"Doesn't Anybody Get a C Anymore?"

The article "Doesn't Anybody Get a C Anymore?" is very similar to the last article in the sense that the author, Phil Primack, argues that grade inflation is at an all time high creating a huge issue for students today. He starts off by arguing that grade inflation has gotten so bad by using supporting evidence that he received an email from a student who was disappointed by receiving a B in the course. He was appalled that this student considered a B a low grade and said that this is one of the issues of grade inflation. I once again disagree with Primack when he makes this argument. First of all, different people have different perspectives on what a good grade is. Simply because this student strives for A's and is upset with getting a B, does not mean that inflation is the issue. In my opinion, the real issue is the stress that society pushes on us to receive good grades. Now a days our entire future strictly depends on our GPA's and getting into college and graduate school has gotten much more competitive. Because of this, students are scared to receive anything less than an A as it could make a huge impact on one's future. This, I believe, is the real issue.

"Grade Inflation Gone Wild"

In the article "Grade Inflation Gone Wild" author Stuart Rojstaczer claims that in today's generation students have been studying less and less and dedicating more of their time to drinking. The author argues that grade inflation has become a huge issue and students tend to walk into class knowing they can receive a B+ with minimal effort so therefore they stop trying. I disagree with Rojstaczer and do not find his argument to be very convincing. As a first-hand example, I spend hours in our school library every single night and put much hard work and effort into my grades. I do not find that my classes are easy to obtain good grades, but instead, many of them require sufficient studying just to get a decent grade in the course. I do not believe that Rojstaczer uses good statistics to back up his argument and he flat out claims that students are not trying in school anymore, which is not something that he can fully assume. Furthermore, he states that grade inflation is something that can be fixed, and has been fixed at a few universities, yet he does not mention how it can be fixed. Overall, in opposition to the author's claim, I think it is a good thing that students are receiving higher grades and it cannot be assumed that those grades were not worked for.

"Worse Than Wal-Mart"

Similar to the previous reading, the article "Worse Than Wal-Mart," points out the negative aspects of large corporations. The author, Simon Head, argues that Amazon is one of the most abusive businesses around, an issue that many individuals are unaware of. Despite all of their false advertisement about trust and care for both their customers and employees, there is actually a harmful reality behind closed doors. Head writes, "Amazon's customers are principally valued by the corporation as mainstays of the bottom line, and not as vehicles for the fulfillment of personals relationships ... Amazon treats a second significant grouping of men and women with whom it has dealings-its employees- with the very opposite of care and trust." Amazon completely mistreats their employees in various ways that are unacceptable for a professional corporation. Overall, Amazon- like Wal-Mart- is very unprofessional when dealing with other individuals and they do not handle their interactions in a businesslike fashion whatsoever.

"My Life as a Retail Worker: Nasty, Brutish, and Poor"

Joseph Williams, a once very successful veteran reporter, writes about the daily struggles that he was encountered with at his job in a sporting-goods retail store in the article, "My Life as a Retail Worker: Nasty, Brutish, and Poor." After being fired from his job and undergoing a series of unfortunate events, Williams finally found employment in a retail store called Sporting Goods Inc. At the time, Williams was basically homeless and living off food stamps, so any sort of paying job was much needed. To his surprise, Williams discovered that working in retail was far worse than he originally expected. For a mere $10 an hour, Williams had to do many unpleasant tasks that were unforeseen when he first got the job, all while losing whatever bit of dignity and freedom he had left. In his article Williams writes, "Of course, I had no idea what a modern retail job demanded. I didn't realize the stamina that would be necessary, the extra, unpaid duties that would be tacked on, or the required disregard for one's own self esteem." He goes on to mention that while working at the store he received little to no respect and he could not even stand up for himself because of fear for losing his job which was barely supporting him. Finally, after spending much time and dedication to a job that was hardly worth it, Williams quit and found a job much more suited for him. Overall, life in the retail world is far worse than one would imagine and yet there is little we can do about it due to today's dire need of employment,

"Is Google Making Us Stupid?"

With the creation of the internet, life has become far more simple by having the answer to all of our questions right at our fingertips. However, even with easy access to every bit of knowledge we need right before us, has the internet influenced our thoughts and mindset in a more negative way than we think? This is a question that author Nicholas Carr addresses in his article, "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" In the article, Carr discusses how the internet has distracted individuals from deep reading and intellectual thought as we are more tempted to jump from link to link simply scanning through the pages. On the other hand, in a book there are no ads or other interruptions and we are able to become fully invested in what we are reading. Carr writes, "And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles." This form of education that we receive from the internet can be troubling because it ultimately shapes our process of thought. It tempts us to simply "power browse" and avoid the traditional sense of reading. For example, Google, the ultimate source of the internet for many individuals, is trying to "systemize" everything it does. It strives to control how users find information through search engines and influence the way in which we take meaning from it. By aiming to become the world's "perfect" search engine, Google and the rest of the internet are tremendously impacting the way in which we receive and process information and are ultimately guiding us to distraction.

"Baby Talk Bonanza"

In the article "Baby Talk Bonanza" the author, Sara Neufeld, claims that intelligence stems from the amount of communication that a child is exposed to from birth on. She supports her argument by referencing pediatric surgeon Dana Suskind and her work with hearing-impaired children. After performing a cochlear implant in a young child, Suskind does follow up work regarding the child learning to talk. From her work, Suskind noticed a disturbing trend that children from low-income families were lagging far behind after surgery and saw that their success of speaking was not nearly as high. Neufeld writes, "Their landmark study in the 1990s found that a child born into poverty hears 30 million fewer words by age 3 than a child born to well-off parents, creating a gap n literacy preparation that has implications for a lifetime". These startling statistics were extremely concerning to Suskind and lead to her creation of The Thirty Million Words Project. This social movement deals with the issue that children are not simply born smart, but they are instead made smart by their parents talking with them, and The Thirty Million Words Project strives to promote communication. Although the parents may not have the best education or job, they can still tremendously influence the future of their children by simply having more conversation and asking questions. Even Aneish Newell, a participant of The Thirty Million Words Project, said that by increasing communication with her young children she saw dramatic results. Her four year old daughter was capable of spelling her full name, remembering her address and phone number, identifying and spelling colors, and even counting to high numbers which are many things that other four years olds cannot yet do. Even Newell herself, has found the encouragement to work on her education though this project. Overall, regardless of ones race, gender, economic condition, etc., we all have the power to influence the future of today's youth by simply promoting communication.

Ethan Frome

Author Elizabeth Ammons argues that the story Ethan Frome is actually written as a hidden fairytale. She mainly argues that the story is a reversed fairytale that is twisted to become scary, or in other words, a psychological horror story. She backs up her argument using many supportive pieces of evidence. First of all, she relates characters from the story to commonly known fairytale roles, such as Zeena being compared to a witch. She writes, "Zeena's face alone would type her as a witch. Sallow-complexioned and old at thirty-five, her bloodless countenance is composed of high protruding cheekbones, lashless lids over piercing eyes, thin colorless hair, and a mesh of minute vertical lines between her gaunt nose and granite chin" (147). Second, Ammons associates Mattie Silver as being a princess, which is a character that is essential in almost every fairytale. She argues that the use of language to describe Mattie in Ethan's eyes is extremely similar to characteristics of a fairytale princess. Lastly, Ammons asserts that the colors used in this story create fairytale-like imagery among the reader. Each character has their own distinct colors, which is a tactic often used in fairytales to draw children's attention. These methods of support that Ammons writes about, along with many others, help her in her claim of Ethan Frome as a reversed fairytale.

After reading her argument, I would have to say that Ammons makes many valid points. Similar to a real fairytale, Ethan Frome consists of many similar elements. It tells an interesting story, has a message, and even focuses around a villain and other fairytale characters. 

In my opinion, the meaning behind Ethan Frome is that what goes around comes around. Clearly Mattie knew that Ethan was a married man and yet she still decided to pursue a relationship with him. Not only was he married, but his wife was her own family member who took her in while she was in need. On a similar note, Ethan himself was guilty for committing adultery. Although they both deserve the right to happiness, there are several measures that they could have taken previous to forming a relationship, which would have made the situation a little more permissible. Because of their wrongdoing, fate took its course and punished the both of them for going behind Zeena's back and they both became physically injured. Another significant aspect of the story that I would write about is the weather. The weather itself has a huge effect on the story, and without it, the story would be much different and have alternate outcomes. The weather plays a big role in the story, and can be considered it's own character. Overall, the relationships and weather are two extremely significant parts of this story.