By 11:59 p.m. on August 1, you will need to post a response to each of the following questions:
- What is the author’s exigency for writing this book? In other words, what is his/her motivation for creating this text?
- What is the main argument he/she is building?
- What should you as a reader take away from this book?
Your response should be at least 300 words
long, and should not closely resemble anyone else’s response already
posted. (That’s an incentive for being
one of the first to post!)
Please be sure to sign your name to your post if you do not have a Google account, and double check your July 15 post to make sure it is not anonymous. No name = no grade.
Please be sure to sign your name to your post if you do not have a Google account, and double check your July 15 post to make sure it is not anonymous. No name = no grade.
51 comments:
The purpose of Jon Ronson writing So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed is to prove that shame can affect people gravely. Throughout his book Ronson includes stories of people who have been humiliated and the outcome of their experience. Many of these people who Ronson included have been affected psychologically because they are completely terrified of acting as they were before they being bashed publicly. For example, Lindsey Stone who was threatened and torn apart for a “humorous” picture of herself in Arlington. Lindsey was completely demonized as a human being because she received hate all over social media excluding her from the real world. She had received so much hate that she “became an insomniac, and barely left home for a year”(210). Lindsey Stone and the many people Ronson decided to include in his book further prove that shame can destroy a person to the point where they become sleepless and permanently damaged for life. The main argument that Jon Ronson is making is that being publicly shamed can happen to anyone. He included many different people in his book to show the diversity of shame all around social media. Ronson proves this by including his very own personal shaming experience in the first chapter of his book. Ronson was humiliated on twitter by a spambot that would post odd tweets on twitter for about a month or two. Ronson says he felt, “powerless and sullied” because his “identity had been redefined all wrong by strangers”(3). Jon Ronson included his own story to demonstrate that even public figures like him can be mortified in such a basic social platform like Twitter.
My take away as a reader is that I should always be careful on what I post on social media because it can affect me greatly. I also learned that people now a days act as if they have no flaws, so before I judge someone I will consider the fact that I am not perfect either. This book has opened a new perspective to me, because it made me reconsider the way I treat people and what I say to them. From this book I grew as a human being and it also made me set new goals in life that I would like to achieve.
Jon Krakauer’s purpose in writing “Missoula” was to mainly educate everyone about the context and understanding of rape under the justice system. He wants to ensure that by the more people being educated on this topic, the more justice and awareness will build up. Krakauer uses the voices of real sexual assault victims to deliver a better perspective of these rape allegations. Women are not the only ones in risk, this book was created for everyone and Krakauer took the stand to write this compelling and powerful book about a difficult topic that most people don’t take seriously and just tend to put it aside. He uses reports and social history which brings it all together to explain how the police and the university systems are different from each other and how rape is handled which can sometimes be seen as unfair and absurd. I would say that Jon Krakauer’s exigency is a call to action. “Women do not get raped because they weren’t careful enough. Women get raped because someone raped them.”(Krakauer, pg. 1) Unfortunately there are cases were the police, which are supposed to put the victim first, are thinking that the victim is lying and just regrets having “sex”. Its traumatizing enough to be a part of one of the most terrible crimes and the fact that most offenders still get away with it is nerve-racking. This is why it’s crucial to Krakauer to get the word out on how the justice system reacts to these crimes and give the perspective that most times is just blurred out. The typical mindsets of those who are not fully educated on this topic believe that there are only two types of rape,” (1) A stranger jumps out from the bushes; (2) There is no rape unless the woman puts up a fight, to the death if necessary.” (Krakauer, 334) Therefore Jon Krakauer was motivated on opening the eyes of those who are not aware of these unfortunate circumstances.
David Grann purpose in Killers of the Flower Moon is to expose the Reign of Terror to highlight the effects of a corrupt judicial system to brush off the Osage murders from history to result in the birth of the FBI. Also Grann’s motivation is fueled by the lingering questions left from the murders of the Osage. For instance, in the bureau’s investigation remains the question of who abducted oilman McBribe in Washington D.C., or who thrown W.W Vaughan off the train. Grann’s main argument is that William King Hale relied on others to do his bloodletting and how majority of loose ends are tied up till this day due to the lack of documentations and witnesses. My take away as a reader is to read through the lines and see the overall picture before time runs out. For instance as more and more guardians gain headrights to Osage and the death rate is significantly higher than other races is evidence of corruption all over. My personal opinion to avoid more reigns of terrors is to create equality to all genders and races yet, if the Osage nation had full access to there head rights money and respected traditions and values. The reign of terror would most likely never occur due to no reward for murdering/inheariting an Osage.
Andrew Mata ^
In the Devils Highway, Luís Alberto Urrea wrote the text in order to convey the message that people should be willing to accept others and not focus on a label such as “illegal”. By focusing on such it impedes people from being able to approach others and starts to create prejudice towards those whom people think are “illegal”. Urrea wants people to understand other people’s pain and not just ignore their past or their motives for taking such actions like crossing the border. Urrea desires for people to be able to surpass the barrier that people have when it comes to those who are “illegal” because when talking about “illegal” people, some are not willing to acknowledge others and ignore their problems and struggles. Saying that someone is illegal starts to creat a strained relation with others because they are not willing to accept who they are as a person and are not willing to sympathize with others. “Illegal” is a word which connotes a negative view, something that is heinous and unacceptable,on others simply because it emphasizes that some people are not willing to accept other people and that people who are “illegal” are wrong for what they are doing. Even when that action could be crossing a border and dealing with extreme heat and lack of resources in order to have a better life for the sake of family. At the end of the book Urrea reflects ten years after upon the experience in which he wrote about and includes his own personal reasons for why he decided to write the book. In the text he says that the family of Reymundo, part of Yuma 14, got to the know how he and Reymundo Jr. died because of the book and the family was relieved to know because previously they did not know how they died. Demonstrating that Urrea wants people to know of the struggles and experiences that people face in the desert, there is more than just being “illegal”. In order to achieve the American Dream that is believed by so many people people have to cross the desert which ends in the demise of many people. At the end of his text Urrea also includes a story about a man who crossed the border and had to struggle but he made it to America and was able to have a successful life. By including this, Urrea wants for readers to comprehend that if given a chance to those who are so called “illegal”, they can have a successful life and most importantly live, instead of having decaying bodies in a desert trying to achieve something that seems impossible. As a reader my take away is the effect in which it has on my beliefs for modern migratory laws. How people are want “illegal” people to go back from where they can from without thinking or considering their past troubles and struggles to achieve what they currently have. It makes me realize of the inhumane characteristics that people have because some are undocumented and instead of giving them a chance people want the undocumented to leave. It also assures to me that people will keep on trying to cross the desert no matter knowing the consequences because people are trying to fight and are resilient to try and achieve the American Dream in order for the better of their family. No matter what laws or policies are put in place to try and save those who cross the desert as long as they hope to live a better live, people will keep on trying to cross the border.
I believe Jon Krakauer's reason on writing Missoula is basically to inform the reader about rape not just in the college town of Missoula but rape in general. The way Krakauer depicts the desperateness of the girls when no one helps them when they are raped. For example, like Allison had to get a actual recorded voice confession. This is good well of course this is good for faulty allegations, however to imagine how horrific the event was for Allison and how lost and hopeless she felt when the had to check her body for actual evidence of being raped because her word was not worthy enough. It is sad because Allison felt she was being reraped because how they were checking her. And this is exactly why Krakauer wrote Missoula to inform people on the defects on the justice system has on helping the poor people who are raped, and on giving those people closure throughout justice. Krakauer, sort of calls to action the reader on how we should help out the poor people who sadly get raped. Also on how we should better educate people who think raping is ok to do. Which is honestly pretty appalling on how we have to educate people on what consent is. What I take away from Missoula is some people are just really messed up to even rape, but what is worse is how is how when someone is raped they want to blame alcohol, clothes, drugs, and not saying verbally “no”. What I think the reader should take away from reading Missoula is, to inform on how faulty the justice system is on rape victims, so the reader tries to change that. Krakauer educates the reader through first person as the girls, but also through third person pov so the reader sees the struggle they go through just to get justice. Andrew Franco
The overall message of Jill Leovy’s Ghettoside is to highlight the degradation of African Americans in the justice system and the failure of providing them with answers in the high raging number of mass homicides in the South Los Angeles community. As the number of black on black murder cases increases intensively, the community has grown to become accustomed to the loss of Black lives and that “the injury or death of a Negro is not considered by the whites to be a serious matter” (Leovy 7). People have belittled and degraded the lives of African Americans to be seen as worthless, not worth the time and effort whether it be as simple as a stab or complex as a headshot. Each still being a grave case requiring attention. The loss of a life has become too common and frequent that even the media and justice system fails to provide the case with the attention and effort needed. It’s a tragedy that continues due to the harsh number of gang members and participants that result to violence as a method of solving situations. Since there is an extensive number of cases there is not enough coverage available, so it simply goes unnoticed. Unfortunately, it causes people in the community to live in fear of being killed. Leovy writes in order to address this matter and draw attention to it and persuade her audience to take action. By doing so helping the cause and slowly bettering the Black community and diminishing the number of murder cases. Although focusing primarily on one case it only a representation of the many other murder cases that go unsolved.
I as a reader have taken away from this book the unspeakable truth between the relationship of race and the justice system that is present in society. It is a serious matter that is completely overlooked, the issue of police brutality has risen however it goes in deeper into the system where this book draws attention to; the lack of funding towards departments in poor communities and lack of motivation to solve cases due to the race of the victims. The justice system prioritizes one race over the other.
In “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”, Rebecca Skloot has decided to make it her mission and righteously tell the story of the beautiful African American woman that allowed many medical discoveries to occur due to her cells. When attempting to contact Henrietta’s family, it became apparent that it would be difficult to talk about Henrietta since for many decades people only contacted the Lacks in interest to speak more about the HeLa cells, which they knew almost nothing about. After realizing the challenge that would be to obtain information about the family and Henrietta, Skloot never gave up knowing that the birth of the HeLa cells might have cured many, but left the Lacks family in a miserable state both emotionally and economically. Without a desire to give up, Skloot was motivated by the events that the Lacks children had to endure such as sexual abuse and physical violence after their mother had passed away. Skloot wanted to make sure that the world knew that although science is capable of reaching new and innovative discoveries that can benefit many, there should be several limits set to the ways in which such discoveries are made. Due to the larger freedom that doctors and scientists had in the early 1900’s and maybe even before that, many ambitiously felt entitled into doing whatever was required to reach new discoveries even if it was immoral. In order to reach her argument and her goal of telling Henrietta’s story beyond the HeLa cells, Skloot writes as honestly and directly as possible such as when she is interviewing those who knew or were close to Henrietta. Rather than embellishing what each character says, Skloot includes the exact answer and the way it is spoken. Due to my interests in the medical field, reading about Henrietta through Skloot’s writing has made me realize the many ways in which doctors and scientists that were meant to help those who needed treatment would decide to dehumanize people due to their race and color of their skin simply to perform experiments and other exams to ambitiously find a cure and reach some sort of medical recognition. Not only does this apply to in the medical field, but Skloot emphasizes an importance in making sure that someone isn’t taken advantage of due to their own disadvantages such as education, income, and other factors.
Rebecca Skloot wrote "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" to bring to light an injustice towards a family that was almost perpetually kept in the dark. Henrietta Lacks was harvested almost without consent to try and fulfill a scientist's pipe dream about culturing cells. Then, her own cells were used to make a profit. Skloot wanted to make sure that the public knew more about this injustice because all that's said in most classrooms is that Heniretta's cells are valuable, and nothing more. Past the simple reason that Henerietta's family was left in the dark, Skloot builds up an argument about ethics through recalling the history that the scientists themselves went through with the cells. Through the flashbacks of history, the thought about being ethical comes to the forefront of the reader's mind. During the time that the scientists didn't have such a rigid set of morals to go off of, and Skloot wanted to instill morals into the reader's mind as well. This way, readers can begin to apply morals and ethics to other problems that exist in the world currently in terms of science. It is easy to not hold those who are changing the world accountable, but it is important to remember that someone will always end suffering if someone's power is not checked. I think that as a reader, I was able to take away that even though science is regarded very highly in power, it is important to keep a set of ethics on hand to determined if what one is doing is right or wrong. It is important to consider who will be affected by findings and if their life will change positively or negatively
Trevor Noah wrote "Born a Crime" to of show the world what South African life is like and how the Apartheid shaped him and other South Africans. Trevor Noah grew up in South Africa, and lived the first six years of his life under Apartheid. Interracial relationships were prohibited, so being the product of a Black mother and a White father made his existence illegal. Despite, growing up in poverty, Noah does not focus on as much on the economic problems, but instead the way he was treated as a mixed person. Being half White allowed him to get better treatment compared to fully Black people, but he was still not given access to the privileges of White people and bullied for appearing as an outsider to his community. Simply the color of Noah’s skin subjected him to degradation, admiration, and threat to his existence at the same time. Even though Apartheid ended, racism was so engrained into society that people still held prejudices towards each other. The main argument Noah builds is how he was only able to escape the cycle of poverty and create his own path in life due to the strength of his mother. Breaking tradition, Patricia Noah, gave Noah a name without a tribal meaning and taught him English as a first language. Not giving Noah a traditional name gave him nothing to live up to, and English gave him access to the larger world so he could advance himself in society. Noah’s mother gave him the ability to become a world famous comedian and bring attention to South African Society. She did not want Noah to be confined by his race and class, so she did everything in her power to expose him to the outside world. Almost every story that Noah tells somehow finds its way back to his mother, showing that without her, Noah would have remained unknown. Readers should take away that history does not revolve around the country you grow up in. Noah writes about how since WWII and the Holocaust did not really involve or affect South Africa, that most people do not know the suffering caused by Hitler. What South Africans do know is the suffering caused by Apartheid and the torture King Leopold inflicted on the Congolese. As students, we typically learn a topic and forget about it after the test. Important events that did not affect us are just dismissed as useless dates, and that needs to end. After reading this book, people need to realize that there is a world outside of their country and that by learning about other people, and knowing what is going on in other countries, we can prevent ourselves from becoming trapped by the limits set on ourselves due to our place in society.
David Grann wrote the novel Killers of the flower moon in order to share his investigation with the world involving a series of murders of wealthy Osage people located in Osage County, Oklahoma in the early 1920's the so called reasons for these murders was that big oil deposits were discovered beneath their land. Which gives the reason that the Osage people were killed in a plot to make others wealthy. Officially, the factual amount of the murdered Osage native Americans reaches 20, but Grann suspects that hundreds more may have been killed because of their ties to oil, and Grann's goal for the book is to expose the people who were not haled responsible for unfortunate time in history while presenting detailed evidence. Personally what should be taken away from the novel is that there is always someone that will find justice for the innocent who were punished by the people who only seek to gain from others misery.
-Daniel Castillo
In Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann, Grann’s exigency for creating the book is to expose the harsh reality behind the Osage murders. Grann never derives from facts and evidence as he wants the audience to have every bit of information they can have so that they can understand the importance of the Osage Murders as they where targeted for the oil beneath their land and systematically exploited by Enel a big company which illegally built wind turbines on top of their land. Grann wrote Killers of the Flower Moon because he wanted people to feel and comprehend the pain and suffering the Osage went through and the injustice they faced. Grann personally invested himself in the case by learning about Osage history and interviewing victims of the “Reign of Terror” that was the Osage murders. Grann wants everyone to know about the Osage and the horrors they faced and continued to encounter as killings that did not align with the bureau’s theory where ruled off as an isolated murder because they would reopen the case which would be deemed “solved” at the arrest of Hale and his henchmen. Grann also composed Killers of the Flower Moon in order to do justice to the Osage who entrusted him with their stories and encouraged him to dig deeper. The main argument Grann continues to build on is how much more there was to the Osage murders than what was being said or published at the time, Grann does so by inserting his own commentary and personal interviews which give more insight to the case. As a reader I believe Grann wants us to take away the sole memory of the Osage, Grann wants the Osage to be remembered and he wants people to know about how wrongly they were treated. The main goal of the book is to inform the reader, Grann wants the audience to be informed in order to bring a sense of justice to the Osage. To be informed is to give the Osage sense that their case has not been forgotten and that the injustice they faced is being recognized. Grann wants the reader to take away the reality of what was really going on, this book serves as a eulogy for the Osage who were wrongfully killed, and who’s murderers where never captured leaving families in distress as some continued their own investigation behind the death of their loved ones having their case dismissed by the authority.
Luis Alberto Urrea was born in Tijuana, Mexico but his successful career took off in San Diego. He himself knows that the United States can give you a lot more opportunity and education than most places in Mexico can. He truly understands how life in Mexico can be and he sees why so many people risk it all to try to make it to the U.S. through the devil’s highway. Luis Alberto Urrea wrote The Devil’s Highway to try to make people more understanding towards immigrants and not be so harsh on them. He believes there should be an equal opportunity for everyone that comes even if they are categorized as “illegal.” That is one term that he doesn’t like being used because once you characterize them as that you take away many opportunities they otherwise could have had. Once a person is given this label, many people that are not like them will basically set a barrier from them and it creates more racism and discrimination. These people just ignore the pain and suffering that the immigrants had to endure to get here, just to be treated horribly. Most of them probably do not know the odds they defeated in crossing the devil’s highway and just being there alive. Achieving the American Dream is made as hard as possible by having all of these obstacles in the way. First, you must make the trek across the desert but just getting there proves to be an extremely hard task. Even harder, you then must make it out alive. Lastly, you must learn to navigate the system of people who don’t want you there, people who want you to be sent back, and people who deny you of any opportunities because of your background. Urrea wants this to change because after all they went through, they are people who are still willing to keep working that hard in order to secure a better life for future generations. From this book, my takeaway is that after their long journey, the immigrants who make it deserve a lot better than how they are treated by most people. They have earned a fighting chance at the very least and we as a society should realize and accept that. But another thing this makes me realize is that people will continue to make this traumatizing journey if they know that there is even a slight chance that life could be better here. The people that cross are usually very desperate for a better life and will do anything to come achieve the American Dream. However most people do not actually know what awaits them on the other side.
The purpose of Jilly Leovy is make the black Homcide cases more away and to bring more attention to black cases that were never solved because of the color of their skin because of this it has cause the justice System to fail. Throughout the book it is very much clear that black homcide cases are rarely looked at because “black on black killing was okay” because they were not white. Leovy decides to make this problem more known after Dovan Harris was murdered.
However this problem is knowing but many people choose to ignore the facts like “ “In the 1920s, a scholar concluded that black death rates from homicide nationwide were about seven times white rates”. I Belive the whole reason Leovy has written this book to try to some how make the justice system to pay attention now that Leovy has publicly called the system a failure. By Leovy calling out the system reporters, new editors and many more will question their ways of training. ultimately questioning everything they have done. As a reader I have taken away how worst the problem is. When reading I heard Barack Obama In Leovy book the “ghettoside” and realized these statistics Were very much recent. Meaning unfortunately the problem has not gotten better but worst over the years and it’s very upsetting. It’s heart breaking and as the reader she has made me want to speak out of these unjustified cases.
-Abby Aguirre
Krakauer, at the end of Missoula, reveals his initial motivation for writing the text was that “a woman in her late twenties with whom my wife and I have a close relationship, had been raped when she was in her mid teens by a male peer” (378) and proceeds to detail just how much the life of that woman so close to him changed. Krakauer sought to expose just how common rape can be, and how it is yet to be talked about as an epidemic that affects American’s lives everyday as there are many misconceptions and how even pursuing sexual assault cases can be difficult. John Krakauer, throughout the text, tries to expose the facts of the rape culture in this day and era and that perhaps it has not advanced and progresses with society. The author is trying to reach his audience that may very well consist of everyday Americans and educate them on just how difficult the process of reporting rape and going to trial can be for each victim, and also explores the lives after rape, to examine just how much rape and sexual assault can have on a person and can even reach the people that they love as well. He explores the justice system because it seems it is the root of the problem in this epidemic: as people get away with rape and because of it making less and less victims want to come forward. Overall, Krakauer presents the college town of Missoula as a typical American city to express how rape can happen to anyone, anywhere, even in sleepy suburban cities in states like Montana and how Americans need to wake up and face the grave crisis of sexual assault in our country, because the facts do not lie.
- Marely Garcia
Andres Hernandez
In the book The Devils Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea, he wrote this book to explain the difficult and devastation of sacrifice he had to go through.I believe he went through more than what an average person has to go through. He went through many challenges.
To say Luis is trying to prove that life is very challenging. Wherever you are from or however you were raised can sometimes determine what you want. Sometimes you want the best for yourself and your family to reach a better future, even if you have to go through death.I also believe Luis wants to prove that he made a difference in life and wants to see how he can tell his story to impact the people who have gone through the same situation as well as tell the story of his great journey.
The one thing I learned through the Devils Highway is I honestly felt my family was related in this story along time ago.I might not know their backgound and how they came to America but they hustled their way over here. They made a difference in the family tree and a better future.To say I have been blessed to be here in America and am very grateful and feel like I learned a lot from Luis story from death to survival tactics to keep pushing through even on the edge of life and death.
Throughout Jon Krakauer's inquisitive novel, Missoula, Krakauer addresses the multitude of reasons for his choice in researching, and writing Missoula. The main reason that Jon Krakauer wrote this novel was because of his personal relationship with a woman who had experienced the trauma of being raped. Upon observing the way in which the woman, and others around her, reacted to her trauma, Krakauer was prompted to bring justice to the women who are too often dismissed by society, and inform those who might be misguided by the media. This personal encounter snowballed into a much bigger mission for Krakauer. Krakauer utilized Missoula as a way to expose the justice system for doing too little to sympathize with victims by analyzing specific cases intimately, causing readers to make judgement calls with a bird’s eye view. Krakauer also addressed how the media took part in twisting the victims' stories and highlighting irrelevant information, such as, what the victim was wearing. Lastly, Krakauer used Missoula as a way to address the reality that everyone deals with traumatic experiences differently. Too often, women are forced to suffer silently because of the fear of being accused of lying, over exaggerating, and shamed for owning their sexuality in the way that men can and do. Krakauer wants to make victims feel understood, readers feel cautious about what they believe is true, and perpetrators feel ashamed for the loss that they have brought to the women that they have assaulted. Ultimately, after reading Missoula, readers should feel encouraged to thoroughly investigate a situation or topic before making an assumption and reaching a conclusion; if the justice system cannot protect victims, then we, as a society, must. In the novel, there were many instances where people, specifically police investigators, failed to incorporate valid evidence into their decision process simply because it did not fit their personal representation of a “victim” or a “perpetrator”. With this, Krakauer wants readers to be open minded about situations because anyone is capable of anything, and although we cannot completely eliminate bias, we can control how quickly we assert our opinions. Missoula by Jon Krakauer is a step towards an open conversation about rape culture, its commonality, and how to combat it.
-Alondra Torres.
The author of my novel is David Grann, in the Killers of the Flower Moon, his exigency for writing this book is to acknowledge people about the start of a murder in a family that led to more murders within the family that connects to the land that oil was found on. The start of murders influenced the FBI that was not well known to solve serious investigations yet back in the 1920s while this case led them to investigate more. The impact of Osage tribe from a family member being murdered and something more and deeper than just a murder of an illness that revealed the real person that was the killer. The killers motive was to gain money from the land that will be passed down to him after he killed his wife Mollie. While this case took place in May of the killers of the flower moon that relates to the case of the Osage tribe of a family that had multiple deaths before the FBI looked more into the case. Grann’s argument was built off of the impact of many murders having to take place in the 1920s before the FBI could look more into the case and that only one man made to get what he wanted which was the land that had oil on it and money. Grann wanted the readers to realize that killers motives can be so little although involve many deaths to get what they want in the end. Also, show the FBI’s attention was hard to get back then since it had to take many murders for them to catch the killer that started it. As a reader after reading this novel I gained the knowledge that a killer can start with one murder and cover it up by bribing people with money or threats and get away with it and continuing to do that until he gets what he wanted, but the FBI stopped him from succeeding after catching him.
After going through his own public shaming and being the one who encouraged a public shaming to take place, Jon Ronson, the author of So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed, was intrigued to delve into the stories of other public shamings and further understand how they overall affected the personal lives and work lives of those who had been shamed. There is always two sides to a story, what the public believes happened and what actually happened. Ronson was compelled by the lack of knowledge the public had about how the lives of those they so brutally shamed looked like after they were dragged into ruins. Many of the public shamings that took place resulted in one having to deal with losing the job they had worked so hard for and losing the reputation they had built for themselves. Not only did Ronson want to shed light on the perspective of those who had been shamed, but he also wanted to understand the reasons why the public thoroughly enjoyed watching others future burn in front of their eyes. With some further research and learning more about those who participated in shaming others to gain justice, Ronson was enlightened. It was the feeling of powerlessness and the sheer feeling of being the small one that influenced and drove society to get behind a screen and tear down the people they believe sinned. From seeing how public shaming left one devastated to understanding why people ruthlessly dragged others down, Ronson overall used his platform and novel to argue that there is always two sides to one story and that the voice social media has allowed people to have should not be abused. Ronson overall wants readers to use their voices to help the world grow and to help those who have done wrong to grow as well, after all, those who are being shamed deserve to be understood to some extent as well. Overall, a voice should be used with caution.
Britney Turcios
Jon Krakauer writes Missoula in order to bring attention to the rape culture in the country. By bringing attention to this topic he is also able to criticizes society for how we deal and view rape. In speaking of multiple victims and their connections when it comes to who and how they were raped, Krakauer illustrates how common rape can be compared the rather opposite idea society has of the frequency of rape. Inside of society, Krakauer uses this book to speak of how the justice system deals with rape. The author points the finger at the justice system for being a big contributor to how society understands rape overall. Since the justice system fails to punish the rapists, that degrades the severity of rape and the emotional damage the victims have to live with. Scared that nothing can be done, victims prefer to not report the rape which can lead their rapist to find other victims. Victims also become scared of reporting the crime due to the fear of the story becoming warped to the point where the fault lies in the victims. Krakauer writes, “we’re now deemed well endowed with horniness” to speak of the prejudice society has towards women and their sexuality. By speaking of this prejudice, Krakauer continues to call out society for their biased personalities adding to the fear and self blame victims have when it comes to reporting their rapists. As a reader, I believe one should take into account the stories of the victims and do some self reflection. Through self reflection we are able to put ourselves in perspective when it comes to our thoughts of rape. Krakauer wrote Missoula in order to get his readers to question themselves on their position in the rape culture. The reader must think whether they are a person that could provide help for victims and justice for the rapists or a person full of prejudice when the situation of dealing with rape arises.
In his novel, So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed by jon Ronson is a book in which emphasizes the word “shame” throughout the book as a way to portray a purpose of creating some sort of awareness to those who’ve been publicly shamed themselves. Jon Ronson mentions, “Shame now moves in lightning speed and with devastating effects,” to expose how those who didn’t have a voice gained one with the help of social media as a portal to fully express oneself as a way of fully expressing their thoughts. The authors exigency for writing this book is to disclose the harmful aftermath of the victims who’ve been publicly shamed themselves and to be aware of the people or person who’s being targeted. Public shaming has really taken itself on a whole new level as becoming more appropriate or becoming apart of our culture in society, and seen as normal without the realization of there being a whole person with feelings on the other side of the screen. His journey of writing a book by reminding those who’ve been ridiculed or destroyed is that its a problem and instead of the people being more empathetic they’re becoming more judgmental. The motivation of creating this text is to create awareness to the world that public shaming is becoming so common that it destroys the reputation of others which may lead to harmful effects. The book is a series of stories combined together of victims who’ve experienced publicly shamed themselves and the aftermath of being shamed. No matter how big or small the series of stories there is those who are shamed and those who are the shamers play an active part of societies standards. Ronson mentioned in his book that social media is a platform for the “silenced getting a voice” revealing how society has changed tremendously due to the advancement in technology. The main argument the author is building is knowing how the culture has progressed and seen as bashful to call out for people to be more compassionate and empathetic.
The purpose of Luise Aberto Urrea writing The Devils Highway is to show the point of view on the immigration system from both sides. Luis also shows the struggle of crossing the border, and the dangers that await people who are willing to cross. The heat of over 1000 degrees, barely able to make it. Luis builds his main argument by showing how it feels being called illegal and getting discriminated for not being from this place. when all they want is to have a better life for themselves and their families giving their children a life they could never imagine. Luis also shares stories on the immigration so the reader can see how they got here and what it had to take to get to this place. Urrea shows the point of view on immigration border patrol so we are able to see how their works is and what they do from checking in to checking the ground till going home. He also points out their point of view on their job force which he doesn't just take a side he points out the struggle of coming here and the point of view on the patrols. He shows facts and stories to show the journey in a clear way. Luis wants his reader to see the emotions, facts and how difficult and dangerous it is to cross the Arizona desert to spread the truth about it how hard and difficult journey. People who are willing to cross are taking a big risk on walking for hours in the heat and it can go for days or weeks to the point where there in the middle of the desert. Most of all having to run out of water. No one to help you go trough this journey and giving into emotions that immigrants go trough, seeing people die and leaving them there because they have to move on or else they wont be able to make it.
Giovanna Escoto
Luis Alberto Urrea wrote The Devil’s Highway to expose the difficulties immigrants go through to get to the United States for a better life. They walk miles and miles through the desert in a deadly heat being abandoned by their guides and left without water, money and no hope for the future. Urrea wants the reader to see how immigrants sacrifice their lives by walking through the desert hoping to get to a country that will give them better opportunities. In the Devil’s Highway, Luis Alberto Urrea tells the story about 26 men who try to cross the border and have to go through the most dangerous and deadliest region which is the Devil’s highway. These men risk their lives to get better opportunities but when they get to this country, they are treated like they don’t deserve a good life with new opportunities. Urrea believes that immigrants deserve to seek out a new life in the US after all they’ve been through in the past and the risk they took to get to this country. Immigrants don’t deserve to be discriminated and called “aliens” when all they want is to give their family a better life and their children a better future that they couldn’t get in their country. Urrea wants the reader to see how dangerous it is crossing the arizona desert and how it affects people physically and emotionally by walking for hours in the heat without water. People walk in packs and have to experience death and abandonment to reach their goal of making it out alive. People from the US should not discriminate immigrants but instead should understand what they’ve been through and consider the conditions they came from. The Devil’s Highway shows the hard experiences immigrants go through just to have a better life in a different country.
-Keila Vega
David Grann had a mindset in writing “Killers of the Flower Moon” to simply uncover the deep tragedy and terror an Indian tribe went through. David Grann knew the story of the Osage tribe was hidden and left forgotten in history, and Grann had done everything he can to shine light to this important American history. David Grann had put a lot of work into the novel as he put almost years of research, interviews, and discoveries to gather together the real information of the Osage murders. He had done everything to make his book completely factual, citing records, quotes, and even photos. The reason why David Grann had wanted to uncover this story was to help bring a sense of justice for the Osage family. He knows that it was in the past and he can’t change the past, but he feels that by educating others the monstrous and sinful actions white people had towards the Osage tribe that were guided by nothing but greed and jealousy. David Grann was motivated by the remaining members of the Osage family to do good with their trust in being told their stories, which he did. I felt that after reading this book, I was able to acknowledge a piece of history that would not told to me in an average history class. By acknowledging this one piece, I then realize that there must be many hidden pieces that are untold to society that are filled with injustice, unlawful, and inhumane actions. David Grann had contributed into updating history into the real terror it was, and also gave justice to the remaining Osage members on their stories of their forgotten ancestors. The book was not made for simply expressing the trial of the century that gave birth to the organization called FBI, but to give more emotion on the misfortune the Osage tribe faced.
In The Jihad Next Door: The Lackawanna Six and Rough Justice in the Age of Terror the author, Dina Temple - Raston reveals that the reason she wrote this book was to illuminate to people how Muslims were treated before and after the terrorist attack on the twin towers in New York City, Muslims were treated poorly, unfairly, and cruelly after the terrorist attack on 9/11. She uses the story of six teenage, Yemeni - Americans who called themselves the “Arabian Knights” to show how justice for Muslims became a joke and almost non existent in America after 9/11. They would be harassed, attacked , and even arrested for simply being themselves. Americans would get the wrong impression of the Muslim people in the United States and blame the attacks on them. The main argument that Temple - Raston has is the fact the Muslims were treated in a completely different way after the terrorist attack on 9/11. She wants people to realize that Muslims are just as ‘normal’ as the people who are not Muslim. That even though they are of the same religion, they do not all think the same way that the terrorists did. The author is trying to prove the point on how justice had changed after something brutal happened. So far, what I have taken away from this book is that not all people are the same, all people are completely different, with different ways of speaking, different ways of thinking and different beliefs. That even if people are different from ourselves that we do not have to judge or be afraid of them. Being different makes us who we are, we do not have to treat others badly because of our differences. Instead, we should accept one another for the individuality that each person in this world has.
Jon Krakauer's main purpose in writing Missoula was to not only showcase the stories of victims of rape and their journey through the justice system; but to inform the audience of how although rape seems to be rare and mostly done by strangers it can also be most commonly done by someone you may know. For example, in Allison's case, she was just trying to catch up with an old friend that she wholeheartedly trusted, but when push comes to shove, someones' truest intentions come to show at some point. The fact that she was just sleeping when this happened, also defies the stereotypical rape where the woman is the one provoking the man or where she was "asking for it." By focusing on this crucial detail of how even a childhood friend can betray you and violate you in that sort of way, makes the experience for the reader a whole lot genuine and not just an "exaggeration" by a teenage girl that "wants attention." He eloquently displays the brutal aftermath of when a victim actually chooses to come forth and confess that they have been raped by also involving how many react when this kind of situation occurs. Also including but not limited to the fact that because some of the perpetrators are glorified football players in Missoula, they are not given the same eagle eye questioning as someone of a different race or background. This type of insight on how sexual accusations are taken care of is what allows the audience to see that the author is urging us to open our eyes and see that not everything is fair and brought to justice in this world. His main argument in writing this book is to reveal that although the statistics on reporting alleged rapes are small, the numbers on how many of these predators are actually convicted is staggering! The take away for me as a reader is to keep an open mind about other people's stories and having more empathy towards the victims and what they are going through, not just being prejudice about why someone would speak about such a controversial topic.
Gennesis Chacon:)
Jon Krakauer's exigency for writing Missoula is for people to realize how blinded we have become in todays society, he wants people to realize that we have been living in a cloud where everything seems fake unless it happens to us. He wrote this book in a way to convince people to go out into society and learn about others, to feel empathy towards people who have gone through things we haven't. He wants us to realize the importance of someone's voice. Of someone who is able to speak up when everyone else is trying to silence them even if one feels afraid or feels that they wont be heard, because in the end of the day yes there will be one hundred people not listening but there will always be someone out there willing to listen, willing to fight for you when no one else did. In that moment because you spoke up you will often realize that you weren't the only one afraid to speak up and you will have many others walking alongside you. This is very important because trough the whole entire book Krakauer gave us examples of women who had been raped and the process they have to endure afterwards. He wrote in a very explicit manner and he never tried to hide anything and I feel that that is the main reason as to why this book is so powerful. Krakauer showed the reader about the injustices in the legal system and how much pain and suffering it brought to the victims, yet he also showed how there was also cases where victims spoke multiple times even when no one listen to them and their rapist where convicted. On page 234 Peterson a man protecting the rapist said, " If I was superman, I'd spin the earth around backwards, and I'd make all of this go away" in reality we are not Superman as we wished but what we can do to help the victim heal and help her make it all go away is by speaking up and standing next to the victim because " Rapists rely on the silence of their victims to elude accountability" (Krakauer 380). Also one thing we should know is that many colleges and the justice system don't do anything until people speak up, so instead of bashing people on the internet we should speak up and fight for those people who are too afraid to speak up, because rape is real and it happens every single day and the worst part is that people stay silent and we become ignorant and the rapist stay free and keep doing harm to others when we should not let them to do so.
In the novel “Born A Crime,” Trevor Noah provides a glimpse into his world growing up in South Africa with his mother and how she shaped the person he came to be. His autobiography not only recaptures the memories Noah experiences in post-apartheid South Africa, but also revolves around the characterization of his mother throughout the entire book, making the work as a whole an homage to her. Growing up in such harsh conditions, Noah describes the dysfunctional ways his mother tried to rebel against the oppressive norm, allowing him to think freely and creatively, inevitably leading to his success as a comedian. I believe Noah’s main argument woven in the the book is that he would not be the person he is today without the experiences he had faced growing up mixed race in a place where it was illegal to to exist, hence the name Born A Crime. What made his story so fascinating was the way he pinpointed specific memories, most of them involving his mother, and brought meaning and a life lesson to each of them; I was able to find entertainment in these short clips of his childhood, while also learning about history taking place at the time. It can be described as a coming of age story that really captures the significance of growing up with an open mind and surrounding yourself with people who allow you to see beyond what is expected of you.
As a reader, I felt that my biggest takeaway from this book was that the people who guide you and surround you, dictate the person you become. In this case, for most of his childhood, all Trevor Noah had was his mother and the freedom she gave him which cultivated his mindset for success. In spite of the obstacles that faced him everyday, such as poverty and racism, he represented the epitome of perseverance and wisdom.
Jon Ronson's motivation for writing "So You've Been Publicly Shamed" was to allow readers to see how they contribute to social media shame and how to diminish their participation in it, or at least to think about how their comments affect the receiving end. His motivation is also to explain how to eliminate shame when it is presented to you. Throughout his book, Ronson tells many stories of public shame from making offensive jokes, plagiarism, to sexual desires. Through these stories he explains how the people who are being shamed for these acts react determines the backlash they receive. In our modern age, majority of shaming is online which makes it easier to make threats and attacks against those that we believe are in the wrongs. The thing that makes it even easier though is that over the internet you can't see the damage that your comments inflict. All you see are others adding on to the things you say and that gives everyone the power to add more and more comments that shame the mutual target. Ronson was trying to show how when we shame on the internet, WE are all shaming one person and although we may believe that we are doing the right thing, we are also destroying the person on the other side of whatever device we are using. Shaming over the internet takes away the shamee's rights to be convicted fairly or to even tell their side of the story. On the internet they are automatically seen as wrong and awful people who do not deserve a second chance or forgiveness. Ronson's main argument is to deter from this thought process. From this book I have taken away that I am the only person who can give my shame power and once I take that power away, my shame will no longer have a hold of me. It is truly an interesting concept that I hope to apply to my everyday life. I also took away that it is important to fight for your beliefs but there is a stark difference between fighting for what you believe in and trying to tear someone down along with wishing ill against them. There needs to be a balance because if all there is is hateful retaliation then the cause that is being fought for loses its substance.
Trevor Noah's memoir, Born a Crime is written in a humorous manner narrating life during and post-apartheid for a mixed young boy and his attempts to navigate through the barriers of life thrown at him for his skin color. As the book progresses Noah dissects the political idea of Apartheid and how his world was built by racism and continues to prevail through his life. Trevor Noah dedicated his memoir to his mother as a small symbol of gratitude for supporting him through his life but the reason for writing his memoir came from the reality that racism prevails in society nowadays. Not only does it continue to be an issue but people continue to undermine the extension of what it causes for Black people. With the constant discrimination in South Africa, surviving became a challenge and yet people continue to critique saying," Take responsability for yourself! Make something of yourself!' But with what raw materials are the poor to make something of themselves? People" As others have not lived through the difficulties of being seen as inferior they should be in no position to judge others and yet they continue to do so. Through Noah's writing, he attempts to turn people's perspectives and help them realize the system of oppression he lived through never really ended. "Which was the whole reason the hood was built in the first place,to keep the victims of Apartheid out of sight and out of mind." The systematic injustice he lived through was never meant to end and once it did, it had already done its damage; making racism a day to day-way to live. As a reader one should take the idea of open mindness, as nothing in this world can be solved by having our backs against each other as,"If we could see one and another's pain and empathize with one another, it would never be worth it to us to commit the crimes in the first place." Racism does not just belittle ones appearance it affects the choices in life and the person they ahve become. When nobody attempts to aid those, the world becomes divided between good people and "bad people". Understanding others stories and their struggles is one thing but attempting to lend a hand and see others for who they are instead of color or gender is what breaks the perpetuity of Apartheid or racism.
In “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”, Rebecca Skloot chooses to focus on the story of Henrietta and how her cells were used for medical breakthroughs without her consent. Skloot emphasizes throughout the novel, that neither Henrietta or her family knew about the cells when they were taken from her. Skloot includes this information in order to convince the reader about the immoral practices in medicine. Skloot also chooses to write about Henrietta’s story because of the impact it had in the medical field. Many people knew about the HeLa cell, but very few people knew that it came from an African American woman, without her consent. Henrietta’s cells made an impact in the medical field, and many few people knew who the cells came from. Skloot discovered the truth, regarding the cells, and released a book about it in order to show the readers about the lack of ethics in the medical field. The novel also uses other examples that could be considered unethical, such as asking people with limited rights to be part of a study. The people who were imprisoned were taken advantage of in order to advance medicine. Also, during this time period there was also another study, Tuskegee, which took advantage of uneducated and poor people to see the long-term effects of syphilis. The subjects were offered meals and were never told that they had syphilis. Clearly, Skloot notices the lack of ethics within the medical field and publishes this novel in order to push readers to consider ethics and medicine or research. Skloot is building an argument about ethics to cause a change within the way that medicine is practiced. A reader should take away that people whom show a level of authority could take advantage of others and also that regulations should be set in place in order to reduce the amount pf people whom are being taken advantage of in medicine.
In The Devil's Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea, Urrea's main motivation to write this book is to share the stories of the people who are labeled as "illegals", and to give more insight beyond people simply trying to enter a foreign country. Urrea shares the individual stories of the men who went through this experience and most of them go through much despair and suffering where they are from, so they try to get to a place that they see as a haven that will solve their problems. Urrea not only speaks about the people traveling to the U.S, but he also speaks about the Coyotes and their role in the journey. The immigrants put a lot of trust into these Coyotes, who a lot of times are gang members, who can be sinister people because they they are so desperate to get to that place that can give them a better opportunity. Urrea also goes into the relationship between the U.S and Mexico and how the border patrol plays a big part in determining the immigrants fate. As the reader, I would take away the stories of the people because even though most of my family immigrated from Mexico, I don't usually here's stories like this in how they came. I would hope that more people could be empathetic to the whole reason why these "illegal" people are trying to come into this country.
David Grann wrote Killers of the Flower Moon with the intention of portraying the case of the Osage murders. Without resources such as Grann's book, people would have no knowledge of the tragic murder case that should be widely known because of its intensity. David Grann understands that this moment in history has not received as much attention as it deserves and writes this book in order to reveal what is already known as well as adding information he has uncovered himself to the public in hopes of spreading awareness of this tragedy. Grann believes that there is a lot more to this case that has been looked into by the FBI and therefore uses his own resources to help further uncover details of the case. Through the process of making this book, he was able to help bring closure to many families affected by the Osage murders by figuring out who killed their family members. These families were unable to receive closure due to the lack of attention the FBI gave to a majority of the murder cases. Although Grann is not directly trying to argue for something, it is obvious that he believes that the Osage murders should have received more attention. He believes that a case in which took a very long time to solve due to corruption and where many of the murders got away clean, there should be a lot more attention and resources provided to make this case well known. His own belief that this piece of history has more than enough importance and should not be ignored leads him to create a novel that reveals the Osage murder cases as well as his own research. His main argument is that the mass killing of the Osage murders is too important for society to ignore it. As a reader, I’ve taken away that there is a lot of things in America’s history that is ignored by society that shouldn’t be. Something so important to American history should be taught to students, however, it continues being ignored along with countless other important aspects that I or any other student have no idea about.
The author of “ The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lack”, Rebecca Skloot, takes the time to write this non-fictional biography to bring to life the corruption that the family Lack’s left behind had to faced. The HeLa cells have brought controversy within the meaning of the social values; selfishness or selflessness, in a sense of helping the present of family or the future or medical research. Skloot builds up her argument by recalling the many problems doctors went through to diagnose a patient, but re-evaluates the idea of justice as this was during a time that many people of color still faced inequality as for taking her cells without consent.
In Rebecca Skloot's, "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks," Skloot's intention of writing this biography was to inform the reader of the truth behind the reason we have vital medications today and acknowledge the hardships Henrietta faced as she went through terminal diseases as a minority. Her motivation was to open the eyes of the audience and give them the reality of Henrietta's story, Rebecca became increasingly engaged about finding out how the HeLa cells came to be when she found out Henrietta was an African American woman. Being double the minority as Henrietta was, the easier it was to not give her credit and leave her in the dark and remain unknown. The main argument that Rebecca Skloot is trying to build is to give Henrietta the recognition she deserves despite the fortune her family never received as her cells created a multimillion-dollar industry. It takes dedication to genuinely go out and discover her family to learn more about the origin and development of the HeLa cells, so Rebecca Skloot gives the reader real life advice on following your instinct to learn the backstory on what catches your attention. Without the small lesson her biology professor could not finish on Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot would not have become stunned and attracted to such a story. The reader should take away from the book motivation and character to chase and not give up what you are looking for. Without Skloot everyone would be oblivious as no one else had the strength nor courage to travel to where Henrietta once stepped foot on and interview her relatives. Placing and putting yourself in new situations or environments takes bravery which illustrates to the reader of not being scared on opening to new issues. Nothing gives the reader more happiness than knowing that Henrietta Lacks has received her rightfulness.
In "Missoula" by Jon Krakauer, the author's purpose is to help inform the audience of the huge distinction on how rape and sexual assault cases are handled in the US criminal system and the college's disciplinary system. Krakauer includes various examples of young women who go through this rough process of charging their rapist to illustrate that not only is it scientifically difficult to collect evidence, but that it can also be emotionally challenging for them constantly facing ignorant people who accuse them of lying or other people who stubbornly defend the predator. I believe the author wrote this book to have people see what it can really be like behind these types of cases because they are a much different type of crime because it involves a person's identity and humility. These types of cases tend to go unreported because of how embarrassing and personal it can be for someone to open up about it. It can be easy for some cases to be turned around and blamed on the victim because at the time they may have been under the influence or may have gave consent to whatever sexual act at first, but then they end up changing their mind or even by looking through the victim's past to give them a bad reputation in court. As the reader, some of my take aways is how important it is to be there for someone who may go through a situation like this, think about how challenging these cases really are, and to know your rights and boundaries. One more thing is to never blame the victim for what they may have been wearing, if they had been drinking, a history of being "provocative" because in the end no one deserves to go through a traumatic situation like this and a person should be able to control and take ownership for their actions. - Shakira Muniz
In the book Missoula by Jon Krakauer, his motivation for writing this books is to bring comfort in victims that have been sexually assaulted. His way of writing as well as his content, which are the stories and facts, demonstrate how being a women and being raped is not easy. They have to go against peoples’ judgement that because they are women they might have "misinterpret" things, or because you moan, it means you wanted it or enjoyed it. This brings the audience a sense that we should comprehend the situation the person experience and acknowledge that it wasn't easy for them. It makes the audience feel empathy towards the victims and feel need to support them. He also demonstrates how the justice system treat these cases so poorly and pay little attention towards them. It is really disappointing how if someone doesn't choose to use their rape kit in a year, it gets automatically destroyed. Someone victims aren’t mental ready to talk about what happened to them in just in a year. They are still afraid and haven’t processed what happened or even believe it’s real. It is a process which takes time and it's not easy for them. Some police don't even believe the victims stating of them getting raped.The police blames them and comments that they did not really get raped; it was only to get their partner back. The reader should take away many things from the book, one including is that being rape is not easy. It can happen to anyone, and they aren't just going to be okay in a day. Also, the victims should not justify why they got raped. Asking for help while getting raped is not simple, and he tries to make us acknowledge that. The victims don't really know what's going on when they are getting raped and sometimes they go in shock, making it difficult for them to comprehend and act in the situation. It is a process, like I said prior, it takes time for someone to be in a good state of mind and gain trust in people again.
In the novel Missoula, Jon Krakauer dives deep into the rape culture of the college town of Missoula in order to directly exemplify how rape cases have been so easily covered up and hushed away by the justice system, media, the community, and even the victims. He is not simply sharing the stories of some rape victims; Krakauer is trying to bring forth the reality of rape in the modern era, and how it affects a large variety of people in various communities. Krakauer is acknowledging that the rape culture is not simply present in Missoula, rape culture has become the modern culture of communities all around the United States. Such a culture has been embedded in the lives of so many people due to the common misconceptions of what a rapist and rape are supposed to look like. The various myths such as those that a rapist is someone wearing a ski mask coming out of the bushes with a knife in his hand are the types of myths that have allowed rape to be so normalized. Various rapists do not even know that they are rapists or were involved in a rape due to such ideas; these individuals have not properly received the proper education on what “consent” is supposed to sound and look like; these individuals may misinterpret actions such as moaning to be a sign of both consent and that the victim is enjoying the situation. Myths such as those that a nice person cannot commit rape and that there are certain signs that someone is a rapist allow rapists to go unnoticed and even sympathized once they are brought up in court. Misconceptions about how a victim is supposed to act after being raped may lead to the misunderstanding of rape victims as some of their actions may not seem reasonable; a victim who simply did not yell for help while being raped can seem to be lying about the event as people do not understand how such a traumatic event can leave the victim frozen without control of their own actions. However, naivety is not the only culprit of why rape culture has so easily prevailed, but the justice system is also to blame as it seems to be so faulty. The rapist can easily go free through the system as cases can easily be dismissed, or even tainted by the power of the rapist’s defense as they can lie and more easily use doubt to their advantage. Doubt is the biggest culprit of why rape culture persists to prevail. Doubt can easily take away the credibility of a victim’s side of the story, and that same doubt can empower rapists in the eyes of the public and jury. Rape can manifest itself in various ways, it is not merely the scenario of a man wearing a ski mask pouncing out of the bushes.
Behind Jon Ronson's funny and relatable word choice and thought process throughout So You've Been Publicly Shamed, one can not forget Ronson's universal message that only you are responsible for your own downfall. In Ronson's book, the reader is introduced to the idea that there is only two types of people in this world, the shamers and the shamed, and Ronson does an amazing job on getting perspectives from both ends. The interesting part about the whole novel is that no one is truly safe from public shaming, no matter how important, rich, confident, or manipulative a person can be. From the many people that Ronson mentioned in his novel, from big companies to individuals, the one that interest me the most has to be his own actual story of how he went from being ridiculed to being the one ridiculing the three men by using their own weapon, the internet. The internet itself plays a big role in Ronson's story, as it is the seen to be the whole reason the public is able to find out about peoples' poor choices and then given the reason to shame the people who are wrong. One could argue that because of the internet, drama is able to spread more since the internet is used to connect people through mass media, but the internet is driven by people, so could the internet be one to blame? Ronson argues that people will look for the truth and will do anything to bring justice, no matter what consequence the other will go through, which in this case is shame and humiliation. People like to play the act of the judge and the executioner whenever the opportunity is given, so how could one not be afraid of society? One thing I took from this novel is that no one is truly safe from society and that your own voice can be used against you.
Ronsons not only wants to show the reader the possible long lasting consequences that public shaming can have on its victims, but he also wants to prove the reader with the opportunity to see how THEIR actions can affect other people. Social media is in its biggest uprise yet, with generation z taking over most social media platforms such as snapchat, instagram, twitter, etc. Due to the younger audience that these platforms may appeal to, many of this younger audience does not know what or how their words on the internet can affect someone they have not even met before. It happens frequently, someone says something on the internet that they probably should not have said, or was something that was thin ice to begin with ans then was just taken completely out of context. Therefore, I believe Ronson wants the reader to self-reflection, his motive is to provide the reader with the chance to evaluate their actions and see if maybe they have done something similar to what the characters in the book may have experienced. By doing this, it allows the reader to maybe see what they may have been doing wrong or what others are doing wrong, and being able to recognize what the problem is is important because the first step in solving a problem is realizing there is one. One of the main arguments that Ronson develops throughout the book is that no matter the age, no matter who the people are behind the screen, everyone is capable of being publicly shamed. It can happen to anyone at any second. And if they reader were to take one thing from this book, it would be that people who use social media need to be self aware of what they are doing because they have the power to socially, mentally, and maybe even physically harm someone through shaming. Be careful with your words.
“Just because everything is different doesn’t mean anything has changed” stated Irene Peter. The history of African Americans in the United Stated has been long filled with violence, injustice, and grief. Even as slavery was abolished, laws have been passed, and notable leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. have all brought about change and greater equality, to this day, to say black lives are equal to those of white Americans is far from the truth. In Guettoside, Jill Leovy conveys to its readers that African Americans continue to face everyday violence and constant adversity especially with the legal system not doing its job, specifically in Los Angeles where black on black crime has caused for exceedingly high death rates. Leovy further explains how the lack of the system to prevent or solve crimes in economically low communities is the primary cause for the high death rates in Los Angeles which makes the reader realize the ugly truth about being a minority in America. As Leovy describes “violence was tolerated, especially when the victims were poor black men” (Leovy 58). Nothing has been easy for blacks and now that they kill each other because of gang related reasons or maybe for no reason at all, life as an African American has become dangerous especially in the communities of LA where “thousands of murders [go unpunished]” (Leovy 48). In fact, according to death penalty studies, “people who kill whites are more likely to be sentenced to death” when on the other hand “people who kill black lives get lighter penalties” (Leovy 48).
Trevor Noah’s autobiography is a comical yet heavy read that all readers alike enjoy. Noah brings attention to the apartheid in South Africa, as it is not a heavily discussed topic when it should be. The atrocities that happened during and after the apartheid are close to a Holocaust level. But besides the casualties and poverty, the cultural impact of the apartheid has affected all races in South Africa, for the better or the worse. White people have the most power, colored people (generationally mixed) were second, and black people were at the bottom. The more white you were, the more power you had. However Noah fell into a forbidden category, mixed. He is half white and half black and during the apartheid mixing between races were illegal, thus Noah was ‘born a crime’. His main argument is how illogical racism is, especially with the race ranking system during the apartheid. Noah points out that if you don’t look like someone, then you are not the same. However if you talk like someone, then you are the same. This challenged that racism, and Noah was a walking example on how racism is dumb. He did not look like the white man, but could speak the same language as the white man. Does that mean he’s less or on the same level as the white man, and that’s what does not make sense. Aside from racism being illogical, the race ranking system did not make sense. White people could be demoted to colored people and colored people could be promoted to white people if they looked white enough. Also the ranking system did not make sense because white, black, and colored were not the only races in South Africa. Asian people also lived in South Africa, but Japanese people were considered white, and Chinese were considered colored. The system was extremely flawed, but it worked well enough to keep white people on top; and that is disgusting. As a reader, I took away that I should be more conscious with problems outside of the West because I had no idea about the apartheid or it’s aftermath. It’s important that everyone knows what’s going on everywhere.
In Trevor Noah's book "Born a crime" Trevor shows how the apartheid shaped who he is today and to show how we should not limit ourselves due to our place in society. Trevor was born in South Africa and grew up and was a mix between white and black which gave him some privileges but was not fully given all the privileges as a white person because he was still half black. Trevor's mother taught Trevor how to speak English and tried to really put him in the world. in doing so Trevor did not limit himself as much and also became a comedian. using that as an outlet to show how South African life was like. Trevor's journey to becoming a comedian was not easy he had to face many hardships and overcame those. Not so much as economic struggles but more so social class wise. Trevor Noah shows how we should not limit ourselves because of our social class. Trevor Noah’s motivation for writing “Born a crime” was to show how we should not limit ourselves based on our social class standing and to motivate the younger generation to believe in themselves. The readers take away from the book is so that they will learn to believe in themselves and not limit themselves based on their social class standing. That is how trevor noah shows how we can not limit ourselves cause by doing so we will not be able to grow and learn.
Rebecca wanted to show everyone how all these discoveries came to be and the background story of the women who made all this possible. The argument she wants everybody to know Henriettas story and everything she went through. She wants to also show how unfair all this turned out to be. Something I should take away from this book would be that the medical and health security of people come with a price and a risk we should take but consulting your actions should be the first step. We should acknowledge everything Henrietta went through and also the way the doctors and scientist carelessly produced the HeLa cells like a product and shipped around the world. She should be acknowledge and respected because all this couldn't have been possible if it wasn't for her.
In 1951, Henrietta Lacks, labeled by scientists as “HeLa,” was diagnosed with cervical cancer that would soon after take her life. However, during treatments, these same scientists extracted cells that shortly after became the World’s first cells to reproduce regularly, marking a turning point is medicine. In those days, samples were taken from patients without them knowing which was the case for Henrietta. She was unaware of cells being taken from her throughout her treatments. Skloot’s purpose for creating this book was simply to humanize HeLa because they were cells extracted from a person. She wanted to give identity to the person that would be the initiator in curing diseases especially since her name was often mistaken or was never mentioned when it came to these cells. It seemed only fair to give credit and shine light to perhaps the most influential person in medicine. The prime argument for this essay is that researchers should not exploit individuals without consent and respect all who contribute to research. Race and class come into play because during this time Johns Hopkins was the only free hospital that would treat black individuals. However, there was an underlying cost which consisted of free extraction from patients by doctors to fuel their medical needs. Skloot visits Henrietta’s family and through interview and experiences learns that they were also unaware of the hospital’s intentions. They were under the impression that they were protecting their family from cervical cancer, the sickness that took their mother’s life. My greatest takeaway comes from my fascination in the fact that science holds great power. People today are able to live carefree from many of the deadly viruses that ravaged lives because of Henrietta. The life of this woman, however quaint, would contribute to the world’s most durable cells. All the more interesting, this woman serves as proof against white supremacy and modern day patriarchy with a blast from the past because an african american woman was able to supply the strongest most durable cells. Henrietta lives on in all those cells and it is a woman that has proven life does not end after death. She has shown that we have a purpose beyond ourselves which strongly resonated with Skloot because it had become her duty to ensure the world recognizes who the true hero is in science.
Giovanna Calderon
“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” by Rebecca Skloot is told in chronological order through chapters divided into three sections. Skloot’s purpose in format is to show the journey she took to learn the true life story of Henrietta Lacks, known as “HeLa.” The book’s theme is of poverty and how it affects access to basic human needs and leaves people vulnerable. The hospital Henrietta received care from was even established specifically for the poor, black community. Baltimore had segregation which even meant people were segregated from equal health care because doctor don’t dare take from the rich and powerful; they take from the poor who do not have enough money to defend themselves. Skloot makes it point to show that “HeLa cells were omnipresent,” meaning her cells were everywhere and even founded a multimillion dollar industry known around the world, but “ no one mentioned Henrietta.”HeLa” cells founded an industry with a lot of money, but no Lacks member has seen any pay cut. In fact, the Lacks family struggles in poverty and to this day can not afford health insurance. It is absurd. Skloot’s purpose is to expose how wealth and class play a big role in ethics. Skloot’s argument is that poverty has continued to affect the way people are treated and makes them more vulnerable. Skloot proves this with showing that the Lacks family believed the doctors that wanted more of their samples to help them and their mother. They did not know there was a hidden agenda. They were vulnerable to the doctors and taken advantage of. No one knows this story, so Skloot wants to tell it. The reader learns that poverty is still high in American which means issues like this can still happen. The powerful in society, like the rich, have the power to cover their tracks and leave society ignorant from the truth. Poverty also affects education which leaves more and more people vulnerable. Poverty is a major issue that still needs to be dealt with. I have learned that today we are still trying to solve ethical problems like these that should have been solved years ago. People need to be proactive in stopping this crisis because nothing has been done so far to truly change it.
Yesenia Ramirez August 15,2018 6:00
In David Grann novel he exposes the history of the mysterious death of the Osage tribe, this particular case is not known until now. David grann discovers the mystery and brings it back to life with evidence and detail. The Osage tribe was disappearing and it seemed if the lawmen were doing nothing, and thats mainly why David want to bring the case back so he can give the Osage tribe the justice they deserved. David had to really dig up evidence, he said in an interview “ it was like chasing ghosts”. Although there’s not a real argument except giving more attention to this case, he really went out of his way to make sure this particular case is now know. I take away from this book is justice, and not only that but to see what other cases in history that have not yet been discovered.
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