Blog #4

Personally, after reading and analyzing "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" by Ursula Le Guin, I could connect to the short story on numerous levels. First, my own "suffering child" would consist of when my former middle school best friend and I got in a disagreement, where he ended up trying to diminish my credibility among my peers, teachers, and coaches. My credibility was in fact diminished among my peers and everybody agreed with his unkind, hurtful, and untrue words even if they knew he wasn't telling the truth. Nobody had stood up for me in that moment just like nobody took the action of freeing the boy suffering in Omelas. I promised myself that if I was ever a witness of anything like this situation, then I would stand up for what is right and I would make sure that the situation was handled in the most professional and socially correct way possible. However before this event, I have in fact "stayed". I saw a fight between two kids in my religion class in eighth grade and nobody, not even the teachers took action to this event. I knew that I was the only one who could take action between the two tangling on the floor, however I decided to stay back and let them take their anger out on one another. I realized that I should've taken action even though I was not extremely close with either one of the two people because one of the kids in the fight was clearly a victim and it was very tough to see the fight go down. After the event of the falling out between my former best friend and I, however, there were numerous events where I "walked away" and one that stands out in my head as a very significant one. Towards one of the last days of middle school, I had heard about one of my former friends gossiping and stating untrue facts about a friend who was very close to me. I did not want to confront that former friend because we had numerous fun times together before we drifted apart, but I knew that I had to stand up for what was right and to stay true to my promise. I called him out for what he had done in front of a large group of kids in my grade. Some viewed me as a hero, some viewed me as a zero, but in my heart I knew what I had done was the right thing and I was proud for my actions.

Blog #3

Personally, after reading and analyzing the quote from George Gerbner, I truly believe that George Gerbner is accurate with his argument and backs his opinion up with valid points. It is a given that when almost anyone sees any "brutality" or "cruelty" on TV, one is going to feel depressed and vulnerable to the dangers of society, establishing numerous fears and doubts. The media constantly displays these dangers repeatedly, thus people will become more paranoid and will feel that anywhere they go is dangerous. This also leads to more and more people buying weapons and other tools for protection as all of this is stated by Gerbner. The media constantly brainwashes their viewers with repetitive segments of violence and danger, thus it is bound to impact people's happiness and our criminal justice department, and legislation make decisions. If society is constantly exposed to these dangers that are made much bigger than they actually are, then people will become less tolerant of mistakes, our legal system will eventually become much more strict, and it will affect the point of view that everybody has of certain situations of crime. Gordimer's "Once Upon a Time" clearly relates to the words of George Gerbner. Americans are over informed with news that is distinctly blown up which makes society want to make sure that they are safe and well-protected from the "dangers of reality". Eventually however, society will become too caught up in trying to protect themselves from this "danger" and will become less secure. This is exactly like Gordimer's short story because the family becomes so caught up in securing themselves from the "others" that they become less secure and the little boy in the family ends up being killed by the barbed wire "protecting" the house. Overall, fear haunts over the whole realm of society and we believe that by blocking out the evil realities, we will be safe nd protected, however it is exactly the opposite. 

Blog #2

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Due to much speculation this week concerning my favorite goalkeeper in the world and idol, David de Gea moving from my favorite club Manchester United, I chose to use this image and discuss how it significantly impacts me as a person. I am in love with the game of soccer and I play the goalkeeper position, thus I draw inspiration from David de Gea, one of the world's best goalkeepers. Playing soccer has given me and amazing work ethic and the game constantly pushes me to my limits, physically, mentally, on the field, and off the field. The game motivates and pushes my limits on the field clearly on the field, but off the field it has a whole other impact on me. The success that I constantly strive for and am hungry for in soccer allows for me to be hungry in all other aspects in my life such as in school. This image is of David de Gea when he made a crucial penalty kick save against Everton FC in possibly one of the best games he has ever played as a professional. This picture affects me significantly because it motivates me to try my hardest in anything I do, even when the circumstances are against me. The image makes me want to become the best goalkeeper, student, and person I can be. Before every soccer game I play, I will watch the video of his penalty kick save and this photo to make myself even more hungry and to strive for a save like this in a game. This image forces me to strive for excellence in everything I complete and it makes me want to stand out from the rest. I believe that this one image evidently impacts me every single day as not only an athlete, but as a scholar and as an overall person. 

Chase R.