Closed Prompt Nov. 18th

     William J. Bennett, a CNN contributor, analyzed the causes behind the issue of rising college tuition in his article entitled, "Stop subsidizing soaring college costs" (CNN.com). He opens with repeating his hypothesis from an article he wrote for the New York Times in 2011, which supposedly became known as the "Bennett Hypothesis" within education circles. His hypothesis states that, "the cost of college tuition will continue to rise as long as federal student aid programs continue to increase with little to no accountability" (Bennett). He observed that federal financial aid was doing little to nothing to help make college more affordable. College tuition prices would, according to his studies, increase as would financial aid and alumni donations.
     After clearly stating his position on the issue of the "soaring college costs", Bennett went on to make sure that readers with opposing positions would not think he was sending the wrong message by assuring in a later paragraph, "while increased financial aid does not cause college price inflation, it can be a considerable factor" (Bennett), and then going on to support his argument with statistics from outside sources. For example, he uses a quote from the College Board which said, "Total student aid increased by about 84% in inflation-adjusted dollars over the decade from 1997-98 to 2007-08". By using statistics, he helps rope in the audience members who may be skeptical, by assuring that his hypothesis was not just a thought he had by himself, but was one gathered from research on the topic.
     Not only did Bennett use statistics appropriately and effectively to his advantage, but the entire article was written in language that is easy to understand by adults and students alike. This was a good decision because it ensures that young people, of whom the issue he is talking about most concerns, easily understand and are aware of this side of the argument that is today being considered "could be the next U.S. debt bomb" (Bennett). He closes the article with a direct quote from President Obama with a threat that "If you [colleges and universities] can't stop tuition from going up, the funding you get from taxpayers will go down", so his ending not only explained the problem of college costs contributing heavily to the U.S. debt (student loans) and offered a common opinion on the why of the problem, but it left the audience with the President's previous statement, and the thought that " It remains to be seen if his threat holds any weight and if he will act on it" (Bennett).


http://articles.cnn.com/2012-03-22/opinion/opinion_bennett-college-costs_1_student-aid-financial-aid-tuition-at-public-universities/2?_s=PM:OPINION

^link to the article

Open Prompt Nov. 11th

1979. Choose a complex and important character in a novel or a play of recognized literary merit who might on the basis of the character's actions alone be considered evil or immoral. In a well-organized essay, explain both how and why the full presentation of the character in the work makes us react more sympathetically than we otherwise might. Avoid plot summary.

     Antwone Fisher's novel, Finding Fish, is the true story of Fisher's life, showing how he went from the foster care system to being homeless, working in the army, and trying to reconnect with his birth mother. When Antwone is taken in by the Pickett family, Mizz Pickett becomes a prime example of a character that can definitely be considered evil and/or immoral through her actions of abuse toward Antwone.
     Mizz Pickett's "affectionate" words to Antwone as well as the other foster kids, Dwight and Flo, were such as calling them by derogatory terms like "nigga" and "chocolate'. Antwone noted in the novel that he always noticed while growing up the special treatment of Keith, a foster child who was considerably lighter-skinned than the rest of the children. Mizz Pickett would call neighbors, fellow church-goers, basically anyone who would listen, to tell them what awful and evil children she had to take care of. Because of these such incidents, Antwone grew up questioning whether or not he should have shame for being dark skinned, and thinking that he wasn't a well-behaved or kind child.
     Regularly, the children would be physically abused by Mizz Pickett, along with the verbal abuse discussed previously. She would take the children to the basement and tie them up for hours, and either beat the kids herself with a whip, or send down her husband to do it. Antwone wrote how Mr. Pickett never really showed any sort of emotion while beating them, as if he either felt guilty or just didn't really think anything of the children's "misbehaving" of whatever Mizz Pickett wanted, so even if it was he who was giving the beatings, it was Mizz Pickett who was the mind behind the whip.
     Because of the mental and physical abuse Antwone and the other foster children suffered while staying in the Pickett household beginning at the time when they were just small, and then through to their pre-teen/teenage years,  Mizz Pickett can be considered by the readers to be an evil and/or immoral character in the book.
     
    

Responding to Course Materialsssssss. Yeah.

     Done with "The American Dream"! Yaaaay! Aaaand now on to "Death of a Salesman". While I was super exhausted while watching the movie in class, I did think that the plot was interesting, so I'm interested to see how we'll go about annotating and discussing this one.
     I don't think we've done too much with DIDLS, other than our daily exercises with different words. We had another terms test, which I failed again. Wee! Yeah, I really need to start studying examples instead of trying to learn the definitions only. I think every time I'm really tripped up by the three questions when the quote from "V for Vendetta is used".  To make up for that grade, Morgan and I are reading Foster's "How to Read Novels Like a Professor" and going to talk to Ms. Holmes about it sometime this week. I actually like doing this, because like with "How to Read Literature Like a Professor", I think Foster has an entertaining voice, and his examples throughout the book make it interesting and a lot easier to read through.
     Alright I waited until late at night to do this response and I really just want to go to bed so that's all I'm going to comment on right now. Stay tuned for the next super exciting response!