Lukianoff and Haidt use ethos and logos to describe the schools morality and question their decisions. They back it up with a lot of logical opinions and facts. However, they should of visited these schools or the board of education and asked these faculties and students on how they feel on the subject. This way the
Text 1, written by Greg Lukianoff is an article titled ‘The Coddling of the American Mind’ taken from a website called www.theatlantic.com in the form of written text. Published in September 2015, it is intended with the purpose to inform and expose the truth about trigger warnings. The writer’s intended audience may be students who witnessed the occurrence trigger warnings within their campus and working adults in colleges and universities. The context of Text 1 is the writer presenting his personal opinion on trigger warnings based on his experiences. Text 2, on the other hand, is an article titled ‘An Optimist’s Guide to Political Correctness’ by Megan Garber.
Trigger Warnings on College Campuses Rhetorical Analysis Writers Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt, in their article “The Coddling of the American Mind”, detail the effects that safe spaces and trigger warnings are having on college campuses. They claim that “in the name of emotional well-being, college students are increasingly demanding protection from words and ideas they don’t like” and add they will explain “why that’s disastrous for education and mental health”. Through the use of the word “increasingly”, the writers recognize that not all students are following the damaging trend, but instead it is becoming progressively prevalent and as a result needs to be addressed. Throughout the article, explanations are given for the stance against shielding students from opinions they find oppressive, as well as ways to combat and fix the problem. Through this, the writers hope to promote a college experience where students can feel safe and
A Prime example of the mental control in Anthem, which was briefly touched upon earlier, is the brainwashing of the children from a young age to believe that they are nothing and “mankind is all” (21) and that “[they] exist through, by and for our brothers who are the State” (21). The main mental control device found in Harrison Bergeron is a “Mental Handicap” that plays loud tones at semi-regular intervals to disrupt the wearer’s train of thought and prevent the development of and major thoughts. Those who do not have these handicaps are seen as having “average” intelligence; people with “average” intelligence, such as Hazel Bergeron appear to be below the average intelligence seen in Anthem. Proof of her low intelligence, or cognitive ability, is clear seen when George Bergeron tells Hazel to “Forget sad things” with which Hazel replies “I always do”; This can be sigh of a mental disability, but due to the fact that Hazel is labeled as “average” this must mean that there are far more affected by a similar condition. The opposite is seen in Anthem if the protagonist, Equality-2521, is seen to have average intelligence.
The United States of America is renowned for the endless freedoms the country offers, yet high schools are being deprived of the opportunity to include important pieces of literature in curriculum because of the controversial subjects highlighted within the books. One piece of literature that falls in this category is Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 which has been challenged prominently because of violence. Although the novel contains sophisticated themes and violent behavior, Fahrenheit 451 should be authorized for academic use in high school curricula because it promotes awareness and classroom discussion on the prevalence of violence in society. The majority of concerned citizens believe that banning books protects the youth, however, these
The reason Lunsford includes this account of events is because it proves that while mass media might seem like its dumbing down the younger generation it is actually teaching them different kinds of writing and when to use different contexts. Although Lunsford provides great research, mass medias effects are not simply grounded in
In the first chapter of his book, The Political Mind, George Lakoff asserts that “[his] goal is to make the cognitive unconscious as conscious as possible, to make reflexive decisions reflective” (page 34). The author claims that it is a crucial matter, especially when pertaining to the political arena, where extremely important issues are at stake. Lakoff states that people’s live stories consist of narratives which surround individuals not only outside, but also inside—in people’s brains. According to the author, narratives might be simple or complex. In addition to this they have scenarios, roles, and a structure, also known as a frame.
Today’s college students are becoming more sensitized to the harshness of the outside world. Instead of learning to be resilient to others’ comments, they are being taught to take offense to any little word that could in some way be connected with a bad experience they might have had, and college administrators and professors are aiding this childish behavior. They are backing this movement to make adults into children. With this new movement to rid college campuses of any speech that may make anyone feel uncomfortable, students are being treated less like adults, and more like elementary children.
Take your prize. You have earned it. You have really earned it. The man who you voted into the presidency is a man who makes us horrified of being a citizen in this country. I do not know what to think because I cannot wrap my head around the decision.
Imagine blowing up a balloon, with every exhale of breath the balloon gets bigger. Similar to a balloon, with every year that passes grades inflate. In “Grade Inflation Gone Wild” by Stuart Rojstaczer, he discusses how the grading system has changed over the years. Rojstaczer’s overall purpose is to increase awareness of grade inflation and persuade his audience to take action. He argues that “changes in grading have had a profound influence on college life and learning” (2).
The article “The Dumbing Down of the American Mind,” by Doug Soderstrom, states that there is a very dangerous phenomenon occurring in the United States of America. It is the willful tendency for Americans to forgo reality in favor of believing what they want to believe. The author, Doug, uses irony and sarcasm to voice out his opinion about the Bush-Cheney administration, and somehow relates it to the five reasons he gave why we are in the state of “dumbing-down.” According to Doug, the unwillingness to learn of this generation, the tendency of our country to compartmentalize their religious belief from science and philosophy, and the procurement of freedom with the expense of responsibility and the interest in the needs of others
Martin Seligman’s Theory Of Learned Helplessness Learned helplessness is a phenomenon occurred when a living thing learned to be helpless in a specific condition after a period of training or experience about the specific condition (Ciccarelli & White, 2012). In 1967, Martin Seligman first identified the term “learned helplessness”(Joyce, 2005). He and his colleagues grouped the dogs into three groups and put them into different condition (Kathrya, n.d.). At first, the dogs that were “inescapable shocked” which mean the dogs would not be able to escape although it was been electrical shocked.
The article “Mind Over Mass Media”, written by Professor Steven Pinker, describes the impact of media on human lives and brains. Pinker illustrates the benefits people gain from using the worlds quickly increasing technology and media. Pinker suggests that today’s technology such as, PowerPoint, Google, and other forms of social media can actually enhance and bring more intelligence to the mind, instead of being detrimental. Critics believe that the many different forms of media can lower intelligence. However, Pinker declares that scientists are using all of this technology everyone else is using, and are still discovering new things.
Does this false consciousness create an imbalance in the way we view the world and cause us to lose or misinterpret class consciousness? One of the most influential agents of socialization today, in the 21st century, is the mass media. Until recently, communication with mass media has been
“Every man carries with him through life a mirror, as unique and impossible to get rid of as his shadow” ( Auden, 1989, p.93) Based on the work by Sigmund Freud, human behaviour can be influenced by their subconscious – “the notion that human beings are motivated, even driven by desires, fears, needs, and conflicts of which they are unaware” (Freud, 1919). As the forced reflection of what can be understood as unconscious internal conflict or the human ego, Freud (1919) argues that the human body develops defences to keep the “conflict” away from the conscious mind, namely; selective perception, selective memory, denial, displacement, protection, regression, and the fear of death. In this essay we will look at the television series breaking
