Lit Response 2

W.E.B. Dubois’s argument in Chapter three of The Souls Of Black Folks revolves around the central idea that Blacks are easily persuaded to alter their political and moral views due to the substantial rise of one of their own without knowing the facts behind their political leader’s upbringings. His central image of African-American power comes from the example of Booker T. Washington, the main figure of dominance among Black culture that has risen from poverty to complete economic and education supremacy. Dubois states that, although many African-Americans admire and idolize Washington, they disagree with his morality and ideas of uplifting and bringing progress amongst the African-American race. Among his own people, however, Mr. Washington has encountered the strongest and most lasting opposition(Page 48) Dubois demonstrates that this dislike comes from pure envy and jealousy of seeing a Black man succeed while many of his own people are still working for any scrap and/or penny they can get their hands on. Dubois, also, demonstrates that most of the dislike comes from bright, intelligent, and highly respected Black leaders that have a feeling of deep regret, sorrow, and apprehension. These feelings of mixed emotions come from the ideology of Washington's plan that ultimately keep colored people as slaves, working in the field to get by and make a decent living.

The typical African-American would disagree with Washington's plan if he did not have majority of coloreds and white Americans in favor of his program and logic. Largely silenced in outward expres- sion by the public opinion of the nation. (Chapter 3, paragraph 6) is shown to suggest that the outward expression of dislike for Booker T. Washington's program was frowned upon amongst the nation and especially towards Black people. Typical mindset would be that they should be grateful for a Black man to be in such power in such a day in age and should bow their heads and nod gracefully with acceptance. The plan, however, much didn't thoroughly know about in full detail. It silenced if it did not convert the Negroes themselves (Chapter 3, paragraph 2) tells that the Negroes only went along with the plan because of majority vote and/or they did not fully comprehend what Washington was asking. If the average Black man knew his opposing side- the supremacist- were in favor of a Black man, than he would become pressured to follow by example and support his own. If an average Black man did not know what Washington was asking of his people due to the fluid and articulate language from his profound education, then he would most likely follow in the footsteps of Washington's followers and support him based on the single evidence that he was African-American.

Lit response

Chapter one in W.E.B. Dubois’, The Souls Of Black Folk, conveys an underlain message to his audience that he is proud to be an African-American and the wonders Blacks can achieve are often misconstrued or underappreciated; that his duty as a Black man of such an underprivileged race is to bring those wonders into light and continue to journey of success. Throughout the short first chapter, Dubois does very little to persuade or guide his readers into thought that he pities himself for not having the “privilege” in being accepted amongst white society; in fact, he states the very opposite. I had thereafter no desire to tear down that veil, to creep through. (Page 44) The veil Dubois speaks of is symbolic of the imaginary blindfold white America had placed on all Negros to shield them from ever seeing the true joys and wonders of the American Nation because of their social status. Dubois states that after the incident concerning his ostracism from his white peers, he had no desire to every “creep” through or break free from that veil that blinded him from the world he was unknown to. Later, he makes it apparent that he enjoyed being singled out amongst the group of all white faces due to the fact that he could stand out and be different. The sky was bluest when I could beat my mates at examination time.(Page 44) suggests that Dubois enjoyed when he could disband any prejudgments his peers had against him because of the color of his skin and prove that he was just as good, if not better, than they all were.
A particular section of the chapter shows an underlain message that Dubois enjoyed the richness of his diverse background due to the fact that he was two-parts of two great nations. He was American and African. Two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings, (Page 45)The ability to be both an American and Black man who’s history goes back as far as the Sphinx of Egypt tell the reader that Dubois enjoyed being different because he was two great beings wrapped up in one dark body. As much as he clings and accepts his Negro skin just as much as his American, title, he does now disown or outdo the other with any less importance. He would not Africanize America for America has too much to teach the world (Page 45) and he would not bleach his Negro soul for he knows the Negro has a message to teach the world (Page 45). This intense passion coming from Dubois shows he rather be African-American than any other race because of the richness and uniqueness within his blood. He is two people merged into one body and with that comes immense pride from both his Nationalities.
Another suggestion of pride coming from Dubois comes from his reference to Negroes being the "seventh son" amongst six other races of people. This is symbolic of the way the Negro views himself from the eyes of another and makes his judgements about himself based off what he is taught and shown through through the eyes of his superiors. The "seventh son" reference makes note that there are six other instances when groups of people had to make preconceptions about themselves based off what others had told them about their people, the Negro being no different in being so judgemental about themselves based off the racisim and bigotry from the group of people above them in power. Dubois' pride comes from the underlying message that despite the past of African-American self-doubt, his people are coming to term with who they are and what their history is without the hearsay from white America. He makes reference to the black man's strength and drive that keeps his sanity and persistance in finding himself and what and who he is without the "veil" from white America. One ever feels his twoness, -- an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder. (Chapter 1, page 45) This "twoness" helps the Negro differinciate his African side from his American exsitance and find the past of his people and the great things they achieved without having a mental collapse in stability.
Reference to the Sphinx of Egypt and Ethiopia the Shadowy demonstrates that miraculous feats that undermined Black race has done that are viewed and glorified by the world. The success of having a wonder of the world and a land that is fluid and thriving with great glory is often misunderstood as a Arab feat or done by another race that is not close to being African. Dubois states that the accomlishments of the Sphinx and a great African nation was created by the very people whose ancestors just got released from the chains of submission and slavery. These feats, however, are often overlooked because of the color of the creator's skin and the plauged thoughts of the people who deny the rightful owners their due glory. Dubois shows that despite all the faded glory of the Black man, he is proud to be a man of a race that is underappreciated and underglorified; though he would prefer to see his people have the respect and admiration they deserve from their past generations greatest accomlishments.

Booker T. Washington Response

Booker T. Washington’s, The awakening of the Negro, expository essay had an aimed audience of white middle-aged men with an objective of explaining the rationale behind his Tuskegee Institute and why it was built for educating colored men and women. Tuskegee’s common goal, as stated by Washington himself, is to reach the seven million colored people living in the Black Belt of the South and show them how to lift themselves up and live better lives. (Paragraph 4, line 7-10) However, the flaw in Washington’s argument is that his institute is built on teaching the already socially enslaved colored person to work with his or her hands in order to gain respect from the white man, but not with their mind. This rationality behind the Institute’s morality is very similar to keeping the colored people of the South as “working” slaves that now earn pennies more for the work they were once forced to do for free.
Washington addresses his institute as a place that is constantly in the working progress of preparing the leaders that will uplift the African-American race. Throughout the entire fifth paragraph, Washington breaks down the rationality behind his labor enforced school and demonstrates how having students be required to do manual labor helps mold themselves into leaders of the future. Most of all, we find the industrial system valuable in teaching economy, thrift, and the dignity of labor, in giving moral backbone to students. (Line 7-8) Washington then goes into the fact of stating that a student who possesses the knowledge of knowing how to build a harness a wagon gives certain confidence and moral independence. (Line9-10) This coming from a black man who has had the privilege of acquiring a decent education comes off as biased or one-sided; the mindset being similar to a white man who’s only job in life s to see the Black people of America struggle to do more than work with their hands. Washington makes himself come off as somewhat of a “sell-out” towards the African-American community with his ideals and views. His institute was established to educate the colored population with something they already were familiar with- labor and hard work. Nowhere in the fifth paragraph does Washington suggest the Black people of America use the intelligence of white America to gain success and respect amongst their white peers; he suggests learning to build with their hands in order to gain financial stability from meting the white man’s demands- a handout.
Later, he goes into the notion that the education and skills that the colored population can acquire from the Tuskegee Institute can better help themselves while hinting that this newfound advantage will pass over to the white population. Washington states that the Tuskegee Institute helps aid their students into learning how to better cultivate their lands and produce and gather their subsidence more efficiently. The object is not only to cultivate the land in a way to make it pay our boarding department, but at the same time to teach the students, in addition to the practical works, something of the chemistry of the soil, the best methods of drainage, dairying, the cultivation of fruit, the care of livestock and tools, and scores of other lessons needed by a people whose main dependence is on agriculture. (Line 2-6) Washington states that his school helps students pioneer in ways to cultivate and produce a better agriculture and helps teach them the tools to facilitate their labor in the fields. Teaching students how to grow better gardens and care for animals is a lesson needed for ones who live on the farm, but Washington fails to teach the students anything other than the “know-how” of better farming and not go into the “Why and how?” of better farming. He states that these tools in helping student’s better produce crops and healthier animals will aid those who depend on agriculture. Since that is majority of America- white America included- one must wonder on why a Black man is making his students do the work out in the fields for only a white person to eat. The education given helps aid the white population more than the black population because the whites won’t set foot near a farm to get their hands dirty, but blacks will for the scrap change they can get from producing healthy farms and livestock just to get by on the daily bases. He puts this as a main interest to the white population in order to attract and gain the support of the white population in agreeing that his methods of teaching the basics of manual labor and how to cultivate properly because, in the long-run, they will be the ones who benefit the most. Washington never goes into detail on how he teaches his students the scientific or mathematical part of better cultivation and it even hints to the point where we question if Washington had his students think of the crops they were growing at all. The only thing he says to draw the interest of white America is that he keeps his student s out in the fields, growing and gathering the food they will soon eat with great care and better methods than before.
Washington also keeps his people down into traditional gender roles that they have been accustomed to since birth. While the young men do the kinds of work I have mentioned, the young women to a large extent make, mend, and launder the clothing of the young men, and thus are taught important industries. (Line 19-20) His school is teaching the colored population to attend to the needs of others and work their way into getting respect and money from the white population. Washington does not take the initiative to establish new rule and a new mental foundation to his people, but decides to enforce the policy to which he had been taught to live by. Black women making and mending men’s clothing is something they have been taught to do since birth; their knowledge being passed down generation to generation from the women in their families in order to teach them the way in being a respectable woman. The men working in the; labor industry is something they have been doing since their ancestors came to the lands of America. Black me have been working with their hands for free to feed the white general public, and now Washington is enforcing this same morality onto his people to work and make money by doing cheap labor to gain a few coins to live by. He does not educate his people the ways to learn the forbidden knowledge of textbooks that the white children have learned. He does not aid his people into familiarizing themselves with the common education that will help them become successful in life and do something more profound and prestigious that will gain them much more respect from the white population than being a good blacksmith or carpenter.
In spite of the evil, the Negro got the habit of work from slavery. (Paragraph 9, line 1) Washington feels his people are only going to become successful in life if they learn to be more efficient and skilled with their hands. His theory is that the Negro has working in their blood and the only way they will gain respect and independence from the white man is to keep that ideology of manual labor for the white population to get a few cents and live accordingly. Washington does not feel Blacks are mentally capable of becoming intelligent enough to gain prestigious jobs in positions only thought for the white man. His own people suffer from the closed-mindedness of his morality that we have to work and become better in labor to get any amount of respect from anyone. His school is built on forcing the rationality that labor will give them happiness and prosperity, but intellect and education of the white children is what he fails to connect his rule with.

1) The narrator’s imaginative power leads her down a spiraling pit of hysteria as she pictures women trapped behind the bars of the yellow wallpaper during the night, observes shadows creeping behind the wallpaper in the moonlight, and imagining herself trapped inside the wallpaper as a prisoner of her own mind; thus finding herself going completely insane at the conclusion of the story when she finally has the opportunity to tear the dreaded wallpaper. Her husband feels that these imaginative scenes only make her more weak and frail, so he suggests she stay in the nursery and rest to regain her strength and become more able bodied and able minded. Paragraphs describing the narrator’s imagination at work describe how she suffers from frenzy, mental distortion and madness in her mind; her friends and family around her putting her ailment to a rest by suggesting she be confined to the nursery to better her mentally and physically through bed rest and no social contact. The rest cure seems like the only suitable option judging by the way her husband and family looks down upon her and her unstable metal health care.
2) Since she knows her husband’s treatment is similar to the infamous Weir Mitchell, she knows that when she goes to see him for his aid in her ailment, the kindness and compassion her husband gives her will diminish and she will only be left with the harsh cruelty of Weir Mitchell. The narrator knows her husband’s medical solutions mimic Weir Mitchell, therefore she has already come to the conclusion that when she handed into the hands of the sinister doctor, her accustomed feeling to kindness and compassion will leave her for she is faced with the fact that she is not in the hands of her husband’s care any longer, but in fact in the custody of Weir Mitchell. Her husbands leniency and gentle “understanding” is something Weir Mitchell will not give her so the narrator has already amped herself to accept that she will endure the same medical treatments from Mitchell but not acquire nearly as much sympathy and love her husband gave her. It is signs of favoritism almost due to the fact that the man that took care of the narrator was the husband and wanted to be a gentle and loving as possible, not just professional.
3) The description of the wallpaper foreshadows future events through the intense detail of the wallpaper and portrayal of emotion. The narrator has already shown her utter dislike to the horrendous wallpaper and has written about it in her diary to control her wondering thoughts. Details that give notice to her unrelenting irritation with the wallpaper come from the line: It is dull enough to confuse the eye in following, pronounced enough to constantly irritate and provoke study… This snippet concludes that the narrator will not cease to observe the wallpaper and the sight of its irritates her to no end, erupting more waves of constant unnecessary studying that aid her into her evident hysteria at the end of the story. Also, the adjectives used to describe the wallpaper can also be used to describe the writing style the narrator uses throughout the duration of the story. She starts of formal and observant in certain occasions, goes into a frenzy of descriptive words and phrases in another section- most due to the wallpaper irritation, uses words that personify inanimate objects in certain parts of her diary, and begins writing in five syllable sentences that depict no emotion and so forth. Her writing and the style of the wallpaper and correlate in those particular ways of beginning as plain and formal to out of control and fancy.
4) Her actions of biting off a piece the bed show the relation of her weakened willpower to stay in “control”. Throughout the story, she is contantly found battling with herself to stay sane and in control of her addiction to tearing of the yellow wallpaper. At the end of the story, she lets go into her passion and finds herself going into a frenzy with all her mental issues being the forefront of her anger and frustration. This scene is, also, an inevitable one because it was bound to happen sooner or later. The entire story discussed her growing obession with the wallapaper and the deepening mental unstability she dug for herself. The scene where she "cracks" was the final solution to her hysteria and delayed or suppressed feelings that were fated to take control.
5) Jane is the wife that has been suppressed under her husbands ruling for so long, allowing another to control her life and not speak for herself; letting her inner woman die along with her thoughts. John had fainted and the wife and the woman"trapped" was liberated and set free to be herself from oppression
6) A tenement is a small house or an apartment in the Lower East Side part of Manhattan that housed a family between four and eight in a very small bedrooms while living with a border. A sweat shop was the workplace inside the tenement that had very crampped spaces where dozens of people would work sixteen-eighteen hour shifts. Crime, disease, fires, etc. roamed freely and were able to be reproduced. Due to body heat, the room temperatures were abnormally high and the people who worked there were underpaid.
7) Abraham Cahan described the realities of the sweatshop with a light tone that touched the subjects harshness but not enough to give a mentla image of the cruelty. In sweatshop romance, there are clues and hints of endless work hours and humid work enviorments that were packed with people in a small room, but there was not enough detail to portray the crime, disease, fires, and other diasaters that occured there. The "Sweat Shop Romance" was enough to give the reader an idea of the life of a Jewish immigrant worker but not enough to relate the text back to any similar instances with enough detail to provoke imagery. The descriptions of work and leisure among Jewish immigrants compare to the photographs in the archive by giveing the text a "face". A reader can read about the cruelties and imagine the scenery based on the given information, but the photographs help put the sweat shops in braod daylight by giving visual evidence of the way things were conducted. The pictures were the visual portrayl of what the articles describing sweatshop life were like.
8) Many media personal portray the slums of American Urban areas as poverty ingested, predominately minority-Blacks, Latinos- with wrecked homes, broken cars, drug trafficing on the corner, prostitutes on every street, gang members on each block. They portray the slums as a modern day hell for people to live in due to the high crime rates and potential harm that can come about from living in that certain area.

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Articles

Evan P. Apfelbaum, Michael I. Norton, and Samuel R. Sommers. (2008). Seeing Race and Seeming Racist? Evaluating Strategic Colorblindness in Social Interaction, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95 (4), 918-932.

This article refers to how psychologists interpret the way human-beings look at people based on the color of their skin through the appeal to ethos and logos. According to one of the authors, people’s preference on looking at a situation based on the color of one’s skin is based on either a bottom-up way of thinking, or a top-down. Top-Down is the thinking process where one already has a preconception of what the situation was about, who had most likely caused it, or what had happened based on past experience. Bottom-Up is the exact opposite. It occurs when one comes into a situation with a clear mind and does not pre-judge events based on inalienable factors. Based on the article, most individuals try not to look at race when in a social setting that is surrounded by people from all ethnic groups, attempting to be in that top-down process in order to make unbiased opinions about the situation around them. Through logos, the authors effectively convey the argument of the way people think about something and how it reflects what they have experienced in their life one way or another. It also shows that individuals go out of their way to make their racial observations seem unprejudiced and obvious amongst the eye. Through ethos, the authors convey that that they were credible sources through: a) the personal anecdote in the beginning of the article states that it was a first-hand experience that was told by first person and, b) that their information is legit and information through the series of tests and experiments conducted by certified psychologists to analyze people’s thought process based on just seeing race. This shows the reader that the authors are credible sources due to their methods of observation and testing. The only problem with the argument is that the authors make the article seem more like a science experiment than anything. The article gives off the impression from the beginning that there was a reason behind the introduction story to a misunderstood conception of race. Though the article does give sold point to the reason behind it all, it seems like there was more experiment behind the article then ‘telling’. It was similar to reading a science experiment being conducted on paper rather than hearing, reading rather, a lecture done on how people perceive race and how to avoid the issue based on current knowledge. Either way, this article only adds more to my flame of perusing a career in psychology because of the hidden mysteries this profession can solve. The way people think has always fascinated me and has always made me wonder to why people are racist and what determines a bigot. The fact that I always wanted to know what people thought and how people judge me when they don’t even know me being a factor as well.

Calvin Kai-Ching Yu. (2008). Ancient Chinese Sex Symbols in Dreams. Dreaming. 18 (3), 158-166

The purpose of the article to examine how often the Chinese sex symbols occur on Chinese individual’s dreams, both male and female. Through the appeals to audience and essay structure, the author effectively portrays the message of how one’s sexual experience may have a correlation with a certain Chinese Sex Symbol. Appeals to audience occur mainly to the Asian population of those reading the article due to the fact of their better understanding of that particular culture and the meanings of those symbols even without dreaming them. It is not to say that other cultures may not take interest in the way cultural symbols occur in dreams, but the appeal to these certain sex symbols from a certain culture takes certain interest in people of that genre. Through essay structure, the author begins with a quick overview about Sigmund Freud’s dream analysis theory and how he believed dreams are a portal into our unconscious desires, how dreams can help us discover something about us we never knew. Then, the author gradually begins to weave in his idea of the infamous theory by comparing the dream theory with the importance of Chinese sex symbols in Chinese people dreams. The things that lack in the article are the mention of Sigmund Freud’s dream theory and not the author’s own knowledge. The author seems to rely heavily on particular theory and not go into any other sources, thus questioning his credibility on diversity and openness for other ideas that could be influential. This article has helped me want to understand the power of which dreams have on people and why one’s social experience and cultural background affect our sexual experience and preference. This also makes me wonder the reason to the logic behind interracial dating and sexual intercourse. The study of dreaming of ones cultural sexual status quo opens doors to the study of going beyond what is expected and becoming more diverse in selection. The article adds onto my curiosity into the human mind.

Cogan, Rosemary; Cochran, Bradley S.; Velarde, Luis C.; Calkins, Heather B.; Chenault, Natalie E.; Cody, Dana L.; Kelley, Matthew D.; Kubicek, Steven J.; Loving, Adam R.; Noriega, Jose P.; Phelan, Kathleen A.; Seigle, Sarah C.; Stout, Troy I.; Styles, Jared W.; Williams, Henry A. (2007). Sexual fantasies, sexual functioning, and hysteria among women: A test of Freud's (1905) hypothesis. Psychoanalytic Psychology. 24 (4), 697-700.

The testing of Sigmund Freud’s dream analysis theory is show in the article determined to debate the myth among hysteria of women who are not sexually active than to women who are. The authors of the article appeal to their reader through the professional yet realistic perspectives that convey persona and logos throughout the article. The authors show that there are flaws in Freud’s dream theory and understand that, while there is some useful and correct logic behind some of his sayings, not all of is necessarily true about women that are not sexually active. The persona taken place sounds on behalf of women who defend the right to not be categorized as someone who is “hysterical” because there is no sex being taken place in her life. It also shows that the persona taken place during the article reflects on the idea of hidden dreams and motives as something that can be shown through a dream but not necessarily affective in altering ones personal life. The logos behind the article are shown through the effective way of challenging Freud’s dream theory into a counter experiment that was initially set up to challenge it. The main objective is to symbolize that women who are not sexually active do no necessarily have to be “crazy” or stressed because of lack of intimacy. The flaws in the article are mainly the way they do not go into detail stating Freud’s specific theory. The article gives a glimpse of what the theory is about and how if effects the argument but it contains no deep analysis of what Freud’s theory says. That may cause the reader to become confused about it all and become more focused on Freud and less on the argument. This article broadens my thinking into wondering how the lack of something in ones life can affect their mental process, if it is affected at all. This analytical analysis makes me want to study more about how women’s brains are and if we get so stressed that we become hysterical.

Sonja Feist-Price, Sheldon D. Fields, and David Malebanche. (2008) Childhood Sexual Abuse in Black Men Who Have Sex With Men Results From Three Qualitative Studies. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology. 14 (4), 385-390.

The article above shows the case study amongst black men who had been sexually abused by other black men, resulting in their sexual orientation. The article establishes logos through the initial message that is being sent through scientific observation. Since blacks make up over half of HIV and AIDS cases, and more black men are now pronounced on the "DL", the common , misconception of the scenario is that black men are becoming homosexual and then going off after sexual encounters with men into women's bedrooms. The authors of the article, in three different essays, explain that the current mindset of homosexual men may have been altered by traumatizing from being abused by a close male relative or friend of theirs. It also refers to the subconscious mindset in males that elicits pleasure from being with ones own sex, enjoying their company and taking pleasure from pain; allowing them to look into their subconscious and realize that they want to romantic relationship of their own sex because of uncontrollable desires. The logos is done created through the study to debunk the myth that all black men are gay because of tabloid abuse or because "coming out" is what is hot at the moment. The study shows how the effects of one persons life event can effect them years down the road. Also, the ethos is created through the independent study with first-hand African-American homosexual males that have confessed to being abused by a loved one, and went on into life with that event of being anally raped to lead their life into becoming homosexual. Other men stated that they had desires in liking their own sex but suppressed the feelings as mutual or unnatural, creating the burning desire to grow even more elaborate than it was before. The ethos is within the article is created from the authors sources. The authors did not read an encyclopedia or get information off the internet, they conducted a scientific experiment that showed through variable analysis how the effects of sexual abuse amongst black males effects their sexual orientation and how suppressing those feelings only makes the forbidden taboo even more tantalizing. The only issues with the article was that it was too short for my liking and didn't have enough background information for the reader to fall back on. A reader unknown to anything about HIV/AIDS would have been clueless if read the article and background information supporting the ideals and beliefs of homosexuality amongst the men are little to nonexistent. It was similar to reading about the exploitation of men whose life experiences were used as the foundation of a scientific investigation. The article did, however, make me want to pursue my career as a psychologist because it makes me want to know more about how life experiences effect a person's outlook on life. I was always curious to how sexually, physically, and emotionally abused victims make up over half the murder population.

Christopher R. Agnew and Paul E. Etcheverry (2008) Romantic Partner and Friend Influences on Young Adult Cigarette Smoking: Computer Others’ Smoking and Injunctive Norms Over Time. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors. 22(3), 313-325

The article portrays the effects of social peer pressure amongst young teenagers to smoke illegally despite what mental training they have already accomplished. Through structure and ethos, the authors of the article effectively convey the message that young teenagers are influenced greatly by what the people around them do and how these acts of conformity effect judgement. The beginning of the article dives straight into the argument stating that previous research on teenage smoking habits have been studied to conclude on solid argumentation to why teens smoke. It also demonstrates that negative effects on teenage smoking outweighs to good in earlier research. The structure of the article comes off as a research paper that has been doing extensive research in teenage smoking and how the people around that teen, friends and boyfriend/girlfriend, can sway the opinion. The article moves from a foreword introduction of of the general study of smoking amongst teens, the effects, and the factors contributing to smoking, to the direct argument of the article: teenager's and their smoking habits based on social pressures. Several paragraphs are dedicated to the research concerning how love interests can sway the opinion on smoking within a teen and how the desire to conform with admired ones in the teens world sways their personal preference on smoking. The ethos is established through the experiment itself and the research conducted. Although various methods of teenage smoking habits have been research and experiments have been planned out to examine these methods, the article portrays an experiment that went above and beyond ordinary expectations of teenage habit experimentation and took a look deeper into factors that have been either overlooked or tossed out due to irrelevance. The experiment is conducted from first-hand knowledge and experience and the authors gathered enough data with well-read information for the reader to comprehend and understand it all. The only flaws in the article is that the article is set up to mimic a science experiment. Even thought he article was a research article, there was more science and statistical logic than mental and emotional. The article, under my impression, was going to report on how social pressures effect teenagers opinions on smoking. It did give me my answer, and the article fulfilled it purpose, but was set up to look more like a science journal than a filed report on findings. This article helps me want to know more about collecting data on certain experiments while conducting experiments to find out why people do the things they do to conform or "fit-in".


Nalini Ambady, Evan P. Apfelbaum, Michael I. Norton, Kristin Pauker,
and Samuel R. Sommers. (2008). Learning (Not) to Talk About Race: When Older Children Underperform In Social Categorization.


The article discusses the difference between younger children and older children when it comes to deciphering race and why the older the child, the more critical they think and analyze. Through persona and logos, the authors of this article convey the overall message of brain development and how this development causes children to think more critically. The persona in the article sounds professional and well0organized, knowing the facts before speaking them and putting them into discussion. It also seems to lean toward the defensive side of defending how children see other people when basing their observations on skin color, yet sending a mixed message of warning. Due to the fact that children begin to classify people according to race as they grow older, the person speaking feels the need to explain this phenomena through scientific research that was conducted on a group of fifth graders and sixth graders, all different ages, to show just how more cynical children think as they grow older. The warning seems to come off towards the end when the author uses the word "cost". "Cost" stands out due to the tone in which the persona speaks in. The main objective is to convey that children's thinking ability to categorizes broaden with age, but it has its cons as well as pros. The logos behind the argument is that children become more observant as they grow older and it is debated on whether it is due to nature or nurture. The downfall to this article is that it was too short for my taste, and I believe more than one experiment should have been conducted to compare and test earlier findings. This article contributes to my fascination with finding out how the bran develops over time and if it from either nature or nurture. It also makes me want to know more about how racism effects the way we perceive the world around us. I know racism is alive and well, but I want to know what can be deciphered as racist and what can be looked upon at prejudice. The minds way in sensation and perception have always left me want ting know a lot more about how we perceive different stimuli and how that effects out outlook on society.


Julianna Deardorff, Elena Flores, and Jeanne M. Tschann. (2008) Sexual Values Among Latino Youth: Measurement Development Using a Culturally Based Approach. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology. 14(2), 138-146


The article discusses the sexual values and morals amongst the Hispanic population of youth and how their sexual morality effects their daily life in their romantic relationships. The article discusses the Hispanic culture and their sexual value through conducted analysis of a group of Latino youth that surveyed them on whether or not they were virgins, used condoms when having sexual intercourse, etc; tying their results into the data that 13% of Hispanics make up HIV/AIDS cases and most of them are between the ages of 13-19- teenagers. Throughout the duration of the article, the persona of the article seemed to take the mindset of a Latino-American and speak on behalf of the culture and what is accepted among st the youth in that certain culture. The persona also takes the position of explaining why the Latino youth are being as sexually "free" as they are, relating back to the culture as well as the values bestowed upon them from their society and family. The persona of the article is also somewhat attracting themselves to the Hispanic population. Taking the role as an informant to educate the Hispanic youth, this has the effect to attract the younger population of Latino America and may sway their mind set to have interest in reading the article based on the on what the article discusses and how the article pertains to the specifically. The only flaws with the argument is that is does not relate its findings to the other population of American teens to do extensive research in how the different cultures compare. I know how teens think and the interesting part of the argument only shows how Latino culture effects the sexual practices of Latino youth, but it does not invite other ethnicity and demonstrate their sexual activity based on culture. This information would have been more valuable to see how different cultures add up and act differently in similar scenarios, even though there is a culture clash effect that causes them to behave differently. This article helps me want to understand more about sexual behaviors in humans and how culture effects our libido and sexual safety. I also want to know more about other cultures to relate them back to other data that demonstrates their activity compared to other ethnicity's, doing research and experiments to find out how the culture of one person has a great psychological effect on them.


Carlos M. Grilo and Robin M. Masheb. (2008). Examination of Predictors and Moderators of Self-Help Treatment of Binge-Eating Disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 76 (5), 900-905


The article discusses the psychological effects of being overweight amongst different groups of people and how these effects lead to eating disorders such as Binging- vomiting after eating in order to lose weight. Through pathos, the authors of the article raise awareness to a growing problem among the overweight population. Case studies, interviews, personal confessions, and experiments were conducted to gather information but the establishment of pathos is within those studies to demonstrate how social pressures and reality outlooks from people take effect on the mindset of the overweight. Social pressures from society glorify the size five and under while fat-loss diets and gym membership commercials bombard the television sets of all homes across the nation. This study was done to reflect how these types of messages, media and other forms of entertainment, effect the thought process of someone who does not mold into the accepted image of "beautiful". Appeals to emotion comes from the wanted sympathy from the reader to try and understand how such baggering can effect a person emotionally and mentally. The dramatic methods people do in order to fit that mold being a size five and under is an undiscusses topic that society does not want to talk about because it is something no one wants to admit is happening. Emotion from the reader is aimed for understand of social comformity amongst the "black sheep" and and some amount of leniency when judging people who are over the weight limit. The flaws in this argument is that the article depicts overweight people as ALL wanting to binge after eating to lose weight, and does not shed light on those who are overweight and happen to like the fact that they are plus size. The image and impression given of by the article is that all overweight people have some sort of mental problem because they can't lose weight and should be pitied on when it is not the case. This article makes me want to continue on with my persue of becoming a psychologist because I would like to know more about how socil pressures alterone's way of thinking. I want to know more about how persuasive techniques cause people that don't fit in to go to te extreme to get that stamp of approval from the ones around them that are deemed worthy.

Michael C. Singer. (2008). How Anti-Gay Bias Compromised A Treatment: A Commentary on Meissner (2006). Psychoanalytic Psychology. 25 (1), 181-185

The article discusses the way of how the situation conerning a homosexual male had birthed a compromise that had fvored both the homosexual population as well as the heterosexual population. The logos behind the article is that one event that may seem terrible or devestating may end up resulting in an agreed solution to help both parties. In this case, a homosexual was in turmoil because of some anti-homosexul event and the legal action was resolved with a compromise that contented both parties. The overall message, my opinion, is that any situation can be resolved when looked at from more than one point of view and talked over rather than rushed into court. The flaws in the arguement is that there was not much background detail given about the situation that occured and thus leaving the reader with a blank on what really happened. Also, the article could have been longer and filled with more detail that would have been useful and relevent to the topic such as gay bashings, legal action concerning gay rights, and other comproises settled from a dispute cocerning homosexuals. There was not that much information about the background baisics and this coul have been to ensure anonomity among the individuals involved, but it does hardly anything for the reader but to guess on what occured. This article makes me want to continue my dreams in bcoming a certified psychologist because it makes me want to know more about how people discriminate agasint one another based on different traits or qualities they have and why they try to eliminate what is different from them based on the sole fact that they don't condone it. This study also makes me want to try and do experiments amongst my peers to se how they react to homosexualisim and if they don't agree with it, whta factors contribute to their logic? Thus study opens up many doors into the thought process of people and what makes people think the way they do, why they do the things they do, and how choosing a life partner can end up being in the same sex.

Edith M. Fresh. (2008)) Book Reviews. Families, Systems, and Health. 23 (3), 343-346