samyfern November 30th, 2007
The results in Milgram’s experiment that were described in his essay, “The Perils of Obedience,” were almost unbelievable. The fact that so many people don’t have the independence to decide that they don’t want to cause further harm to someone simply due to obedience is ridiculous. One would think that in today’s society a person’s morals would override a command to cause pain in another. Since the “teacher” argues with the experimenter in the beginning of the experiment, it’s obvious that their conscious is making them feel that it’s wrong to continue; however, they proceed to “shock” the “learner.” This experiment shows just how susceptible humans are to the authority figure, especially since even one’s morals waver against the influence of authority. One’s morals should still stand even when they feel as though the responsibility is no longer their own.
samyfern November 30th, 2007
“Cinderella: A Story of Sibling Rivalry and Oedipal Conflicts” by Bruno Bettelheim is definitely an essay that I can relate to since I have three older sisters. I’ve never felt that I could relate to the fairy of Cinderella that I’ve grown so familiar with throughout childhood, but I’ve never analyzed the plot so closely. When Bettelheim stated that one feels “hopelessly outclassed by his brothers and sisters,” I couldn’t agree more. There is a constant feeling that one must do just as good or better than older siblings, and when this is achieved one often feels as though there is an absence of praise from the parents. Overall, out of all of Bettelheim’s inferences as to why a child is able to relate with Cinderella’s tale, the observation that “from her triumph [the child] gains the exaggerated hopes for [their] future” is by far the most understandable. When the main character is able to reach such a victory and the child is able to relate so heavily with this character, he/she then gains confidence in his/herself.
lwalk89 November 30th, 2007
In this advertisement, on the side of the page there is a woman drenched in water standing in a mountain stream, eating a peach seductively. In the background there is a Corvette placed in the middle of the ad to draw attention to it. The ad then explains how the woman’s husband owns the car that is “too much for a woman to handle”. The woman gave into temptation and took the car for herself and drove it as smoothly as he did. “His car. Hard to drive.” This ad illustrates how advertisers use emotion to draw in customers, using the appeal of a woman and the lingering thought that the car was simple to drive since even a woman could drive it. The ad also targets their main audience of men, who are drawn in by the attractive women, to purchase the car.
ptomaszewski November 30th, 2007
This experiment was interesting. The different roles of the prisoners and the guards made this even more intriguing. It reminded me of Lord of the Flies, taking “civilized” individuals and throwing them into an “uncivilized” environment. I think the shock of being put in such a different position than one had before is enough to make anybody change. Control was lost by both the guards and the prisoners and both sides only wanted to regain it. I am honestly surprised that they got as far as six days into the experiment without shutting it down.
ptomaszewski November 30th, 2007
I don’t believe that advertisements are merely a soft version of peer pressure. Advertisements today are much more powerful. So much thought is put into forcing somebody to buy a product. I agree that it is possible to resist the messages that ads are trying to send but ads shouldn’t have so much power. I turn on the television and have no desire to eat and then a “hot and juicy” burger is flashed on the screen and my mouth begins to water. While I may not go and buy said burger, I don’t want my subconscious subjected to this kind of torture. It seems as if these advertisers could use their talents for better use and make society a better place and not materialistic and obese.
theAnnie November 30th, 2007
Although the title may sound a bit harsh, it is none the less somewhat true. We think of ourselves as open minded individuals, that people are more accepting of others’ differences. Unfortunately, people are not so open minded about homosexual marriages. This blog is in response to the essay by Andrew Sullivan, who is a proponent of gay marriage. I believe that those who are against gay marriage fail to grasp the idea that love is not just black and white, but several shades of grey. Those who choose to be with the same sex are not any less in love than those who are with a member of the opposite gender. Some people think that if gay marriage was allowed, it would demean the idea of marriage. That idea is preposterous. Marriage is about emotional dependence and love. Imagine a situation in which you had found your true love, but are unable to be in a marriage with them due to technicalities. We have our right to marry, why keep other’s from that right as well?
lisathi November 30th, 2007
I was surprised at how much having the power of authority can really change a persons behavior. Most of us, or at least I hope, don’t know what it is like to be behind prison bars but it can be very tough. I know that prisoners did something wrong to be placed in prison, but they are humans nonetheless and some guards tend to forget when they get caught up in all the power they have over the prisoners. Prison is a time where many can learn about what they have done wrong and change who they are for the better, but guards like this can only make those prisoners more angry with the world. It makes me realize that those in authoritative positions can really be corrupt and we have no idea.
babytee07 November 30th, 2007
According to this article, I’m a sleep-deprived teen. Many of the nation’s adolescents are falling asleep in class, arriving late to school, feeling down and driving drowsy because of a lack of sleep that gets worse as they get older, according to a new poll released today by the National Sleep Foundation. In a national survey on the sleep patterns of U.S. adolescents (ages 11-17), NSF’s 2006 Sleep in America poll finds that only 20% of adolescents get the recommended nine hours of sleep on school nights, and nearly one-half (45%) sleep less than eight hours on school nights. Personally, I’m lucky if I get seven hours of sleep a night.
lisathi November 30th, 2007
I believe that students in fact do have freedom of speech, however, instutions must have rules. A student wearing a “drugs suck” shirt be asked to change because the language is inappropriate for that setting. They are not disagreeing with what the student is saying but simply with the wording. Therefore is the student wanted to let people know how they feel, they would simply have to choose their vocabulary carefully but they are still freely speaking their mind. Rules are made to keep the educational institutional in order, but they are never made with the intention of taking away freedom of speech, therefore the definition of freedom of speech is often a grey spot that can’t completely be defined.
jlarkin November 29th, 2007
This argument is one that is very close to my heart. In high school I as a journalist. My teacher was one of the few advisers that has been to Washington D.C. to fight for first amendment for her students. I believe that once a student reaches college they get more room to use the freedom of speech but before that they don’t. In high school other than through journalism and creative writing classes, students’ free speech is censored either through the grades they receive or the attitude people have towards them when confronted with opposing views.
jlarkin November 29th, 2007
As the years progress it’s entertaining to see how much more provocative the ads got. There were one ad in particular that I took a closer look at, the one on pg 695. I was surprised because of how provocative it was especially for the 50’s. When I think of the 50s I think of prim and proper, not a half naked guy rubbing down a girl in her bathing suit.
lesliew November 29th, 2007
As I started to read this, I was thinking, “Okay we’ve got all the nerds doing this experiment who were going to Standford either for school or a summer program. This is going to be boring. And they only get $15/day…not cool!” But then I see how the professors executed this experiment. It was very well planned. The accounts the subjects shared were crazy! I was shocked that they had to shut down the “prison” after only SIX days! It made me think. These were normal kids that they used in this experiment that started to do things they never thought they would. They were appauled at their own actions. If these kids became corrupt after simply six days, no wonder we hear so often about the people who are supposed to be upholding the law going corrupt. Seeing this I have no doubt that we should take a closer look at what really goes on in actual prisons. It would probably shock you!
lesliew November 29th, 2007
As I started to read this, I was thinking, “Okay we’ve got all the nerds doing this experiment who were going to Standford either for school or a summer program. This is going to be boring. And they only get $15/day…not cool!” But then I see how the professors executed this experiment. It was very well planned. The accounts the subjects shared were crazy! I was shocked that they had to shut down the “prison” after only SIX days! It made me think. These were normal kids that they used in this experiment that started to do things they never thought they would. They were appauled at their own actions. If these kids became corrupt after simply six days, no wonder we hear so often about the people who are supposed to be upholding the law going corrupt. Seeing this I have no doubt that we should take a closer look at what really goes on in actual prisons. It would probably shock you!
lesliew November 29th, 2007
I know this is really delayed but I watched the debate again the other day. I just could not believe how extremely rude the President of Columbia University was! He stated to the President of Iran, “You exhibit all the signs of a pitiful and cruel dictator.” He said that he has a mind of evil and that he was uneducated. I think it is horrible preposterous that the President of a prestige university like Columbia would have the nerve to ask him to speak at his school and then degrade him like that. He may have a mind of evil; I do not know for sure. However, who is this Columbia President to judge his mind and train of thought? He can never know what that man is thinking. I know I am somewhat defending the President of Iran but that is only because I do not agree with how the President at Columbia treated him not that I necessarily believe or defend the President of Irans ideas. However, I loved that in his rebutle, the President of Iran said that the President at Columbia was very much affected by the media on his ideas. I believe that the media affects everyone, especially in this country. It is a very powerful tool that can be used to brainwash almost.
lesliew November 29th, 2007
lisathi November 29th, 2007
This passage was very interesting because most people can easily agree with it. The passage uses studies to conclude that people are easily influenced by their peers to think and do certain things although they may not feel that it is correct. The group study was great proof because it shows that one person was only giving the answer that he thought he should give because everyone else before him gave that answer. The answer was wrong and this really bothered the person. Its amazing that although the answer was obviously wrong, it took several repeated questions for the person to change his answer and stry from the group. Originality is important in society but it is sometimes easier to just follow the crowd and this was what the person being studied chose to do at first.
babytee07 November 28th, 2007
I found it interesting that an estimated 40 million Americans have chronic sleep disorders. I know sleep is very important to your body, but I never knew insufficient sleep increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. I found it shocking that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that drowsy drivers cause 100,000 police-reported crashes each year.
lisathi November 28th, 2007
It is interesting how advertising has changed so much throughout time. Obviously ads no longer appear as they use to because people are more into technology now and the advertising companies are trying to keep up. However I noticed that the ads we see today are simply modern versions of older ones. For instance, the old ads often used very attractive men and women to make people think that is they bought a certain product, they could look just as good. Cigarette ads are a classic. Advertisers are still trying to make smoking look attractive like they did in the olden days regardless of all the bad publicity that cigarette smoking is currently receiving.
rivangel November 28th, 2007
Some of the advertisements for cigarettes were just ridiculous. They were comparing things that didn’t even relate and trying to convey a cause and effect from smoking he specific type of cigarette. One stated that it was the type of cigarette most smoked by doctors, which apparently made it okay for other people to smoke it. Also another was trying to convey that by smoking Phillip Morris cigarettes you would make friends of the opposite sex and have intimate relations with them.
rivangel November 28th, 2007
I never noticed it before, but Folwes makes a good point about the appeal of a need for sex. I have always heard that sex sells and have always thought that that is what is used the most, but it’s not the action of sex that they are appealing to. The advertisments are appealing to being sexy or being able to attract sexy individuals of the opposite sex. There are many other appeals that are preferred instead of the appeal for sex.
jlarkin November 27th, 2007
I can somewhat agree with those who do not approve of advertising. Advertising is a very subjective thing that each person can look at in their own way. TV ads even have its own committee to say what is and what’s not appropriate to air. As long as the ad’s don’t cause harm, let it go!
jlarkin November 27th, 2007
This essay helped me a great deal. I am currently majoring in Marketing and am planning to take an introduction to Advertisement class. After looking over the list of appeals I watched T.V. for 1/2 an hour to pay attention to the commercials… most of them could fit into one if not more categories of appeals
lwalk89 November 27th, 2007
In the passage, the author analyzed the actual freedom of speech in our society. They discussed certain speech in the form of protests, slander, the publishing of obscene materials, fighting words, hate speech, and symbolic speech for its chances of being protected by the First Amendment. When the high school student was suspended for wearing a “drugs suck” t-shirt, her rights were not protected, even when she was supporting an anti-drug cause. I think our definition of “speech” and the amount of freedom we receive form the amendment has changed over time, and within different circumstances, we have different views of what can be allowed. For example: if someone were to use their right to free speech to talk bad about the government, they may be labeled as once a communist, or now a terrorist.
shababy November 27th, 2007
The advertisements shown in the textbook were great to see. Its entertaining to see that even though we are in a new time, the tricks are still old. We still use good looking men and women doing whatever it is that we want to be sold. Advertisements that use the nations emotions are very effective such as the Cadillac advertisement for Pearl Harbor. Many people will feel in touch with that ad, therefore becoming in touch with Cadillac. Short and sweet quotes grabs an audiences attention and allows them to think about how true is the statement. Facts are great ways to grab an audience. This article was great to read and study.
shababy November 27th, 2007
Advertising is exactly what it is. Its geared toward making people do something that the author or organization behind the advertisement wants. It is true the advertising manipulates people psychologically to buy things they don’t need but theses people are adults normally. They are old enough, and should be mature enough, to handle simple advertising. Advertising is a soft form of peer pressure. Many times when peer pressure is applied it is for materialistic things, offensive or bad behavior, stereotypes, deception, etc. However, the first step in defeating advertisements is noticing when you are trying to be provoked. Recognition of anything is good.
