Introduction

In the past, books and other forms of literature have been banned as a way for dictators and oppressive governments to limit the spread of opposing ideas. Books such as the Bible, the Odyssey, and the works of Shakespeare have been ripped from those who seek knowledge, entertainment, or enlightenment merely because they held a different view to those with power. Allowing individuals to decide what our youth can and can’t read based on moral or political disagreement is no different than the Nazis burning books that were decidedly “un-German” in Berlin on May 10, 1933. Rather than focusing on the rights of the students involved, our school districts are merely hoping to appease the angry beast figure that dissatisfied parents represent to public school systems. This leads to libraries leaving their primary duty of curating information on any topic their students could desire to learn and requires they focus on covering their own tracks so if a parent attacks they can minimize damages. Individual challengers should not hold power over the rights of students, libraries, or schools and the challenge system needs a serious overhaul if it can begin to be considered fair under the rights and laws provided by our constitution.

Stand by Me

The video titled "Stand by Me | Song Around the World" by Playing for Change shows just how emotionally connective the art of music is. These people who played and sang this son have most likely never met each other, and yet they understood one another's emotional standing just by hearing their part in the song and singing or playing along with them. The choice of music in itself was a strong way to utilize pathos to persuade everybody to love and help each other cause all of us need a friend sometimes, and is further enhanced by the location names that show up in the bottom of the screen. These people are so far away from each other that they will most likely never cross paths save for a couple who were in the same state or region, however, the emotional bond formed through the song is strong enough to make it feel like they are right there alongside each individual musician to create a massive band all working together to make this song happen. All of their individual struggles come to light in their tone and it creates a strong argument as to why we should avoid recreating these struggles and be there for those who have felt them. An example would be Vusi Mahlesela who was an active voice against the Apartheid and the themes in his music represent the struggle for freedom, and reconciliation with those who oppressed him and his people. He doesn't advocate violence against white South Africans, but instead feels people need to come to terms with each other's faults and stand together as humans The Apartheid was a terrible regime that has thankfully been dismantled, but there are still people who were effected by it and struggle with the treatment they received on a daily basis and they could really use people to stand with them. Human created suffering isn't the only ordeal that is emotionally represented in the singers voices, as there are several people who went through homelessness caused by hurricanes and others i'm sure have their own reasons for what they do that they are not comfortable with putting out there. This doesn't stop the from creating music to uplift others and bringing joy to their communities in their own special way.

Video: https://playingforchange.com/videos/stand-by-me-song-around-the-world/

Critical Response

In Gerard Jones' Essay, "Violent Media Is Good For Kids", he uses his narrow viewpoint on the subject of violent media to claim it is a releasing agent for rage and frustration and not something to incite anger in children. 

Through his experience with himself, his son, and kids whose stories he has cherry picked out of his time in Power Play, he shows a lot of anecdotal evidence which ultimately creates stories that make you feel good but hardly make an argument. In Paragraph fifteen he talks about a girl who supposedly handled a harsh family environment through the use of "gangsta rap". He solely attributes her success to the rap music carrying her through the tumultuous time in her life and helping her avoid falling into drugs. The idea that she would have gotten into drugs or completely broken from the pressure of her family life is unfounded because she didn't do it in the first place. She did not rise up out of a drug addiction through it and he met her after the fact so he can not say that the rap in particular is what kept her in control. Dr. Kahneman, a lecturer in psychology stated “Nothing is quite as important as you think it is while you’re thinking about it" . She recognizes the helpfulness of the rap music enough to present it when talking about her troubles because it is something tangible to think about, and Jones gets exactly what he wants in the form of someone who fits his narrative. Even though the rap could have been a factor in her coping ability, other attributes of her personality and ability to reason are being forsaken to make a point about violent media. He opposes the idea that violent media is harmful, but he is using tactics similar to the emotionally charged articles and videos the holders of that opinion present to the public.

Jones describes a situation in which his son was afraid to climb a tree with his friends in the first grade and claims reading Tarzan to him for two weeks is what pushed him to give it a try. Once again he shows that he is unable to believe anything but the violent media is helping when he observes these situations. Two weeks is a long time for a child in the first grade, and any number of events could have happened to change his mind and disregard his fears. A further understanding of the dangers present and peer pressure certainly would have been present at the time he decided to climb the tree, however no concessions to this line of thinking are made by Jones. He believes wholeheartedly that the violent media's message that Tarzan is undefeatable was internalized by his son and that he used this newfound persona to convince himself to climb the tree. This idea can also apply to the opposing argument. The recent florida school shooting was immediately blamed on video game violence by Kentucky governor Matt Bevin. The current narrative being told is that he internalized the point scoring system for killing people and went on a rampage in his school.

Gerard Jones makes a good argument for violent media by presenting a number of success stories, however, he defeats his message in some capacity by the solely emotional nature of his examples and his inability to make concessions about the nature of the people in the situations he uses for evidence. He uses the same tactics as the news and tabloids he disagrees with. 

Sources:
https://www.rollingstone.com/glixel/news/kentucky-gov-blames-video-games-for-florida-school-shooting-w516826
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/we-have-no-idea-what-makes-us-happy-23252374/
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2000/06/violent-media-good-kids-0/

Four Pillars Argument on Why College is Whack

Pillar One - Thesis Statement:

Paragraph One: "I believe higher education is broken." 

Pillar Two - Evidence

Paragraph Four: "The College Board Policy Center found that the cost of public university tuition is about 3.6 times higher today than it was 30 years ago, adjusted for inflation."

Paragraph Eight: "Employers are recruiting on LinkedIn, Facebook, StackOverflow, and Behance. People are hiring on Twitter, selling their skills on Google, and creating personal portfolios to showcase their talent."

Paragraph Four: "In the book Academically Adrift, sociology professors Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa say that 36 percent of college graduates showed no improvement in critical thinking, complex reasoning, or writing after four years of college."

Pillar Three - Refutation

Paragraph Ten: "These are valid but irrelevant concerns, for the people who indulge in drugs and alcohol do so before, during, and after college." -countering the argument that people that drop out will live in a basement doing jello shots playing video games and smoking pot all day

Pillar Four - Concluding Statement 

Paragraph Ten: "We who take out education outside and beyond the classroom understand how actions build a better world. We will change the world regardless of the letters after our names."

What is he saying to his audience?

The two main demographics this type of article will draw to read it are worried college students who are coming to this conclusion through their own experiences and cynical non-students who hold an unshakable belief that dropping out is the same as claiming you are a failure. The students hold the same beliefs as the non students as they were raised with this notion that college is required to land a good career, and now that they are immersed in the college culture they are starting to have their doubts about what they are actually achieving by being there. This kind of confusion is wholly unproductive and the author acknowledges this. He claims that as long as you are willing to learn and better yourself there are very few reasons why a formal classroom should be required. For example people who develop their digital creation talents on their own in their own rooms can create portfolios and release their content to the masses. These portfolios of content are what employers in these digital businesses will look for when determining if they want to hire these individuals not their college experience. This is not so socially acceptable for doctors as the author mentions. It's a pretty bad idea to keep cadavers in your garage and study them so a formal environment such as a medical school is required. What the author is pointing out is that society has put a weight on college that is wholly unnecessary and these points he made will be comforting to both major demographics as it gives hope that there is another option to upset college students and settles worries about "dropouts" by others.

Introduction

My name is Jacob Franscoviak and i am an Information Technology major at Georgia Gwinnett College. I enjoy programming and designing User Interfaces in my free time that isn't spent gaming with my friends. My favorite programming language is Java and i have been studying it for three years now. I have experience with Python, C#, HTML, and Swift.

When I'm not programming I am generally found online playing games such as Borderlands 2, Skyrim, Smite, and more recently Dauntless which is a new game that is attempting to mimic the style of Monster Hunter and succeeding with flying colors in my opinion.