Junior Theme #2

This past week I started to look a lot further into the topic of assisted suicide. While it was the heaviest and potentially saddest topic on my list, it was the one that interested me the most. One thing I like about this topic is that it's not black and white. Some people are very passionate about the idea that people should be able to choose when they die, and others are extremely against it. It's difficult to find someone in my research that is in between, since a lot of resources out there on the internet are heavily biased. One of the biggest challenges of my paper is going to be embodying both sides of the issue and giving factual pros and cons without giving out too much of my own personal opinion.

With that being said, I also feel that I should know how I feel about the subject before I begin writing my paper. Right now, I am still caught a little bit in the middle. I see where both sides are coming from. In order to write a good paper, though, I think I need to know enough about the topic and care enough about the topic to have a position on it. With each article or book chapter I read, I see a good point, but combining all the points together to make a coherent paper is going to be really difficult.

I also talked to both Doc 'OC and Mr. Bolos on Friday about my official "why" question. At first, I was thinking of doing the why question "Why is assisted suicide illegal in most areas of the United States?". But, after talking to the teachers a little I realized that this question wasn't really targeting exactly what I want to explore. It would be really easy to list off the government's reasoning behind the bans on assisted suicide without really getting into the real issues at hand. I want to start a discussion with my paper, using both the pros and the cons off assisted suicide, so I think my new question "Why is there such a controversy surrounding assisted suicide in America?", leaves a little bit more wiggle room for me to explore.

Junior Theme Blog 1

Today was the first day that we started seriously considering our Junior Theme topics. I had 5 or 6 questions in mind when I walked into the library today, and by the time I left I had changed all of them at least a little bit to make them a possible candidate for the paper.

When Mr. Bolos and Doc 'OC first started talking about junior theme, they mentioned that it should be a topic that we care deeply about. When I first heard that, I immediately jumped to the conclusion that it should also be something that we know a lot about and have a lot of experience with. I was thinking that I would choose a topic on something like women's rights or vegetarianism, two things I have studied before and feel comfortable with.

Then, I realized the paper wouldn't be interesting to write if my topic was something I had already considered. One topic that I really like and might possibly consider is how technology affects our lives, especially the lives of teenagers. I saw a book in the library on this topic, and would love to read it, but it is an extremely long book and I would have to be very careful not to follow the author's argument in my paper, because I would essentially be basing my paper off of that book.

Another topic I thought about today was gay marriage and gay rights. There were a lot of resources in the library about that, and they could be very helpful. A problem that I encountered was finding a decent "why" question that would let me explore all aspects of the topic. I was thinking "why now?" with regards to the recent movement for gay rights, but that topic would need more exploring.

The topic that I seemed to be drifting towards in class today was the issue of assisted suicide. The why question that I would most likely use for this topic would be "why is assisted suicide illegal in the united states?". I would probably use court cases and a history of what suicide means in America to back up my arguments, as well as bringing up the issue of the death penalty to start a discussion on who has the right to life in America. This topic is extremely sad and very serious, but I also find the ethical issues interesting and important for understanding the future or medicine in America. I got some great leads from Doc 'OC and the librarians on sources today, and I think I am definitely going to look further into this topic.

Remember Wisconsin?

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Usually when we think of historical events in America, we think of of places like New York, Boston, or Los Angeles. Nothing ever really seems to happen in the Midwest. So, when massive protests began in Wisconsin, I would have expected it to be all over the media. Unfortunately, the only place where I have really heard about and discussed the protests in detail has been AS class.

I found a link to some beautiful pictures of the protests on the CNN website (although it actually took some digging). Click here to see them. From the looks of these pictures, the peaceful demonstrations are a real demonstration of what protesting in America should look like. The protestors look strong, and look like they are standing their ground, yet they also look level-headed and smart. They are demanding change, but in the most respectful way possible under the chaotic circumstances.

The pictures remind me of pictures I've seen of the hippie era, where people fought for change and bettering the world. America still remembers and looks back on those times fondly, so why are they ignoring the historical events happening now? These protests got their 15 minutes of fame, and now it looks like the media and everybody else except the people currently in Madison are starting to get over it, even though the actual protests are bigger and more powerful than ever.

Token Majority

The stereotypical "American Girl", with blue eyes, blonde hair, and the perfect "Barbie" figure, is not seen as a minority in our society. (even though girls with the type of perfection portrayed in the media are extremely hard to find). So, is it possible that these types of women are subjected to tokenism in the same way as racial minorities on network TV dramas?

Two shows on the CW are centered around pretty, blonde, white girls who are also in the process of making their way through law school. "Hellcats" and "Greek" (below).

The main characters look startlingly similar. It seems out of place that both of these characters are in law school. They are popular, don't seem career-driven, and have plenty of other distractions that might keep them from getting their law degrees in real life. When the producers of the shows were picking occupations for their main characters, it seems like they chose law school just so that they could show their viewers that they endorsed the empowerment of women. 

Even though I would consider these two women token characters, they are the main characters of the series' which sets this type of tokenism apart from the racial tokenism that we talked about in class. Do you think this is tokenism, or something else?