Research Essay

I am planning on doing my research essay on "no-kill" vs "kill" animal shelters

Masculinity and Femininity

I believe that the masculine, media driven ideal in America is this image of the "tough guy". Men feel pressure to be toned, with huge arms and a washboard stomach. They don't want to be skinny because that would make them scrawny. They are supposed to be tall and manly and often times violent.
As for the feminine ideals as set by the American media, women are supposed to be silent and beautiful. They are supposed to have little to no body fat, highlighted hair and tan skin. Women are not supposed to be opinionated or strong, they are supposed to be frail damsels in distress.
I believe that there are very many women and men who break this mold and find comfort in just being themselves but all too often we see young people being dragged into this world of idolitry and losing themselves completely.

Thoughts on election

I am absolutely thrilled about the presidential election results! I was pretty sure that Obama would win but I had no idea that it would be in such a landslide! The fact that he won so many red states was incredible and I am so hopeful for the future! As for the California propositions, I am deeply disturbed by the outcome of prop 8. The level of ignorance and intolerance displayed by the result of this proposition disgusts me and lowers my faith in humanity.

Letter to the President:

Obama-
I am thrilled that America has finally allowed itself a chance at the change it needs by voting for you as our next president. I am excited for the next four years and hopeful that you will lead us to be a better country. I am happy that you have stated that improving our current economy will be the first issue that you tackle as president and I hope that you have some good ideas for that. Please prove us all right and be the change that America needs.
Sincerely,
Caitlin

Essay #4

In her essay, “Say It Ain’t So, Huck: Second Thoughts on Mark Twain’s ‘Masterpiece,’” Jane Smiley greatly critiques the characters in Mark Twain’s novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and questions how it ever came to be considered a great American novel. Personally, I agree with Smiley on many different accounts but there were a few places where our views of the book differed. I do agree that Huck Finn has no place in classic American literature as it is not quite as brilliant a novel as it’s made out to be but I feel that people, Jane Smiley included, take their analysis of the novel much too far.

The first of Jane Smiley’s arguments that I agreed with was questioning how in the world Huck Finn ever came to be considered the “novel that all American literature grows out of” according to ___________. Smiley wonders how this book can even be considered a serious novel, never mind it being a masterpiece and I completely agree. Reading this novel felt to me like reading a children’s book in a southern dialect. It did indeed involve issues that I would not deem appropriate for a children’s book but the adventurous twists and turns of the plot seemed that of a book to be enjoyed by a ten year old.

In her essay, Smiley brings up the fact that Twain seemed to be having a difficult time matching the ending to the original plot.

etc etc etc

(not finished)

question 1

It is Jane Smiley's opinion in her critique of Huck Finn that Twain gave the story and characters very little depth and failed to create a voice for Jim. I think that Twain makes Jim and Huck as deep as context allows them to be. Of course Huck isn't a fantastic hero, he's a fourteen year old boy who was raised to believe that black people were property. For him to defy that thinking would be remarkable and clearly wasn't the direction Twain wanted to go with his novel. As for Jim, Twain represented him as he was, uneducated property. Whether we believe that it's right or not, Jim was a slave, he was also a good person, which I think Twain represents fairly well, but the reality of the matter is, slaves didn't have a whole lot of depth in those days.

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