February 6th Class

Well today was a glorious day filled with mind expanding discussions and very unusual weather for the sixth of February…

We were given a new assignment in our Literature for Composition books. It begins on page 1094 called “American Dreams and Nightmares”. It is mandatory that we read the four essays, and the segment on page 1182 about the Star Spangled Banner. All of the other readings would be helpful as well but are not ‘mandatory’. We will be finishing up Neoclassicism by the end of this week, and there will most likely be a test sometime next week.

Mr. Laz started out the discussion today by acknowledging that we don’t doubt ‘rags to riches’ stories, but asked if we felt they were a form of propaganda. (It worked for me so it will work for you…)

Ashley and I felt that people who have achieved the ‘rags to riches’ status are more critical about those who cannot pull themselves out of the ‘rag’ stage. Ashley made reference to sports, describing that no matter how many times you hit the gym after practice you just might not be cut out to be the star player.

Ian felt that the American Dream itself was an advertisement, but disagreed with the notion that ‘rags to riches’ stories are advertisements. Amy noted that not many people, out of the thousands of ‘rags’ make it to ‘riches’ and that it is a small portion of people that can accomplish that task, and Mr. Laz responded to that by saying that we want to believe that it happens/will happen.

Ben started a new train of thought by saying that he felt some of the advantages of the underprivileged (affirmative action etc) makes it easier for them to succeed in some areas (acceptance into college). A few people disagreed with that statement.

It was Paige who then brought up the idea that perhaps all of these ‘rags to riches’ stories were actually having a negative effect on the morality of our society. Mr. Laz and I agreed wondering when does being competitive cross the line into being cutthroat. Amy felt that competition was what allowed progress. Mr. Laz agreed to some extent but then gave an example of when competition actually hinders progress.

Overall the topic of discussion was the validity of the ‘rags to riches’ stories and the impact they have on the decisions we make and our competitiveness.

So that pretty much sums it all up I guess…have a wonderful evening everybody. Woooo.