In the op-ed piece “A Change of Heart about Animals”, Jeremy Rifkin emphasizes the similarities between humans and animals by providing results on scientific research studies to illustrate that humans should be more empathetic towards animals. In addition, he further explains how research results have changed the ways humans perceived animals and indicates solutions that were taken by other countries and organizations to help improve and protect animal rights. Rifkin provides examples that demonstrate animals have emotions, conceptual abilities, self awareness, and a sense of individualism just like humans. For example, Pigs crave for affection and get depressed easily when isolated, two birds Betty and Abel have tool making skills, Koko
In “A Plague of Tics” (1997), David Sedaris exemplifies that some habits and behaviors people find queer are permanent and irrepressible by others; you cannot judge every person on the same scale of normality. Sedaris accentuates this subconscious act by interlacing his childhood “’special problems’” of “obsessive” rocking, counting, and touching (363) with experiences reaching his college discoveries of “drugs, drinking, and smoking” (370) as well as deliberately adding excerpts of his father “attempting to cure [him] with a series of threats” (365). The author vividly illustrates an extreme case of OCD, commonly associated with tics, and adult demeanors in order to show the horrific side-effects both the person and surrounding friends and
In his essay “A Plague of Tics”, David Sedaris recounts the compulsions he suffered from for much of his youth, beginning in 3rd grade when his family moved from New York to North Carolina, and lasting through college, until he took up smoking as a more socially acceptable habit to replace his previous, more “inappropriate” habits, such as licking light switches and rolling his eyes back. At the time the essay takes place, the early 1960s, there was not much public knowledge of mental illness, but to a modern reader it is clear that the experiences Sedaris describes are very telling of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Mental health is often considered a difficult to approach, even taboo topic, but Sedaris breaks this barrier easily through
In his essay “You Can’t Kill the Rooster,” David Sedaris described his delinquent younger brother named Paul. Based on David’s description, Paul was very unruly in his behavior and speech, particularly when he habitually cussed at his family, especially at his father. Before Paul was born, the Sedaris family moved from New York State to Raleigh, North Carolina. The parents forbade David and his sisters from succumbing to the Carolinians’ traditions and behaviors; Paul, however, ended up doing just that after he was born, having become influenced by such activities as listening to hard-core rap music (61). He did things opposite to what his parents told David and his sisters not to do, like addressing elders as “sir” or “ma’am” (60, 63), drinking
Chapter 1 and 2 1. At this point of the novel, I feel a little curious as to where the story is going to go. I must say, I am a little confused on how the animals are planning on going though with their plans. 2. I can think of ways I have felt like these animals do in the story.
Humor in the Henhouse In his essay “Chicken in the Henhouse”, Sedaris utilizes various forms of humor to demonstrate that you can’t stereotype an entire group of people and that you shouldn’t judge people. Sedaris argues that stereotypes cause a negative self image and feelings such as guilt despite being innocent of any misdeeds society implicates him in. Serdaris uses humor to make himself more relatable which can be explained through the use of the superiority, incongruity, and relief theories to prove that stereotypes can not define everybody. By practicing humor throughout his essay, the author makes his argument more effective and able to further impact his audience more than it would have without humor.
Yin Xiang Lit/Writ Ms. Dery Block 1 Febuary 5, 2018 Poetry Perspectives Essay “The problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.” - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Adichie explains that while stereotypes show one view of a someone, it doesn’t all of the views of that person.
The ultimate idea I got from The Hare and Their Dogs is that our pets remind us that we, too, are wild beings, but more civilized because we live in houses and have institutions that help to create order in our lives. We can always – if our survival depended on it – resort back to our primitive, wild natural selves; and pets remind us of that connection to our primal selves. I read the Cats Kill article, That Cuddly Kitty is Deadlier Than You Think. I know that cats are thought to be responsible for the extinction of some bird species, and for this reason Australia legalized hunting feral cats in a bid to
In An Animal’s Place, Michael Pollan describes the growing acknowledgement of animal rights, particularly America’s decision between vegetarianism and meat-eating. However, this growing sense of sentiment towards animals is coupled with a growing sense of brutality in farms and science labs. According to Pollan, the lacking respect for specific species of animals lies in the fact that they are absent from human’s everyday lives; enabling them to avoid acknowledgment of what they are doing when partaking in brutality towards animals. He presents arguments for why vegetarianism would make sense in certain instances and why it would not and ultimately lead to the decision of eating-meat while treating the animals fairly in the process. Pollan
115). He is claiming that no slippery slope exists between animals and humans, which is a big statement to make. Also, if you look back to the paragraph where I talk about him, one of the points that I used of his is that he does not care about animals’ feelings, (which would make sense because he is against animals having moral rights). Although he does provide an example of torturing a cat using a dartboard, and how he thinks it is cruel; but not because the cat is suffering, but rather because our behaviour and treatment towards the cat would be viewed as wrong, in his eyes, because then that can ultimately lead to our treatment towards human beings. Carruthers does not want humans to mistreat animals, because people “...who are taught to care for animals and respect life...are more likely to be nurturing and kind to humans.”
His premises in (5) that cats can be fed once a day is unfair. In the Joseph Saling’s article “Feeding Tips for Dogs,” Melissa Carreker, DVM, owner of Leland Veterinary Clinic in Mableton, Ga states that, “Some dogs can handle their food being out all day.” So dogs can be fed once a day, not only cats. In addition, his argument in (6) that house guests are weary of annoying dogs is an example of the fallacy of questionable cause. He assumes that a dog assaults, licks, and jumps on the house guest.
In 1997, David Sedaris first published “A Plague of Tics” in his autobiography “Naked”. Sedaris published his autobiography to show people what his life was like up to the point of writing this piece of nonfiction. Sedaris had this urge to write about his life because he felt he had a story worth telling, and that warranted a book. An autobiography is perfect in this scenario for the audience because no one other than Sedaris should be sharing this fascinating adventure. The specific adventure that I’ll be referring to his his essay in “Naked” titled “A Plague of Tics”.
In section 3. Why Animalism is Unpopular, of “An Argument for Animalism,” Eric Olson argues that animalism is unpopular amongst contemporary philosophers. Animalism, according to Olson, is a theory that humans are numerically identical to animals (“An Argument for Animalism”, 610). This means that there is a particular human organism and that organism is you; the human organism and you are one in the same. When thinking about personal identity, Olson reasons that contemporary philosophers don’t ask what kind of things we are.
After a few of David Sedaris’ humorous essays, I had thought that I had finally grasped his tone as a writer, but after only a page or two of “You Can’t Kill the Rooster,” I had found myself not only wrong, but also in the midst of complete hysterics. The way Sedaris describes his brother, Paul, plastered a smirk on my face that would later transition into a full-body convulsive fit of laughter. Because of Paul’s vulgarity in his choice of words, at first I was hesitant from writing about it, but honestly it was just too darn funny not to. Sedaris’ tone while recalling his brother’s most vulgar comments was in my opinion, pure comedic gold. One of my personal favorite of Paul’s sayings is “if she’s old enough to bleed, she’s old enough to breed,” which might I add, is true.
Everyone has heard the phrase referring to dogs as “man’s best friend” at some point in their lifetime. A multitude of dogs is not a rare sight in the neighborhoods of today; instead of most families waking up to a chicken cawing in the morning they wake up to a friendly dog barking at a squirrel. According to the book Going to the Dogs by Gwyneth Anne Thayer, between 50% and 70% of Americans treat their pets as family members. Another statistic in the book shows that in 1998, 24% of dogs were considered outdoor living dogs, whereas in 2006 only 13% were living outside permanently. America is pet crazy; the majority of families have one or more pets and some even refer to their pets as “fur babies” (Thayer, 15).
