Discharging a Debt

according to Cose, official investigations, apology, and restitution are important to the victims of great historical injustices because in order to grow as a country, we need to take responsibility for our wrong doings in the past.  Taking full responsibility shows that we acknowledge our mistakes and are willing to learn from them.  By owning up to this, we can end some conflicts we might still have with people.  How we treated the Japanese in WWII is an example that Cose brought up.  Not only were people extremely hurt during WWII, but generations are still being effected by it today.  So, it was important that we recognize this for moral reasons and also for resolution.  To move and grow as a country, it is best to clear old waters with people.  This helps us as a nation because it stops pointless feuds that we might still have because of scares from the past, and in a way it protects us from starting new conflicts based on past mistakes.  The United States has mad many wrong decisions in the building of our country and the best way to deal with them is to put them all out on table and admit our wrong doings. 

Cora vs. Willy

Willy's idea of success was that to establish yourself in society one must be well liked and have the appearance to back it up.  Willy based his views on society ideal of the perfect success as a person who has achieved financial success through appearance and popularity.  Cora idea of success did not have to do with societies influence.  She thought success to be anything where you achieved your goals through following your passions.  In Willy's eyes, Cora would not have been a success because she was not in a good financial status.

Willy tried so hard to push this idea of success as one where you were well liked and have all the financial opportunities you need, yet he could never achieve this kind of success.  Cora, on the other hand, was able to achieve her idea of  success because it was based on her own ideas, not societies.  Cora did not follow societies version of the perfect success, but mad her own ideal success.  Cora succeeded Willy, because of this.  She was able to fulfill her own notions of success because she could be content with her own goals.  Willy would never be able to achieve a sense of contentment because the goals of society, which he followed, were always changing. 

Death of a Salesman

In death of a salesman Willy believes that individual opportunities comes from hard work and determination.  In order to be a success you must want to be successful and work hard, because it is not handed to you.  Willy worked very hard all his life to achieve a substantial reputation for his company, yet he was later fired and regarded an unimportant weight when he get old.  Willy did not see how this was plausible because he had worked so hard for the company and given it so much, But Herald, his boss, did not even take this into account.  All that mattered was the success of the company, and Willy was not seen as a contribution to this success no mater how hard he worked for it.  Willy also saw his son Biff as unsuccessful because he was lazy and did not have any determination to make a lot of money.  This frustrated Willy because he wanted to have sons that were successful, and didn't think that they could achieve success without determination and hard work. 

On the other hand, the author, Arthur Miller thought the exact opposite.  He made the implicit argument that success was based on luck and what you were born into.  He did his by have a number of characters in the book that were successful based on luck or fortune passed down to them.  Ben, Willy's brother, was a character that was brought up many times in the play.  Every time he was brought into a scene he would mention that he walked into the jungle and happened to find a diamond mind and walked out a rich man.  This implies that it was simply luck the gave him success.  Willy's boss was also did not work hard to achieve his success, he was simple handed down the business from his father.  

Because of the fact that in the end, Willy was not successful and fired from his job, and his two boys failed at their attempt of become a success together proves that the author thinks that success in society is based off of luck and status, not hard work and determination. 

Death of a Salesman: Question

Throughout the book Willy tries numerous ways to kill himself, but they are very small attempts.  If he really wanted to kill himself why didn't he choose a drastic way that would for sure kill him rather than all of these small attempts that seemed to just get him in deeper trouble? 

Speech Reply 2

One particular presentation that caught my attention was Matt's presentation about School on Wheels.  I think this organization is a great idea because it give children that don't have the opportunity of education a chance to change their lives.  I did not know that much about school on Wheels until yesterday, and i would like to continue to learn more about it and how to volunteer.  I think it is great that School on Wheels takes the initiative to be flexible around kids that don't have a stable home life and are always constantly moving about.  Without this flexibility and openness this program would not be successful.  Over all I think that this organization is an amazing  and creative idea for helping education children that wouldn't have this opportunity other wise. 

Noah's presentation about Habitat for Humanity also caught my attention because although i have heard the name before, I didn't know what it did.  This too is a great idea that give families an opportunity to live in their own house without being crammed into a small apartment.  I thought it was interesting how they don't just give the family the home, but they have a program where they have to work to help build it. 

Speech Reply

Out of all the speeches given today the one that struck my attention the most was J.D's speech about Christo Ray High School.  I had never heard of this high school, let alone that it was based out of Indianapolis.  I strong agreed with J.D's statement that helping in a long term way is much more effective and influential than just handing someone something that they are in need of at a certain time.  This  high school seems like a very effective way to help children receive and education along with learning skills that can obtain a job in life, which is an essential in getting by in life.  I was very impressed that he said the graduation rate of the students was 99%, most public high schools located in Indianapolis are no where around that.  This shows me that Christ Ray must be doing something right.  It is refreshing to me that there is a high school that has demonstrated a new approach to teaching and is successful.  

Progress on Speech

My simple claim and reasoning for why people should donate their time and money on The Pour House is because it give the homeless of indianapolis a chance to get back on their feet.  They do this by providing food, clothing, therapy for working out their problems, education courses, and helps them apply for things such as identification, health care, social security, and drivers license.  My warrant is that it is our ethical obligation to help those that are less fortunate than us, especially those in our own community.  The morals of University High School are based off of stewardship, so to support a cause based on ethics is valued.  Other could say that it is not our obligation to help the homeless because they should be in control of their own lives, but as wealthy Americans we have the resources to better our community and should take advantage of that.  I need to work on obtaining and researching more specific evidence for the grounds to my reasoning, along with the backing to my warrant. 

The Pour House

The Pour House is an non-profit organization based out of indianapolis that is centered around helping the homeless mainly in the downtown area.  They first assist the homeless with necessaries such as food, clothing, and a place to stay, but what this is unique about this organization is that they then build relationships with the people that they are helping.  They help them sign up for medical care services, try and further their education, help them obtain social security to get a job, and provided therapy sessions to deal with problems they are facing.  The Pour hose is a growing operation that is constantly adding more features to this list. 

This organization draws my attention because it is beneficial to people in our own community, and it is simple to get involved because its based in Indianapolis.  I also am very familiar with this organizations works because we are family friends with the woman in charge of the organization, and my dad is on the board.  I strongly believe in the goals of this organization, because it not only give back but has a long term effect on people.  Its not just a one time chance to get help or food and the next day it's gone. 

Self-Reliance

Ralph Waldo argues that in order to be a success in your own eyes one must first fallow your own idea of truth.  In return, this truth can not be shaped or molded in any way by the influences or idea of others.  Waldo states, "To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, — that is genius."  You must follow your own truth and not mold it of off  opinions or truth of others before you, and to do this in a sense you have to reject the ideas of the people around you.  

In part, I agree with the idea that to be successful you must follow your own truth and not let others shape who you are.  But, I don't think that it is necessary to discredit other peoples found truths.  You don't necessarily have to take the truths of others as your own, but you can take them and shape them to your beliefs.  It is almost impossible to come up with your own thoughts on every matter of life, and pass them as your own.  As humans, we learn and grown from the already discovered truth of others.  Thus, making Waldo's idea of success very hard to accomplish.  We are not easily capably of thinking on our own without taking into consideration the opinions or ideas of others. 

Class in America

In this essay I do not believe that Mantsios is making an argument that the elite in America are exploiting the poor.  I think he is simply arguing that the stereotype of America being a nation with equal rights and powers is a complete myth.  Mantsios uses statistics and account of actual peoples lives to support his reasoning.  He follows the life of a man who was born into a wealthy family versus a man born in a middle class family versus a women born in a lower class family.  He makes the obvious point that when you are born into money you have many more opportunities presented to you.  Your education is much higher and you are able to pay for luxuries such as tutors in academics or extracurriculars, and thus opening good college opportunities and have the money to pay for it as well.  A women that is born into a poor family does not have these education opportunities and is only concerned about making money, and possible getting into a college.  The point Mantsios is making is that we do not have equal opportunity in America.  It all depends on where we were born into and who we are born to be.  The gap between upper class and lower class is huge in America, and if we did have equal opportunities to become successful this gap could not exist.