The Broadway Gang

The Broadway Gang by Jon Raymond is about Portland's attempt at an "occupy movement". He is very cynical, mocking Portlanders for their occupy movement attempt. He begins his clear mockery when he is deciding when to visit the occupy movement. He is amazed by the fact that people got together to protest. He very openly hates all the protestors and openly criticizes their choices, their attempt seemed weak. His entire paper is about how lame their protest was and how it was basically just a joke. He compares past protests and their effectiveness, their strength and basically says that this protest is just a group of lazy, dirty drunkards on a sidewalk. They were completely unorganized. Their attempt to make a statement was dwarfed by their lack of ability to host a protest. When midnight finally came, Jon was right. Nothing happened and the entire charade was a waste of time. The first person who acted was given up to be arrested. Jon was objective in his description but he also added his opinion very heavily which helped the description honestly. I feel like even though I wasn't present, I could imagine how the protest was without pictures. It was very effective.

"Shipping Out" to sea

David Foster Wallace discusses cruise-line brochures in this essay. He uses a lot of sarcasm, I love it! His paper is very interesting and I don't lose focus once even with how long it is. The paper would not be as strong without his witty insults towards the ridiculous brochures. His hatred for these money stealing pieces of paper is evident from the beginning with his sarcasm and bitterness. I hate when he makes a connection to the anti-depressant Prozac because I think that is completely out of place and rude. I know he did not mean to make it a personal attack but I think he could have used a different analogy. He does make his point very well though that the brochures are very effective at getting customers and getting people to go on the cruises. Honestly, if people want to spend their money on a cruise then so be it. Let them. It is their money.

Student Sample #4

I loved reading this student's essay. They had proper grammar, their syntax and diction was on point. The writer also used a good combination of personal views with facts. I really like how they quote a lot of famous people who are known for their contributions to science. I could play devil's advocate by pointing out that calling these people "authority figures" is a touchy subject because many modern people disagree with their theories and are working to form their own new ones based off new knowledge. I really like how the write addresses the fact that we will always have differing opinions and viewpoints on subjects like science and religion. It does seem like the write favors science more than Christians and attacks them a bit at the end, destroying her neutral viewpoint that was kept through the entire paper. The writer is very effective at making their point that opinions should be respected and supports it thoroughly in every paragraph.

Bitches be Trippin'

I did not completely understand what an inquiry essay is supposed to look like but after reading "Looking at Women" and "No Wonder They Call me a Bitch", I understand them a little more. “Looking at Women” by Scott, is an inquiry essay that slightly differs to “No Wonder They Call me a Bitch” by Ann. The major difference is that “No Wonder They Call me a Bitch” is about a woman’s personal account experimenting with eating a variety of dog foods while “Looking at Women” is about a man’s personal account of his experiences with women and how men look at them. Also, Scott poses a question that is throughout the entire paper and is answered but Ann does not, she tells you her question in the first paragraph. Ann does not ask the reader a question, she just wrote about her answer to a question she had about dog food. They both begin their essays with a question they have had since they were children. I personally think Scott’s approach to answering his question is much more interesting because he does not flat out ask the reader while Ann’s is more straightforward. Her essay is also repetitive and lacking substance, all she talks about is the different kinds of food she tried. This expanded my understanding of an inquiry because I was not completely sure what to write about but now I am starting to get an idea of what to write about. These two essays have given me the idea to write about how dangerous Monster is to drink. I have been drinking them since I was a child, everyone always comments how bad they are for you but I have always ignored them. Now I want to know what exactly is so bad about Monster Energy Drinks.

Looking at Women

This article relates to our current assignment The Inquiry because it begs a question looking for an answer. How should a man look at women? Women display their bodies in a variety of ways. Some of us cover our bodies leaving it a mystery to men as to what we look like while others flaunt their skin to their surroundings. Should a man ignore a woman just because she is covered because she prefers attention as a result of her personality instead of her body? Should a man be allowed to gawk at a woman who is not dressed because she inherently gave him the right to stare at her when she decided to go outside with "nothing on"? Why do women expose their skin only to get upset from the attention they receive? I believe that how a woman dresses greatly reflects the type of attention she wants from a man and how she wants to be treated. Men have no control over their sexual instincts, no matter how much they try because that is how our culture has trained men to look at women through magazines, movies and commercials. Women have always been objects for sale in some form but now it is through prostitution, special films and magazine pictures. These pictures the media are feeding us create these false ideals of what the female form should be because these women that men look at for hours are claimed to be perfect and the normal woman cannot rival that. As a result of basic animal instincts “nothing in men is more machinelike than the flipping of sexual switches” which seems to be the only way men look at women anymore. You overhear the discussion of girls’ looks more than their personality among men. This is not how they should be looked at because we are humans too. We have emotions, feelings and a brain too. Women should be admired for her intelligence, personality and feminism. 

Thesis: BOOSLA

I took a photography class in high school for two years so I know a little about photography and how photographers think. I understand that every photographer has their own preferences about which subjects they shoot. I believe that Shelby Lee Adams is a documenter not an artist. I cannot look at his work and think “this is a brilliant piece of art!” When I see it, thoughts about the people, their lives and what is going on in the picture come to my mind. I think Shelby is just promoting people and their culture and lifestyle but I do not think he is creating artwork that should be sold or displayed in art museums. If he has a passion to take portraits then he should become a paparazzi, he already is like one. Art is typically abstract and evokes emotion but his photos do not qualify. Just because he is taking pictures of people that are not popular like celebrities does not make his work unique or abstract. There are many other photographers who ‘document’ lives and situations but their work is not referred to as art either. On the condition of emotion being provoked, art stimulates emotion in your heart, personal feelings that are being exposed by interpretations but his photos do not follow this because they evoke pity and sadness for the subject. Personally I believe that he is taking advantage of his subjects.  

In Plato's Cave

A lot of photographers have the same viewpoint on the art but there are always the few outliers. I kind of agree with Susan Sontag and Shelby Lee Adams but I prefer not to take photos of people because I enjoy capturing moments in nature. Susan and Shelby share very many opinions about their artwork and the art of photography, their viewpoints are basically identical in comparison. They both like to catch humanity in their photographs and if you look at their work, that is all they have done. Both artists believe that they are collecting the world by taking their photos, they believe them to be artifacts, capturing moments of a time period that can be looked at in the future. Both photographers believe that photos represent parts of the visible world and are an interpretation of the world around us but at the same time photographers greatly influence what they capture. They agree that the audience viewing their work interprets the photographs uniquely based of their personal lives, conventions, ideology and the values of society at the time. Shelby and Susan impose their preference by choosing what pictures they take. They try to capture events that are important to the subjects, like you are there experiencing it with the people and to expose a lifestyle. They both believe that everything exists in the world today to be photographed. Susan believes that repetition takes the affective capacities and becomes less real which is evident in Shelby Lee Adams’ photos.