Summary and Response- A View from Mount Ritter

A View from Mount Ritter- Summary

        People usually alter their attitude after experiencing unforgettable disaster. The author, Joseph T. O’Connor, also experienced it which makes him change a lot when he was a senior high teenage. Before the event, he was a rebellion teenager. However, things changed after he decided to join a mountaineering program.

        In his two weeks long adventure, something unusual happened to him. This uncommon event happened on second-week Tuesday. The weather changed in every moment without any warning. The blue sky also changed to dark, and it became everything wrong. It rained a lot and the thunderstorm kept all day long. Before they found a shelter, the lightning struck closely to the author. Then, the unforgiving pouring downpour made the author experience his worst night building their tents in cold and darkness and stay awake all night. 

        Luckily, he was reborn after that event. He always ignored others’ suggestion before. But, he changes his attitude to the people now. Nevertheless, he starts to buckle down in his final year in high school. He finds his goal of life. The ending of the authors’ story just as Jonathan Harker’s experience in his journal: “No man knows ‘till he was suffered from the night how sweet and how dear to his heart and eye the morning can be

A View from Mount Ritter- Response

        It is the common story that people always experience the period of dark life and then they will work hard to make life better. Then, they will live with happy as a kind of fairy tale ending. It seems that people have to suffer huge disaster first and then change their attitude toward their life.

        For me, after entering the university, I have to admit that I actually change a lot. From a childish person to a mature one, I can feel myself undergo a different conversion. Besides, I love my family more. I deeply find that they are the most important people in my life. None of these will appear my mind before. However, I still expect to have the same experience as the author had. Maybe it would be the chance for most of us thinking more. Actually, it happened to me recently. I knew many people from famous university. I find some specialties from them. That is confident, hard, and kind. It really makes me relocate myself.

        In fact, I ask myself why I cannot learn these experiences from others’. If we can learn some lesson from others’, our parents’, famous people’s experience, we will save the time and have the sweet fruit quickly.

The Decline of Neatness

Summary:

In “The Decline of Neatness,” Norman Cousins claims that “sloppiness virus” has affected all areas of our society. The phenomena contains our style of dress, our casual speaking habits our apathetic attitude toward violence and brutality, and our ineffective human relationships. First, Cousins points out that wearing the frayed, torn and disheveled is the symbol of the times.

With disheveled, casual or cool look those who think it’s more fashionable, however, Cousins says their looking is as though it had been stamped out by cookie cutters. And the appearance of alienation is their triumphant goal. He follows reasons to discuss the sloppy speech we talk so often today. He says people now use chopped-up phrases instead of complete sentences to communicate, and the ability of English language is descending. Also the screenwriters resist turning in scripts, because the speech is so violent and foul that results in casual attitudes toward all violence and brutality. These could be easily seen in movies and TV that desensitizes us and becomes a mindless violence person.

Finally, he indicates that our human relationships are affected by such sloppiness that can evidently be seen in casual attitudes toward sex in films. We, people, choose to watch these and then lose our feelings and privacy. Cousins in the end concludes that he doesn’t ask us to come back to Victorian attitudes, though he doesn’t want these sloppiness still be there. He suggests people should pursue genuine creativity and know how to locate our best to work.

Reflection:

There are many “sloppiness virus” we can easily find in our society today. Due to the sexual exploitation that “deadens feelings and aunihilates privacy,” our speech, dress, attitudes become worse and sloppy. We, indeed, are easily affect by these phenomena, and how to control all of us not to lose our natural sprits is what we should to think about deeply.

The leadership of this society should make a good example to their notion and educate people what behaviors are right or wrong. To be a fine customs is not a easy job. Most of us are self-absorbed. We just want to go by our way, and don’t want to listen to others’ advices. That is why the sloppiness virus keep increasing rather than diminish. Just like the students or teenagers today, most of them want to dress fashionable, speak rudely or do something special to catch someone’s eye. For example, they would speak with four words, wear strange clothes or hairstyle, do something without manners and destroy the object and so on. Indeed, it work, but they don’t realize what people would think about them. In others’ mind, their performances are so absurd that they are living in their own world with proud having too great self-esteem. However, I believe, one day when they grow up or get order, they will regret to do so, but it’s too late to repent. So we should think twice before we do, or one slip, and you will regret forever.

Summary and response – Getting to Know about You and Me

Summary

The article Getting to Know about You and Me is a story about a Jewish girl. Once she had an opportunity to take apart in National Science Foundation Young Scholar program in the University of Wisconsin at Superior. She quickly made friends with other students from other school and had a good time. Students in their group had different backgrounds, and they represented eight religions. Everyone was curious about other’s backgrounds and their religions. They discussed with others through the knowledge that they had already known or their own opinions. Sometimes they did not deliberately offend the author, but she still got hurt from them. The worst of all, one of the professors did something ignorant to her and made her uncomfortable. She had an astounding experience. She thought respecting other culture was an important thing. People could learn more about other knowledge and understand them. As a result, people could avoid being threatened by others. Ignorance may bring about some problem like misunderstandings or prejudice. She decided to tell about her religion on the religious holiday. She wanted to share about her story with everyone and make them more understand the Jewish.

Response

After reading the article Getting to Know about You and Me, written by a sixteen-year-old Jewish girl, I learn many things and ask myself if I had the same experience or I had done the same thing to others. There are many kinds of people all over the world. We may have different cultures, religions, colors of skins or languages. Sometimes we would judge others because they are different from us. We may offend them because of our misunderstandings. It will be ok if others do not mind. However it may be a problem if others take it seriously. Although we usually ignore others, we can learn how to avoid being rude. We learn how to respect each other and learn more from them. Totally accepting other cultures is difficult, but we can appreciate them and shared our viewpoints with them.
There are various people all over the world, so that it makes our world more colorful. Everyone has its own story. We can participate in the activities of other culture to understand them. We learn their advantages to improve ourselves. The most important thing is that we should respect each other. As the saying goes, “Do not do to others what you do not want to be done to you.” If we respect others, then they will also respect us. It can make the world better.

Summary and Response of The Right to Choose Death

Summary:
In “The Right to Choose Death” this article, the author takes a little girl to home. This girl had developed an infection and it almost affected her life. After a great staff of doctors and a state-of-the-art facility helped to cure, this girl overcame her affliction and got well.

In fact, this girl is a dog and the author , her owner, is afraid of her death. He thought if his dog, called Megan, crossed that invisible line between living and dying and the author and his wife would helped her find relief. Even if she is a dog, they still did their best to help their dog to find it. The reason is that every animal all has rights to choose how the way they can live.

Therefore, in this case, a low, which patients can choose to end their suffering, is passed in seven years. Life is a precious gift. When we confront the death, we still need to peaceably accept it and let the death become more dignified.

On one hand, life is for the living, and on the other hand, death is also for the dying. We can use positive attitude in place of unfounded fears. The dog , Megan, also has the option to choose death if she feels so painful.

Response:
After reading this article, we can realize that no matter you are animals or human beings, you all have rights to live or even to choose to die. Because life belongs to ones existence and it also represents ones value, we had better to value every creature’s lives.

In this modern generation, more and more people think highly of having rights to live or die. According to those issues, there are some related laws are passed. Patients can choose to end their life when they indeed feel very painful. Their lives do not be decided by their relatives. It will become much fairer between patients and relatives because patients understand their situations. Perhaps to die is a best way for those who get serious ills.

My grandfather also had the same situation. He got lung cancer and was in the final period. Then he knew he was going to die so he asked his son, my uncle, sent him to home and gave up to keep curing. He chose to end his life in this way and he was content with this kind of way. I am happy that my grandfather could choose this way to die. Maybe that is the best way for him so I felt he was happiness at that time even though he passed away. He carried out his rights to end his life because the meaning for him is precious.

To sum up, people can choose what ways to live or die is happiness. Therefore, looking upon ones rights to choose live or die is essential if we value it very much. In my opinion, if I can choose what ways I can live, I will do my best to fight for my rights no matter how hard for me.

Summary and Response- Male fixations

Male fixations- Summary

        It seems to be the nature ability for men to fix everything wrong. Men usually take fixing for their born responsibility to avoid cleaning. However, Dave Barry takes himself for examples and do not agree this convention idea at all.

        Whenever the author has to face the fixing problems in the house, he will act professionally to check it out and always say that everything is fine. Even if the machine makes loudly noise, he still wants to has the face rather than admit there is something wrong. Actually, all he does are because of his lake ability of fixing knowledge. He always blames it on his disability for the tonsillitis. Because of the tonsillitis, he missed some class of machine. He thinks it is all because the tonsillitis to make him have no idea about machine.

        Moreover, he had ever had a roommate who knows the machine a lot. He therefore has the huge pressure about that. Besides, there is still a bad experience for him. A salesman imply him that man should know about how to re-pack bearing as a man. With the afraid of others’ discrimination, he had just to pretend to know how to do.The author just used to using his pretending skill to keep men’s dignity and shows us men’s responses to make everything in control.

Male fixations- Response

        After reading the article, I cannot deny that I expect men can fix the machine-related problems and solve the emergency problems. Although I want to feel sorry about them, I still cannot realize why they always look confident whenever I ask them to solve problems. After some experiences, I become believe myself than men.

        There is an example of my male friend. We had an experience to go traveling by car without GPS. I found there is something wrong with him. Actually, I can felt strongly that he got lost. Nevertheless, when I asked him, he just told me that he could found the correct location. Even then, he would not believe what direction I pointed to him. Finally, the fact proved that I have more sense of direction than he does. This is the first time I start to suspect the ability of men.

        The other bad experience happened when I traveled by myself with my elder brother. One day of our traveling, we missed the last buss. Before I started to worry what we should do next, my brother cried loudly and told me that he would never be the packager. Finally, I took this baby brother to the hotel.

        After these two experiences, I start not to believe men. I find women can do things well by us, because most of men I know act with proud and have no ability do things well. I believe women can fix things out. Indeed, they must do in this new generation.



Summary and Response- Appearances Are Destructive

Appearances Are Destructive- Summary:

        The author of this article, Mark Mathbane, points that dress code could both protect student from school violence and promote their knowledge on learning. He took his two sisters in American school for examples. Because of the better education in American than in South Africa, Mark enrolled his two sisters at American public school with great expectations. However, other students mocked his sisters, just because the clothes they wore. They not only cried for this, but also wanted to transform their school.

        After telling his sisters that there was nothing wrong with them, he visited other public schools and found that what his sisters encountered was unique. Because students in school cared not about their minds but about their appearances, it seems to be the common phenomena for now American students. Moreover, he found students were more familiar with names of brands rather than names of famous literature authors. They even measure parental love by how much their parents will spend on their clothing. Because of this kind of competition, some poor children may get involved with gangs or peddle drugs to raise the money. Girls also dress only sexy clothes up for more attractive than work harder in learning subjects. They have wrong ideas about appearances.

        Therefore, Mark points this misleading of society and shows us lots of career keep their own uniforms. School dress codes can provide the order in the school and even provide the better learning environment. Students will also benefit from it by focusing more on their learning subjects. American school should admit that dress codes could make more benefits of safe and effective schools than the freedom of expression.

Appearances Are Destructive- Response

       In Taiwan, most of schools, except from universities, keep their convention of wearing uniforms. It is an old rule that student should wear uniforms. However, things become different recently. Some schools lift the ban; more and more students complain or even protest the “strict” rules. Students seek the freedom of clothes that I do not agree with them.

        As if I am a student in the school with lots of rules in students’ appearance, I must opposite for the sake of opposing. Maybe schools can concern students’ feeling and give them a little space. Such as making students design and choose their uniforms or inviting the famous designer to design. Nevertheless, some schools even agree student to wear casual clothes to school.

        However, being an adult, I cannot agree these students nowadays. Because even giving the freedom of wearing clothes, they always have no idea about what is better one in the different occasions. In my student life, our school still had had the strict rules about how long our hair could be. If schools give them too much choices, they tend to become too much. In addition, parents need to make self-examinations. Many parents today spoil their children. They should take the responsibility of what their children become. I believe the old convention keep its reason and we should inheritance it rather than throwing it away.



Summary and Response of History101: Pass the Popcorn, Please

Summary:
The author, Elaine Minamide, writes this article “Pass the Popcorn, Please.” She takes some arguments to persuade her readers that students or children can learn history or culture from media because they are easily hooked by VCR or movies. However, older siblings debate some issues about this way.

A famous cram school, called Sesame Street, succeeds to use VCR to teach English for children. The way Sesame Street using is to sing and dance. However, most educators didn’t agree until they participate in their teaching programs. Obviously, this teaching way is greater than traditional teaching way. Therefore, more and more teachers are accommodating them. For example, in the San Diego Union-Tribune focused on local teachers who frequently supplement classroom instruction with contemporary films.

Maybe it is a good way for students to learn, but, however, there is also an argument which indicates students spend more time watching TV and movies than reading books. This issue needs to be explored from a broader view. In author’s opinion, she thinks that audio-visual learning is just one of teaching ways to enhance students’ learning motivations rather than substitute the main course.

To sum up, there are neither advantages nor disadvantages in a new teaching way, but if this way can promote children or students to learn, they are all good ways for teachers to apply in the courses. The author thinks audio-visual learning is just a better way for learning.


Response:
There are a lot of teaching ways which teachers can apply them in their courses. However, it must have a proper teaching ways for students in different ages. The audio-visual learning actually is appropriate for children. It has been a common teaching way that most cram school which teaches children from kindergarten to elementary school.

Why is it a proper teaching way for this range of children? In my opinion, the range of children can not concentrate on one thing for a long time. Take my teaching experience as an example, I have a student who is six years old. He can not concentrate on one subject constantly. Therefore, I need to change my teaching way to teach him. I always teach today’s course first, and then we will have a game on the second step. Thus, courses and games will exchange all the time in order to enhance his learning efficiency. Through my inspection, I find that it is a good way which can indeed enhance learning efficiency.

Therefore, it is based on how we apply those teaching ways into the courses. We can think what ways are appropriate for which part students, and enhance their learning wills. There are not the worst teaching ways or the best teaching ways. Only students can easily absorb those learning targets and those ways are all the best ways for students.

To sum up, we can adjust our teaching ways for our learners. If learners could learn what we teach, we has achieved the goal which is a good teaching way for students. So there are lots of teaching ways, they are based on how we use.