or blaming it on you miss the lesson in school. As our leaderships of government, too much of them like to give notion a bad check. They always think the situation they could control it well at beginning. But in the end, not every incident goes as smooth as they thought at first. And sometimes they even had known the result before, yet they still as Beth to deny the fact and pretend everything is in control. So I think it all due to a one reason that the face and self-respect or pride are taking too much in guys. In some cases, to look for talents is as well as a good and quick way to solve the problems.