Letter from Birmingham Jail

The first thing I thought while reading this, is that Martin Luther King Jr. was a very intelligent person. He formed his sentences and presented his ideas very well. He effectively presented his claim and supported it with life experiences, facts and witnesses. Another thing that kept popping up in my head is, he had a lot of personal stories and accounts from other people that he used for support. One piece of his support that stuck with me the most from the reading is how he mentioned that merchants would hang signs in their "markets" that contained racial material. The witnesses and facts he used for support were valid and verifiable.
As everyone knows, King went through a lot of hardship and fighting for equal and civil rights. The fact that he wrote the letter from jail is, alone, proof enough. He was used to dishing out the nonviolent pressure on authorities and court officials to gain equal and civil rights, but most, unfortunately, didn't want to hear it. They resorted to throwing people in jail as a quick fix.
Of course, as we all know, all of King's efforts were payed off, as African Americans ultimately gained equal and civil rights. Martin Luther King Jr. was probably the single most influencial person in this historical accomplishment.

"Mall Rats"

I rather enjoyed reading this essay by William Kowinski. It opened my eyes to a new way of looking at spending time at the mall. I always thought of the mall as just... the mall. I never thought of it as grade school without the classes. I also never thought of the mall as teaching me life lessons and preparing me for the future. I always thought I was just having fun with my friends and shopping. The mall was never my other mother, or my baby-sitter. I have, and still do, spend a good deal of time at the mall. But I have noticed that, as I get older, the shorter my visits last. I'm usually in and out now. And I actually go with a set thing that I'm interested in purchasing. I'm not going as much as a place to hang out with my friends on the weekends or when we're bored.
As for the reading, I think the author did a great job with this argument, providing facts that supported both sides of the coin. It was very balanced and left the readers open to their own opinions on the matter.

Defining Key Terms

This read was very formal, I think, in terms of opening my eyes to new ways of looking at things. I never thought of the concept of "terrorism" having no set definition and having so many different ways to approach it. I think the way the author put it was the best definition in the entire essay, "violence committed by those we disapprove of" (137).
I do think it is ironic, however, that we talk about terrorism being such a horrible thing when we are guilty of it ourselves. We as Americans love being over in other countries, showing them how they should be living, and in the process, doing our own fair share of "terrorism." I also believe it's ironic that the author wrote the essay before 9/11 and gave a statistic in the introduction that no international terrorist acts occurred in the United States. Little did he know that later, this disaster would open our eyes and give us all a new "definition" to the word "terrorism" that will last forever in our hearts and minds.

Writing about Argument

This was a very interesting read. Alan Dershowitz decides to write a proposal on a very touchy subject: torture and other unconventional means of questioning a subject. In his proposal, Dershowitz is obviously for the methods of torture according to certain circumstances. He goes on to say that there will be legal and illegal forms of torture going on, inside and outside the law. I believe that, if a serious enough situation arises where torture is the best means of getting important information, than it should be used. I don't agree with torture however because I believe it is very immoral. But when it comes to saving lives... you got to do what you got to do. I do think Dershowitz is right when he says torture is going on, and it is better that it be inside the law then being hidden. When it comes to certain measures, I'm sure that authorities and other officials will use torture, truth serum or the other mentioned means to find out what they need to.
Seth Finkelstein however, does not agree. He completely argues against Dershowitz's proposal and even mocks him using direct quotes from his writing. Most of Finkelstein's argument is questioning what good it would do to make torturing legal. He knows illegal torture goes on and doesn't see the need for there to be legal and illegal torture going on.

Reading Visual Texts Critically

I thought this reading selection was pretty interesting. I never thought of the different opinions and views people get from looking at a picture, or other type of visual, as a form of argument. But now, the more I think about it, it is very likely that two people look at a picture, have different opinions, and then proceed to argue away.
I was also very interested in how you can interpret a picture one way, and then when you read the caption, it is something very different then what appears. Like the picture of the youth wading through the water with a trash bag. It looks as if he is helpless, or lost, in search of necessities. But later they mention that he was looting a grocery store. I could not believe this, thinking about what I had perceived beforehand.
I also would like to comment on the picture of the gun. The ad says "A gun in the home is much more likely to kill a family member than to kill an intruder" (69). This is a very controversial statement. I do not agree. Most sensible people are not going to just leave their gun out and about. It will be well concealed spot. It is our right to bear arms and protect ourselves. However, if you choose to own one, a huge responsibility comes with.

Reading and Listening Critically and Comprehending Arguments

I found this reading pretty interesting. I must admit, I have been in my fair share of arguments where I had no comprehending of the other opinions involved in the argument. I need to work on my views and open up to the other persons' points of view. I had no idea I was being so narrow-minded.
As for the end of the reading, I had no idea how difficult it was for movie studios to get their NC-17 and R rated movies out. And how when they did get them out, how much they had to go through with the editing of their movies to a presentable version to the public. I never would have guessed that the moving to these movies to an "adult section" of the store which sell them would affect their sales so negatively. I personally don't agree with the essay, however. I don't think how good a movie is should be based on how much money it makes, but how much the audience that saw it, enjoyed it. Of course there are going to be movies out there that a particular audience would never dream of seeing (such as the elderly seeing SuperBad), thus causing the movie to not rake in as much money as a movie that appeals to a bigger, or broader range of audiences. But the movie might have actually been a good one.

X-Rated X-Rays?

I really don't see how this subject is a matter to be argued about. One person operating a machine, seeing a "cartoonlike sketch that shows only outlines" (5). The images are never stored. Are people forgetting what this is preventing? Did they forget about 9/11? Even if the images showed a bit of nudity, I think that is better than losing ANY amounts of lives. There are so many horrible disasters that could occur from a airplane being hijacked. If people are so worried about their "cartoonlike, rough body images" being seen, they can choose another form of travel. They don't have to fly. I've been on an airplane many times, and if this backscatter X-ray will eliminate the emptying of pockets, and taking off shoes, than I'm game for it. That's the worst. I just don't see how some one can argue that being viewed "naked" for a few seconds by one operator, is more horrible and offensive than a terrorist or any other person/group trying to harm our citizens and country. Look at the trade-off: being viewed cartoonlike.. for safer airs, a less chance of 9/11 happening again, and saving lives..