To What Extent is Revenge Justified?

In Poe's short story The Cask of Amontillado,  the narrator Montresor murders his "friend" Fortunato. Throughout the story, Montresor never gives any concrete evidence that supports the horrendous act that was committed.  The only justification provided is "The thousand injuries" that Fortunato has given to Montresor. Even this does not provide enough evidence to justify Fortunato's death.  Even if the injuries were terrible, Montresor lived on after these injuries, where Fortunato perished.  I personally feel that someone who kills deserves to be killed, but since Fortunato never killed (as far as we know), he did not deserve what became of him.  This broached the hot topic of death sentences in my mind.  In 16 of the 51(including D.C.) states, the death penalty is not an option (to see which states, go to http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/states-and-without-death-penalty).  While some view the death penalty as barbaric, I view it as a viable choice.  In the case of homicide, I think the death penalty should be used in most circumstances.  I also think that the death penalty may scare off possible murderers.  Is the death penalty something that is useful, or something that has a negative effect on our country?

THE METABLOG looms over the horizon...

Let me start off by acknowledging the big changes in the “format” of my blogs over the past 2 months.  At the beginning of the year, my blogs were very formal.  I combed over them for spelling before publishing, which I clearly don’t do anymore, which is evident in the few errors that have been made in my more recent blogs.  Also, I wrote like a college professor.  I wrote smoothly then, and the blogs that I have written more recently kinda sound like somethin’ that’d come outta my mouth.  This may be viewed as a negative.  Certainly there are some negative aspects, but I view the overall change as helpful to my progression as a blogger.

            Let’s start with an example.  Here is the first paragraph, and first sentence of the next one, from the first blog I ever wrote, which was titled “How to Write a Blog”:

            During AIS class this week, one topic that we discussed was the weekly blog posts that we would be writing throughout the school year.  There are many guidelines to writing our blogs in this class.  Many of these guidelines are perfectly understandable and valid.  However, I always thought that the reason people wrote blogs was so they could voice their opinion without being held back by anyone.  To find out more about what is really important in writing a blog, I did what any new, confused blogger would do: search the internet for tips on writing blogs.

            After looking at several links, I determined that the one I would be using was http://www.problogger.net/archives/2007/07/13/how-to-write-excellent-blog-content-what-we-wish-we-knew/. 

            When I wrote this, I remember thinking “Damn I’m good!  This blog thing’s gonna be easy!”  Well, 9-6-2010 Reed, think again.  First off, the first sentence could not have been more boring.  So much for hooking a reader in.  After reading that first sentence, I almost didn’t want to continue.  The rest of the first paragraph does a decent job setting up the argument for this post, but the opening sentence to the second paragraph kills me.  I emphasize the facts that (a) I looked at “several” links, and (b) I “determined” the one I would be choosing, rather than just choosing it.  Reading that now, I realize what a suck up I was.  I wanted to get full credit, so I acted like a tool to achieve it.

            Now let’s take a look at my blog from two weeks ago, titled “Is Miami a Cool Place?”  It begins:

            The answer to my title depends on how you define “cool”.

            Right off the bat I’m pulling the reader in.  The title is a question, so he (the reader) is inclined to move on to find the answer.  Woe is he when he finds out that the answer to his question is yet another question.  But this is not a question that I answer.  I say that the answer is how YOU define cool.  So the reader keeps this second question in the back of his mind as he reads on…

            This week during AIS we discussed connotations and denotations of words.  There are many words that have one predominant meaning, but also have one or more second, less known meaning.  Mr. O’Connor mentioned the work “killer” in his blog.  This got me thinking about some other words I use today that an outsider would look at and wonder what the hell I was talking about.  One word is cool.

            Now I link the intriguing (in my opinion) title to what has sparked this question about Miami.  I feel that this eases the reader into the topic, and is preferable to bluntly stating the facts. 

            The rest of my blog goes on to talk about how obscure some of the phrases we teenagers use for “to socialize”.  It started out as a “play date”, then “hanging out”, and now most commonly “chilling”.  My blog ends:

            Maybe when I get to college I’ll be asking friends if they want to salmon together.  That means nothing to us now, but it might in five or ten years.  It seems that the older I get, the words that I use become more bizarre.  Is that a common trend?

            I feel that this whole “salmon” idea is not necessarily formal, but gives the reader an interesting note to end on.

            All in all, other than the fact that my ideas have become less formal, my blogs are somewhat similar to what I wrote at the start of the year.  I still incorporate big words (like incorporate), and all my blogs (besides this one) are similar in length.  Now, must I end my blog like any “good” blogger should: with a question?

-note to teacher, the one I want to be graded/examined is the "Is Miami a Cool Place" blog

            In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, one topic is broached over and over again.  That topic is whipping.  Every single one of Douglass’ overseers or masters has been shown to have whipped their slaves.  It was definitely inhumane, but technically legal, because the slaves were only property.  Today, it is illegal to render another human being as your property.  However, parents are the legal guardians of their children until they reach the age of 18.  What “rights” are bestowed upon the parents of a child who misbehaves?  Certainly whipping is not an option, but there are some topics which have resulted in heated debates.

            One of those topics is spanking.  Although not as severe as whipping, spanking still induces physical pain on the target.  I know my parents are entirely against spanking, they are more into the newer “invention” of grounding (for better or for worse).  Very few parents today condone spanking as an appropriate punishment, but there are still some who do.  A lawsuit involving a man named Christopher Robinson took place this July in Kentucky.  Robinson was accused of beating his son with a belt.  He admitted to spanking his son with a belt, but claimed that there were no resulting injuries.  The son never complained of any injuries, and there were none found when he was examined.  Robinson was naturally found innocent, as there was no proof to his son being injured.  For more on this story, go to http://www.fox19.com/Global/story.asp?S=13237722.  I personally think that spanking is wrong, but it is a parent’s choice.  As long as no lines are crossed, I think spanking should not be illegal.  Naturally, there are some people who think otherwise.  Should spanking be illegal?

Is Miami a Cool Place?

The answer to my title depends on how you define "cool". This week during AIS we discussed connotations and denotations of words. There are many words that have one predominant meaning, but also have one or more second, less known meaning. Mr. O’Connor mentioned the work “killer” in his blog. This got me thinking about some other words I use today that an outsider would look at and wonder what the hell I was talking about. One word is cool. I remember watching a documentary last year in geography about some African teenage boys visiting the USA for their first time. When they told their cab driver at the Miami airport that it was their first time in America, the cab driver said “cool”. Since the African teenagers had never heard the word “cool” used like this before, they replied “No, not really.” This is one example of words with multiple meanings
Another idea that has multiple words to describe it is when two or more friends meet to do activities together. When I was a child, I called this a “play date”. “Play date” is probably the most accurate description, because we are playing video games, a sport, or something else, and it is on a specific date. When boys and girls started dating, we no longer called it a “play date”. It was now called “hanging (out)”. I can see how this would make no sense to an outsider. If I asked someone new to America if they “wanted to hang with me”, they might think I wanted to commit suicide with them, which is very far from what I wanted to do. Also, there is the word “chill”. I could ask the same person if they wanted to “chill”, and they might ask me what’s so fun about sitting in a refrigerator and getting cold. Maybe when I get to college I’ll be asking friends if they want to salmon together. That means nothing to us now, but it might in five or ten years. It seems that the older I get, the words that I use become more bizarre. Is that a common trend?

South Park is Not Only Stupid Humor

South Park is Not only Stupid Humor

Today during AIS, we continued our discussion on the topic of race. Jackie brought up one of her favorite TV shows, and how the concept of race was presented in the show. This got me thinking about some of the TV shows that I watch. Although all of the shows that I watch touch on the topic of race, two particular shows stand out in my mind. These shows are Weeds, on Showtime, and South Park on Comedy Central. Weeds has some great examples, but since Henry also wants to blog on Weeds, I decided that this week’s blog would be about a certain South Park episode that stands out in my mind.
Let me start by explaining the basic plot of this episode. One of the main characters’ (a fourth grade boy named Stan) dad (Randy) is on the show Wheel of Fortune. The category is “people who annoy you”. After guessing all but one of the letters correct, Randy is left with the following: N _ G G E R S. Unfortunately, Randy says Niggers, when the correct answer was naggers. As one might guess, this sets up the whole episode to be one big racial mess. There is only one black person in Stan’s grade at the school he goes to. This young boy’s name is Token, which is very ironic. The rest of the episode is about Stan trying to apologize to Token for how ignorant his dad was. Token is angered by what Randy said, but not as much as he is with Stan for the way Stan goes about trying to apologize to Token. Stan always says things like “Look, I’m sorry. I get it, it must really hurt you to have things like that said”. Token is mad at Stan for saying that “he gets it”. Token, who is very intelligent and insightful, replies “Look, Stan, I know that you are feeling guilty, but you will never get it. You will never know what it is like to be part of a minority that was treated so brutally in the past, and is still treated with disrespect.” The show finally ends with Stan and Token becoming friends again, when Stan says “You’re right, I am sorry, and will never understand how much something like that might hurt.”
I agree with Token. Never will any whites know how pained and isolated some African Americans still feel today. And it seems like just when things between African Americans and whites are starting to get friendly, something happens that separates the two groups again. Things were looking good when Obama was elected president, but then they became strained when people would always bring up the color of his skin. This is like the Wheel of Fortune incident in South Park. Are whites and blacks in America bound to never accept each other fully, or will we someday, no matter how far in the future, patch the rough spots in our history and unite as one?