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Thomas Hugo
Professor Mangini 04/21/2018 The main focus of my blog post is to discuss how that in our class we watched the film "Where to Invade Next" by Michael Moore and how it helped me learn and grow. In the film there were many different spots Moore visited on his trip around Europe. He visited many places that I would have never thought to look at to compare some of Americas big issues in society. I think that it really opened my eyes to how other countries are more inclined to solve issues not only with citizens but with their own governments and how America could learn from something like this. This whole section also helped me grow as a writer, we were assigned a research paper to write answering a debatable question. In my writing I chose a question that was challenging to write about. I chose the question "should America model its prison systems after Norway's model of incarcerating and rehabilitating prisoners?". After finishing my paper, I thought I had a good paper but then I began to rewrite and revise it repeatedly to try to better my writing. In this process I found that if I review my writing after I finish I can begin to create better formed sentences as well as correct mistakes I have made in my paper. It also helped me grow because I have not written a research paper in quite some time, so I was able to relearn some things I forgot. I thought the whole section was a good learning experience and I was able to do a lot of independent work which really focused on my writing and my creativity. I enjoyed the reflective writing part of the section, the video helped me recognize many questions I could answer after the writing is over. Overall, I thought the experience in class was a good experience and I was able to both learn and grow as a student and a writer. I thought that by the end of this section I became a better writer in some respects. The class in general has definitely been a great class and has helped me become better as a student. I hope that I can carry these lessons into my future classes and that I can keep becoming a better writer.
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This blog post will be about reflective writing and reflection on my research paper which is about the prison systems in America and Norway, titled America: Behind Bars. I will be answering the provided questions from the blog assignments page.
Thomas Hugo
English Comp 1 Professor Mangini 04/06/2018 Annotated Bibliography Moore, Michael. Where to Invade Next?. Dog Eat Dog Films. 2016 In the film, Moore sets out on a long journey spanning several foreign countries, mostly in Europe, on a quest to find things to "claim for America". Moore tackles main events in Americas headlines and compares them to how the countries in Europe that he is "invading" handles these same issues. His journey begins with the labor rights in Italy, investigating their policy on paid days such as holidays, honeymoons, and their lunch breaks. His expedition then takes him to France where he meets with schools that pride themselves on providing good and hearty meals for their students, all curated by chefs and planned by the schoolboards. He then travels to Finland to discuss their education system with the Finnish Education minister, where he finds standardized testing has been eliminated and all schools are treated as equal. His trip goes on to Slovenia, where education is free for everyone, including foreigners. He travels to Germany for their labor rights and how making amends and facing your past goes a long way. He takes a trip to Portugal to discuss how decriminalization of drugs affects their economy, free healthcare and how their country has done away with the death penalty out of dignity for human life. He visits Norway and their prison system and how they reintegrate people back into society rather than setting them up to fail. He flies to Tunisia, to discuss womens rights and how women have more power and say and he discusses reproductive health and how women have a voice for themselves. His final stop is in Iceland, where more women hold power than men and how when the economy collapsed, bankers were prosecuted instead of being handed bailouts. Michael Moore takes a comedic approach to conquer real problems in Americas society and workplaces. He makes major key points that make you question how America stacks up against foreign countries. He compares many aspects of life that span from education, way of life, prisons and school lunches. Overall the film provided good insight into the issues of today and provided a good thinking base for the research paper. Where to invade Next? Will provide the base for the questions that I will be researching and creating an argument in my research paper. Information provided in the film will be used to conduct portions of my arguments and to provide a concrete research paper. Gonnerman, Jennifer. "The American Prison System Is Ineffective and Requires Reform." Alternatives to Prisons, edited by Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr., Greenhaven Press, 2012. At Issue. Opposing Viewpoints In Context, http://link.galegroup.com.libdb.dccc.edu/apps/doc/EJ3010349215/OVIC?u=pa_de_ccc&sid=OVIC&xid=183d34e9. Accessed 6 Apr. 2018. Originally published as "Slammed: Welcome to the Age of Incarceration," Mother Jones, July-Aug. 2008. The article, Slammed: Welcome to the Age of Incarceration, provides insight and facts into the prison system in America. It outlines just how many prisoners are locked away and that America has risen to the top spot in the world for the amount of prisoners. Rather than rehabilitation, prisons have become places of punishment. Degrading humans and turning them to second class subhumans of society. The article, Slammed: Welcome to the Age of Incarceration, is filled with information on how bad prisons really are. It outlines recidivism and the incarceration rate as of 2008.it provides a good source of information that details how prisoners, even with small convictions will be unable to lead their lives after release. I will be using this article to provide good points and information into my research paper. Outlining recidivism, and key ideas taken from the text. It will provide insight into all things denied to prisoners after release and the stats to show how fast America has risen to the top of the list for amounts of inmates in prisons and what types of problems that this creates for society. Smith, Caleb. "Prison." Keywords for American Cultural Studies, edited by Bruce Burgett, and Glenn Hendler, New York University Press, 2nd edition, 2014. Credo Reference, https://libdb.dccc.edu/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/nyupacs/prison/0?institutionId=5109. Accessed 07 Apr. 2018. This article defines what prisons are made up to be. It shows that they were never created with the purpose in mind to rehabilitate inmates, but rather to punish them in cruel ways. The word rehabilitation in unheard of in prisons. Prisons pose a problem but not a solution. Only adding more issues with the increased rate of prisoners who are being incarecerated daily makes for a huge problem. This article will be used in my research paper to show that prisons are not made to make prisoners as part of society again but rather to hold them in place and prove that they are solely for punishment. The information written will be used to support some of my main ideas throughout the paper and used stats to add evidence to the claims made. Sterbenz, Christina. "Why Norway's Prison system is so successful". Business Insider. December 11, 2014. http://www.businessinsider.com/why-norways-prison-system-is-so-successful-2014-12 The article "Why Norway's Prison system is so successful.", stacks how different American prisons and Norwegian prisons are totally different. It adds facts about recidivism and talks about how rehabilitation should be the key, underlining objective in prison systems. Keeping human the dignity of others and not treating them like animals. The Norwegians want people who are rehabilitated, not angry and hateful, back into society. While America on the other hand wants punishment first and rehabilitation second. The article "Why Norway's Prison system is so successful.", really speaks to the tone of just how different both Norway and America are in terms of prison systems. I think that it provides a more informative approach to speak to the reader and show that using a more humane approach in prisons is a successful way to rehabilitate inmates and make them part of society. Its about treatment of prisoners and how treating them like humans and not like animals makes all the difference in the world. I will be using this source for quotes and for information on the recidivism rate. I will be using the five major goals that prisons should have, showing the justice department facts that show that incarceration increases the recidivism rate while behavioral and cognitive programs are useful for keeping ex cons out of prisons. I will be using the max for prison system sentences information and how it differs from the United States. The Economist."America's Prisons are failing, heres how to make them work". The Economist. May 27, 2017. https://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21722642-lot-known-about-how-reform-prisoners-far-too-little-done-americas-prisons-are The article outlines how many minor offense prisoners are behind bars and just how long they serve. It also outlines the cost of each prisoner per year as well as the many different ways we can reevaluate just who should be sent where. More harsh crimes should be reserved for prisons and how rehabilitation in cognitive behavioral systems keep individuals from coming back to prisons. The article is a good source of information on the length of prison sentences and how much it costs to keep an inmate at a prison. It covers the fact that prisons in Norway help their inmates find jobs and has them start their jobs up to 18 months before release while Americas 27,000 state licensing rules keep inmates out of jobs they need. I will be using this article as a source of information regarding the cost of inmates in American prisons as well as inmates getting jobs when they are released. I will be using the information about how to effectively use prison systems, not trapping minor offenses in prisons but rather sending them to rehab and showing that behavioral programs work and they should be utilized more often. Benko, Jessica. “The Radical Humaneness of Norway's Halden Prison.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 26 Mar. 2015, www.nytimes.com/2015/03/29/magazine/the-radical-humaneness-of-norways-halden-prison.html. The article focuses on the treatment of prisoners in Norway and how their daily lives pan out while in prison. Norwegian prisoners have keys to every door, they have no walls, they have a communal time they all get together, guards included. It shows how lenient the security is at the prisons, with inmates left with knives and keys to every door. Guards make friends with the inmates and it's all about inmates getting treated humanely and with dignity. Inmates have access to shops and tv as well as the internet, even harsh criminals, such as murderers are left alone with the interviewer and they aren't treated like animals. This article provides a good background into the way Norway operates its prisons. It shows that even the inmates are shown humane ways of life rather than a harsh place to live. It is a good comparison to American prisons and how American prisoners are treated, mostly with punishment first. It talks about how America was so close to adopting a similar way of operating prisons in the 1960s, quoting that the life in correctional facilities is degrading. The conditions they live in provides reinforcing for a destructive way of life. I will be using this article to provide details on the way prisons are operated, to try to provide some focus to rebuke arguments that some may have about the research paper I am writing. I will be using stats and information to provide structure to my paper and to show how vastly different American prisons are versus Norwegian prisons. The main focus of this blog post is to select a few topics covered in the documentary "Where to Invade Next?" By Michael Moore and discuss them thoroughly and to bring about arguments that answer each question selected. The topics I have chosen will be listed below, along with the arguments responding to prior chosen topics.
 The main focus of this blog post is to summarize and cover topics related to the film "Where to Invade next?" By Michael Moore. In the documentary "Where to Invade Next?", Michael Moore tries to figure out how adopting foreign countries methods of economics and life could really make America great again. In the film, Moore sets out on a long journey spanning several foreign countries, mostly in Europe, on a quest to find things to "claim for America". Moore tackles main events in Americas headlines and compares them to how the countries in Europe that he is "invading" handles these same issues. His journey begins with the labor rights in Italy, investigating their policy on paid days such as holidays, honeymoons, and their lunch breaks. His expedition then takes him to France where he meets with schools that pride themselves on providing good and hearty meals for their students, all curated by chefs and planned by the schoolboards. He then travels to Finland to discuss their education system with the Finnish Education minister, where he finds standardized testing has been eliminated and all schools are treated as equal. His trip goes on to Slovenia, where education is free for everyone, including foreigners. He travels to Germany for their labor rights and how making amends and facing your past goes a long way. He takes a trip to Portugal to discuss how decriminalization of drugs affects their economy, free healthcare and how their country has done away with the death penalty out of dignity for human life. He visits Norway and their prison system and how they reintegrate people back into society rather than setting them up to fail. He flies to Tunisia, to discuss womens rights and how women have more power and say and he discusses reproductive health and how women have a voice for themselves. His final stop is in Iceland, where more women hold power than men and how when the economy collapsed, bankers were prosecuted instead of being handed bailouts. Michael Moore establishes ethos by showing both sides of the story, comparing America with a foreign country and stacking their ideas against one another, showing that many ideas could bode well for America and that we as Americans should consider adopting certain qualities these countries obtain. It shows that he pays close attention to Americas issues. Michael Moore uses logos by setting up a well organized view on subjects that should be addressed in America, he makes you think about how these ideas can be implemented in the economy. Michael Moore appeals to pathos by bringing you into a different perspective and showing how changing small things can have a big outcome, Moore makes you think very hard on what life might be like if America could inherit these traits shown in the different countries. Michael Moores' telos is that he is trying to get across, in a dark comedy kind of way, that America needs to change. Even though it may be funny, it still doesn’t derive from his true intention. The kairos of this film is that it takes place mostly in Europe, comparing their ways of life and economies to our own during the times that recent and current events are still fresh in our minds. Reflective writing is a process that puts your thinking into writing. Reflective thinking i the most important part. Its about looking back, thinking about it and projecting it into the future. It should influence your viewpoints and enable you to see them in future events. You should write about it as thoughts about what happened, such as before it, during it, after it, and since the event happened. It should also include how you feel and the implications. It should have small bouts of description and more about reflection. Hindsight is also important, it provides knowledge of past events. My reflective writing is seen in my Life-Choice Memoir page, the questions below are about my Life Choice Memoir and are answered to the best of my ability.
My class experience has been great. I like the way the class is centered around the way you write and create. I like the way our assignments really make you use your mind. I especially like the assignment/specific conversation about neuroplasticity and how it can help you change the way you work and the way you think. I always believed that you could increase your memory and the amount of knowledge you have. I liked the two categories that the explained growth and fixed mindset. I would like to believe that I have a bit of both of those elements. I enjoy learning and figuring out how I can better myself through learning from my mistakes. I also like to challenge myself by taking the harder work first. I also enjoyed the class work where we had to do freewriting. I have always loved freewriting and just letting my mind flow onto the page. Freewriting enables me to not second guess myself and stop my flow. I enjoyed having time to really write what I felt was important to the topic that we had to write about. It was really enjoyable. I think that it also helped me grow and really challenged me to think about what I needed to write, how well I could write without stopping. It enabled me to get as many ideas and as many good sentences onto the page without me second guessing or interrupting my flow. I always had a hard time not second guessing my own work and deleting entire paragraphs because I thought they were terrible. I enjoy the experience of creating my own website, its something that I can carry with me after the class has ended. It enables me to be able to say that I have created a website of my own. The website has also enabled me to let my creativity flow and make a personal blog which I hope to keep updating. The blog is a great way to create assignments and have them all in one place, it's also a great way to be able to revise my own work. I hope that the class can enable me to learn more about the subjects that we are going to learn about in the future. I hope that my writing can develop further and that the blog can allow me to create content people will view and maybe relate to. I hope that the class continues the way it is now and I hope it gets me to think about some of the choices I have made in my life.
Telling the truth is sometimes a very hard thing to do, the consequences may affect you or the people around you. In the podcast What You Don’t Know by Lulu Wang, Lulu, the story teller, is faced with a decision to hide a prognosis of cancer from her grandmother, NaiNai. Her family members insist on her not telling NaiNai of her condition because they believe that her condition will only worsen if she is told of her sickness. Their whole family decides to mask their goodbyes with a wedding planned in China. They plan to all be able to see NaiNai one last time before her final three months are up. Do I agree with their decision to hide the prognosis from Lulus grandmother?
I have mixed feelings with her family's decision to hide NaiNais prognosis from her. I feel as though telling NaiNai of her prognosis would make her state of liveliness deteriorate and she would fall into depression and not want to do much of anything. If I were faced with a decision like this I don’t know how I would proceed. In the story, Lulu speaks of a Chinese belief of Chongxi, which is a belief of washing away misfortune with joy. I think that it is a strong belief and that it may even work, and it may have even worked for NaiNai, for she lived years past her original prognosis of three months. If they would have told NaiNai it could have had an unimaginable toll on her mental and physical health and she could have passed earlier. I also believe in the truth. If it were me I would have wanted to know about it, and with the support of my family, beat back the prognosis. Maybe in some cases it is better to not lie, its truly based on moral beliefs and how you should act on them. I once had to tell a difficult truth because lying weighs too heavily on my moral compass. I had to tell a best friend of mine that we werent on good terms with each other. I previously told him that we were on good terms but I couldn’t go another day with it on my mind. He played me for a fool and went behind my back and at the time made decisions that affected my relationship at the time. It was hard to do but I couldn’t live with it another day. After I confronted him with it I knew that we would no longer be friends but I had to do it. It felt wrong to carry that with myself and wrong of me to lie in the first place. The times after that were hard because my relationship ended because of things that were said and resulted in me losing two people I could confide in. I felt better everyday forward because I came to terms with myself, I knew who I was and what I was about, I found support from my other friends who to this day support me for what I did, I made new best friends out of unlikely people. So in a way I am grateful for what happened because like they say, "when one door closes, another door opens". There are many forms of oppression, and while they may not always be physical, almost everyone will be subject to oppression in their lifetime. Maya Angelou was no stranger to oppression, in the story My Name Is Margaret, Maya Angelou faces both mental and physical oppression due solely to the color of her skin. In this story Margaret finds a job working for a rich woman who covets her parents' fine china. Maya is forced to work for this woman who refuses to correctly call her by her real name, instead this woman calls her Mary, instead of Margaret. Margaret is forced to swallow her pride and to continue working for this woman until one day she snaps, she purposefully breaks the woman's fine china. The woman finally calls her by her real name after she breaks the china. If faced with this oppression would you make the same choice?
I agree with Mayas decision to break the china dishes. I feel that she made a choice to break the oppression that she was facing every day. I would definitely be unable to handle that kind of oppression. In a way she got justice for her name. She makes a stride not only for her but for all oppressed people, it shows that no matter how much you push people down, eventually they will push back. Even if the push is as minute as breaking china to show that you have a voice and that you can be heard, and that your name and existence cannot be stripped from you. Therefore I agree without a doubt in my mind that what she did was justified. She committed an act, that some others would not dare. She took a stand for what she believed in, that your name is the most important thing given to you and that it should be respected. I made a choice once to resist a minor force of oppression, while it may not be on the level of oppression Maya Angelou faced, it was still oppression. I chose to refuse my employer. My employer had me doing personal errands in which were not part of my job description. I was running personal errands for my employer, in my own vehicle, and then returning to work to be pushed to finish the job I was currently working on. After weeks of this misuse I finally stood up for myself. For me it was an important and scary choice. Many things ran through my mind, like if I was to be fired for refusing to do these errands. I finally worked up enough courage to say no. It came as a surprise for my employer who thought that I could be repeatedly misused and then rushed through my more important jobs. At the end of the day I felt that I made a choice to combat this oppression and it felt like a small for of justice had been dispersed. I felt better every day forward and now they know that I will speak for myself and not be pushed down, that I will speak up and push back. |
Thomas Hugo
