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starfish by brisamaia on Polyvore

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starfish

starfish by brisamaia on Polyvore

INSTANT DOWNLOAD // Digital Clip Art // Starfish // summer, beach,...
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Mini Rhetorical Analysis of Thoreau's Walden

“Society is commonly too cheap. We meet at very short intervals, not having had time to acquire any new value for each other. We meet at meals three times a day, and give each other a new taste of that old musty cheese that we are. We have had to agree on a certain set of rules, called etiquette and politeness, to make this frequent meeting tolerable and that we need not come to open war. We meet at the post-office, and at the sociable, and about the fireside every night; we live thick and are in each other's way, and stumble over one another, and I think that we thus lose some respect for one another.”

Henry David Thoreau, Walden or Life in the Woods

Thoreau claims that society is too cheap, going through the same routine every day, the same interactions and actions amongst each other, like old musty cheese, and that thus, as humans, we lose respect for each other through the way we "live thick and are in each other's way." Thoreau’s brilliant use of a resilient tone, and a choice of creative and precise diction and syntax, work in union to strengthen his claim on the nature of the human being. 

Thoreau is displeased with the nature of human beings. His tone shows frustration and annoyance towards society as he makes the claim that people are always in each other’s ways, living thick lives and going about unnecessary interactions He suggests indirectly that it would be better if people interacted less often, so that the time spent alone would actually give people the chance to have something important to communicate, rather than pretending society is more enjoyable than it actually is through their same, redundant interactions. He calls society too “cheap,” and compares a human being as “musty old cheese,” showing almost a sense of disgust towards this aspect of human nature. Although his dominant tone is calm, it is more complex, as he uses different interchanging tones along with the dominant one. Because of his lack of exclamation, Thoreau’s tone is nonchalant, a bit disappointed because of his disgust and annoyance with human nature, and a bit didactic because of the suggestion he indirectly makes by shunning and criticizing human nature, to lessen interactions between each other. 

Thoreau’s precise and direct language, yet complex syntax and indirect instruction draw in the reader and strengthen his argument about human interactions and human nature. Thoreau uses words and phrases like “cheap,” “musty old cheese,” “tolerable,” and “lose respect,” to emphasize his annoyance and displeasure towards people’s actions. His diction is precise, and not complex at all, yet it sets up a sentence and idea structure that is a little more complex, and has an indirect message towards the reader. His brilliant and flawless syntax and precise diction all work to make his argument, in which he purposely makes an indirect suggestion to the reader, where he gives the advice to interact less, so that people have more important things to communicate after being alone, rather than the same “musty old cheese” that they redundantly do.  By doing this purposely, Thoreau achieves the objective of making the reader thing more in depth about his argument and his claim, and to dig deeper into his argument and take out the piece of counsel ad recommendation he wants them to acquire.

Outsourcing in Egypt

Egypt is gaining popularity as a location for IT outsourcing. As Sourcing Line states, “in 2008, Cairo was ranked 7^th on the top 50 emerging outsourcing cities, and Egypt was bestowed with the title of “Outsourcing destination of the year.” As reported by the Yankee group, Egypt is by far the Middle Eastern country best positioned to take great advantage of the outsourcing boom. Egypt has the best to offer when it comes to average wages and low infrastructure costs. Egypt is also westernized, and opened to westernization, and the diverse population speaks English, German, French, Spanish, and many other languages that support the multi-lingual labor. Egypt’s geographical location between Asia, the US, and Europe puts it in the prime place to serve the world. Many multinational companies have invested in Egypt already, including IMB and Microsoft. Egypt also has a Smart Village, a 600-acre business park just outside of Cairo. It is designed to become the Middle East Center of Information and Technology, and industry analysts are saying good things about the next few years in Egypt in terms of IT and outsourcing. “Analyst Datamonitor predicts that the demand for Egyptian call centers will grow by 50 percent over the next three to four years,” states Sourcing Line. Things are looking good for Egypt, whose IT industry plans to generate around $10 billion in revenue in the next ten years.

There is one problem, despite the potential that Egypt has in terms of outsourcing. Egypt has a very unstable political system, which can prevent foreign investors to be attracted to outsource to Egypt. As predicted, the IT industry is estimated to bring about $10 billion in revenue in the next ten years. But, as recent events have unraveled in Egypt, with political uprisings and the problems with infrastructure and government, it has become less appealing to foreign investors, and dampens the chance of it actually reaching the projection of 10$ billion in 10 years. If Egypt were to clean up its act, and have a more stable geopolitical system, these projections made by analysts may surpass the goal in revenue.

Egypt has invested millions to promote its sourcing capabilities. But, with the recent threats of political unrest, these investments are also under threat of not serving their purposes. Top internet providers such as IMB and Verizon rely on Egyptian resources and as Horses for Sources states, “largely for call center work and software support and development, its hazardous when the government shuts off the Internet and all hell is breaking loose.”  Social media is clearly fueling unrest in the Middle East, and if situations such as what happened in Egypt in terms of the Arab Spring happen again, the first reaction of governments now seems to be to shut off the internet.  This obviously impacts IT services that are reliant on the internet in the Middle East to succeed, and there needs to be a stable political environment for this to happen also. This is a serious blow to nations that seek to outsource to Egypt. But, the questionable political instability is a hindrance.

Works Cited

Fersht, Phil. "Egypt’s Crisis: Where Social Media Threatens Global Outsourcing." Egypt’s Crisis: Where Social Media Threatens Global Outsourcing. Horses for Sources, 30 Jan. 2011. Web. 01 Apr. 2014.


"Outsourcing to Egypt." Sourcing Line. Sourcing Line, n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2014.

Rhetorical Analysis- "Customer Service Calls Routed to India," Beth Duff-Brown

In Beth Duff-Brown’s, “Customer Service Calls Routed to India,” she combines the use of a precise and strong tone coming from her diction and writing style, professional yet personal diction, and use of rhetorical devices, to work in harmony to strongly support the arguments she makes in her article.

Duff-Brown’s tone in her article “Customer Service Calls Routed to India” is detectable throughout her article. By examining her use of diction, one can infer her tone both through her choice of words, and her writing style. Because Duff-Brown’s diction is very intellectual, although very personal and not too “tight up,” as one would say, she creates a tone of formality, but personal connection to the reader, as if she were speaking directly to her audience. Duff-Brown’s writing style support her unique tone because of the way her words flow, and how she accurately made a great choice on words to support her arguments in this article. Because her tone is strong, it gives the audience a sense that they are not reading just another news article, but one coming from a reliable, and identifiable, knowledgeable source. Duff- Brown also throws in hints of comedy and humor into her article, also altering her tone into being still formal, but casual and lighthearted at the same time. This not only builds her ethos, but it also pulls in readers. Her tone is used precisely to pull in readers and keep them in the article’s grasp with its uniqueness. By using this slightly modifying, unique tone, Duff-Brown achieves a strong argument in this article because her tone, which is part of the structure of her article, is strong, memorable, and strengthens her argument alongside her writing style.

Duff-Brown’s choice of words reflects her writing style, and the argument itself. Examples of Duff-Brown’s strong use of diction reflect when she says, “the city is awash with tech billboards and knapsack-laden geeks in a hurry,” where her choice of words build a mental image for the reader, while still keeping her professionalism and slight seriousness in her article. Because she writes in such a flowing manner, her diction is what makes reading this article smooth, and makes the audience or the reader feel that she is speaking personally to them. She builds this “relationship” with her audience, but keeps it professional at the same time. Her diction supports her argument because with the use of words and phrases like “intellectuals,” “work conditions,” “deregulation,” and “globalization,” she builds her argument in terms of the meanings of these words and how they support it. A perfect example of this correlation between diction and the strength of her argument is when Duff-Brown says, “Website designers here have left for overseas companies or work in Bangalore for them, filling the technology vacuum in the United States, Britain and other European countries.”

Using  rhetorical devices of ethos and pathos, Duff-Brown successfully applies these to her article which ultimately strengthens it by drawing in the audience, and maintaining their attention. Throughout her article, Duff-Brown strengthens her ethos by building a connection with her audience. She qualifies her argument by using quotes from other sources such as Arhundati Roy, and showing knowledge in the topic of globalization and outsourcing/offshoring. She introduces the story of “Betty,” as if she were speaking directly through the audience instead of this being text. This builds her ethos and her connection to the audience overall. Duff-Brown’s use of statistics and quotes from other sources also builds her ethos by showing her outside knowledge and strengthens her argument by providing actual data and proof of claims she makes. Duff-Brown’s use of slight humor throughout the article also strengthens her argument. When she says, “they bone up on sports terms and slang and a good dose of Baywatch and Friends to bridge the cultural divide between Boston and Bombay,” one can note the slight use of humor she uses in her article. This humor is the use of the rhetorical device of pathos, which is one of the strongest in strengthening an argument through audience connection.

 Duff- Brown’s combination of a precise and strong tone, professional yet personal diction, and use of rhetorical devices, works to strongly support the arguments she makes in her article. Her audience is captivated by her tone through her writing style, her diction, and her use of pathos and ethos. As the audience is pulled in by these devices, her argument is qualified and strengthened, making her article successful in serving its purpose.

Exploring My Language: A Follow Up to" Exploring Minha Lingua, and Como Tame a Lingua Desobediente"

       When Ms. Parham gave us this assignment, I immediately though about the language my family speaks at home. My mother and I are from Brazil, my stepfather is American, and we all speak English, and Portuguese. For myself , English was my first written language, but my second spoken language. For my mom, it was her second written and spoken language, and for my step dad, Portuguese was his second spoken language, but he never really learned to write it. Now, you can only imagine the mixture of the two languages there is in my house. In almost every sentence I say, just so my mother doesn't nag me about speaking Portuguese because she doesn't want me to forget it, I either switch some words to Portuguese, or to English. There, she has the best of both worlds; both parties are happy.

       Writing that blog the way we spoke at home was easy as cake. Like I mentioned, it is a part of who I am, the way I grew up. It is our "Portuglish," just like Anzaldua describes all different dialects of English and Spanish like tex-mex and Chicano. At home, we communicate more-than-meaningful ideas. It is easy for us to understand each other, because we created this common tongue where we learn to communicate despite the differences in the languages and our preferences.  Although confusing to other people, maybe even other portugues/english speaking families, to us, it is liberating, it is meaningful it is communication in our family. We live out our culture, even though we live in a different land than that of our birth, through the way we speak, while honoring our now Americanized and "Citizen of the United States" status. By speaking this mix of both Portuguese and English, we honor ourselves to the country we live in, while at the same time staying firmly rooted in our culture, and contributiing to keeping our language, portuguese, a "living language."

Exploring Minha Lingua, and Como Tame a Lingua Desobediente

         Minha lingua nao me define. Em casa, eu and minha mae falamos portugues, English, e uma mistura because nos estamos used to talking like this. There is no such thing as “Standard English” na minha casa. Nos nao falamos portugues direito, e o ingles: quebrado. Even if eu aprendi a falar the right way, this is who we are. A minha familia e assim. Mesmo if it seems confusing to outras pessoas, this is how we speak. E o nosso jeito de communicate.  Just like there are all different jeitos de falar, como Anzaldua says in her essay, us Brazilian/American mixed families falamos assim. We change every second or third palavra in our sentences and na nossa conversa, because we are acostumados a falar this way. The kids crecem aprednendo ingles, the parents ja falam, mais como second language, e ai you have your mistura. Notice how facil it is for me to read o que eu escrevi. Esta gravado no meu brain, guardado no meu coracao. I know o proque que I talk like this. E porque eu nao fui alphabetized no Brasil, mais in the United States. Eu aprendi minha lingua de nacsencia second hand, from meus pais e a minha familia, and at the same time aprendi o ingles. Now, quando eu quero falar something em portugues, mais nao sei como, I say it in English, porque its easier pra mim. Just like I say, “eu fui alphabetized,” e porque como Portuguese is my birth language, but my second forma learned, “ na escola” language, I mix it com o ingles at home porque my parents querem que it stays a “living language” in our family. Se eu falo tudo in English, minha mae gets mad. She wants me to speak in portugues because ela fala, “ voce e brasileira, nao Americana, vai esquecer sua lingua de nacencia.” She thinks eu vou esquecer minha lingua that I speak since I could falar da primeira vez.  Eu fui Americanized. Just like Anzaldua says that all kids who speak Ingles as a segunda lingua are forcados to conform to “standard English.”

Eu nao me conformo; I will not conform. 

         Eu nasci no meu Brazil, e vim para essa terra estrangeira. Aprendi a lingua dos brancos, e fui forcada a esquecer a minha lingua dos indios, minha lingua Brasil. Mas eu nao esqueco, jamais. Esta gravada em mim, na minha vida, na minha alma. Meu Deus fala em portugues, meu coracao chora em protugues, minha mente e a minha conciencia fala em protugues,  e EU FALO EM PROTUGUES. Sepre falarei. Se eu tiver que me conformar, se conform somente quando a hora e certa de ser formal e direta. Mas quando eu quero ser mim mesma, ser quem eu sou, eu falo o meu protugues. Seja misturado com ingles, ou puro como aprendi quando era crianca. Eu continuarei, minha lingua vivera em mim mesmo quando eu morrer, minha lingua vivera, e ninguem ira destruir-la.

I WILL NOT CONFORM. 

Ukraine- The View from Brazil, England, and France

The crisis in Ukraine is becoming more and more of a global concern as time progresses. Because the world is so "united" in times of crisis, every country has something to say in a different perspective. Because almost every country is connected in some sort of relations, be it trade or diplomacy, when one is in trouble and in need of aid, or when it is compromising trade, prices, and the economy for other countries, suddenly everyone becomes concerned. Other countries sometimes stay on the sideline, watching as the big guns- the US, Germany, the UK, China, Japan, etc. mediate or reprehend the crisis between countries- and commenting on their choices of decisions on mediation or reprehension.

Although France has been more on the sidelines than the frontlines during this crisis between the Ukraine and Russia, they have some pretty strong opinions on how other countries are getting involved. On the news source “Les Echos, France,” and article was posted titled: “Ukraine: Obama does not want to yield to Russia.” This title does not say much about France’s opinion, but wait until you begin reading the article! France’s news source’s opening line claims that president Obama and the EU are posing political and economic threats to force Russia to negotiate and find a solution for the crisis. France is sitting on the side mostly, just analyzing and observing other countries’ decisions, comments, and their every move.  

France also seems to be focusing on the main “mediators” in this crisis: the Europe/ EU and US. Although in French, the news source stated that, “Barack Obama, the U.S. president, announced that a referendum in the Crimea would violate international law (translated).”  Barack Obama also announced that if the violation of international law by Russia continues, the position of the United States and its allies stand firm. Now, the question posed is, what is the position of the allies on this issue? What does Obama mean when he says their position is firm? Is this indicating military intervention in Russia, Ukraine, or both by the allied powers?  In this article, France seems more concentrated and concerned on the decisions of the US and the EU and how they will impact Russia and the Ukraine. France’s opinions seem a little strong because of the fact that they said Obama and the EU was threatening Russia. Now, we cant tell if France thinks that’s a good thing or a bad thing, because they seem neutral, but it is interesting that it was called “threatening” in the first place.

Brazil seems to approach the crisis in a different way than France. The perspective of Brazil in BBC news Brazil was on a more economic level. Of course, the US is always a point of interest of other countries’ news, and Brazil is focused on how the crisis in the Ukraine might affect the US and the EU, and other smaller countries of less importance in their article. Brazil mentions repeatedly that the fear of war between Russia and Ukraine is already affecting international prices, and that “ this week, the wheat reached its maximum value in 17 months…Corn reached the highest price since September…on Monday gas came to rise 10%.)  Brazil’s stance on the issue is taking on a more economic aspect; Brazil is worried about how potential war between the Ukraine and Russia might affect the economy of the world.

BBC news Europe has a more neutral, unspecific perspective on the crisis in the Ukraine.  They are focusing mainly on breaking news, and important updates. BBC News Europe states, “EU leaders are to begin an Emergency summit to decide how they should respond to Russia’s troop deployment in Ukraine’s Crimea region.” Their focus is more on keeping the people informed, and not taking any biased stances, or focusing on one aspect such as Brazil focuses on the affects the crisis might have on the economy or France focuses on the US and EU’s decisions on the crisis. From this news source, you can infer that BBC is more concerned “with what happens next,” and the decisions that will make or break that- if war is evident- or if there will be peaceful mediation.

The Blues in The Bluest Eye

The woeful voices of Blues singers are rhythmically parallel with the narrative voice of The Bluest Eye. In synchrony, are the story of Pecola, intertwined with those who led to her demise, and the songs of blues voicing harsh realities. Each is its own story of woe and suffering, more a rhythmic talk than a melody, but still expressing mourning, pain, and suffering.  Early blues took a form of a loose narrative, in a rhythmic talk more than a melody, the singer voicing personal woes in a world of harsh reality. Deriving from the work songs, spirituals, shouts, and chants of the African American communities in sufferable times, blues took on a meaning of more than just a song, but a live emotion, a live expression. Blues are mournful and melancholy; they express gloom and heartbreak, reality, and the harshness of life.  

Morrison’s voice, spoken through the various narrators throughout The Bluest eye, is like a Blues song. It is not a melody, but rhythmic talk, a loose narrative, which weaves the story of woe and melancholy, the story of the harsh reality of what happened to Pecola. Just as a Blues song does not give away the “why,” but only the how because why is too hard to handle, because the why of a breakup is too hard to handle, because the why of slavery is too hard to handle, because the why of death is too hard to handle, Morrison beautifully writes the story of Pecola’s woe, her destruction, even though it is hard to understand why it happened. The point Morrison tries to make is not why what happens, happens, but the moral behind what and how it happened.

Blues are loose narratives, they tell woeful stories of loss and pain, they try to make sense of their lives, about loves that left or death or suffering. Just as in Morrison’s novel, the characters each try to make sense of their own lives. Each of their stories is a collection of their misery, and the unnaturalness in which it happens that Morrison highlights. These stories told in both Blues songs and in Morrison’s novel express the misery gone through by the beholder.  Each main character in Morrison’s novel has their own story. Just as every blues song has a back story. Each character has a song to sing, a story full of woe to tell, each character has their Blues.

The color blue is associated with misery, loss, and woe. The name “Blues” fits perfectly, almost ironically, with the music itself. The woeful, almost whiny voices of Blues singer’s give off the tone and the feeling of sadness and strikes in the audience the same emotions. The same goes with The Bluest Eye. Morrison’s story is blue, the bluest hue of blues.  It is sadness, it is sorrow, and it is misery.  Hence, the name the “bluest” eye can also mean the saddest: Pecola’s. Once she determined that she wanted blue eyes, and acquired them, her life went even more downhill. Her eyes were the bluest, the saddest. She had the bluest story, the biggest woe in her eyes and in her life.

Advertisement Analysis- "Dolce & Gabbana"

This visual ad was created and distributed by Dolce & Gabbana, an Italian luxury industry fashion house. Dolce & Gabbana is a worldwide known high fashion brand famous among the rich and a-list, and is also known for its racy advertisements of fashion. This image was made to advertise the brand's high fashion clothes, both for men and women. Dolce & Gabbana's intentions are for this racy, sex appealing image to advertise their clothing to the "rich a-listers" that can afford to buy it.

The medium used in this advertisement is an image, with only the brand name "Dolce & Gabbana" in plain text dead center. The image itself is what attracts the eye to the advertisement, and then the text in the center, which is purposely put there so that viewers are aware that this is Dolce & Gabbana. The text in the center is only noticed after the viewer looks at the image in the dead center of a man pinning down a woman. Of course, the creator of the ad did this purposely to draw attention to the image, and then to the text, which is the name of the fashion brand. Once the viewer has their eyes on the image, it is inevitable to look at the name of the brand, "Dolce & Gabbana" in the center.

The image of a beyond gorgeous half naked man, pinning down an even more gorgeous and naked woman, with other equally gorgeous men surrounding them, with looks of hunger in their eyes, attracts everyone's eyes because of the sexuality of the image. The look of hunger in the other men's eyes is not of hunger, but of sexual hunger, as they watch the man dead center pin down the almost-naked woman. This almost seems like it was purposely made to look like a gang rape, but instead of portraying the woman as kicking and screaming, fighting back, the creator of this image made her look almost lifeless, willing to be controlled and used, at the men's advantages.

The creator of the Dolce & Gabbana advertisement did this purposely because they know the human mentality and how our minds can be sick and masochistic, how we hunger to see these sexual, perverse images even if we can’t admit it to ourselves, and how sick we are to actually buy into the game these advertisements make and buy their product. Advertisement creators know that it is human to not be able to help wanting to see these perverse, violent, and sexual images. We are drawn to them, although we may not know why, and this method of creating these images to advertise product actually works. If instead they used a mild image, of a man and woman maybe strolling in the streets, it wouldn't create such a desire in the viewer to look at it. It would be boring to us. So, the creators made an image of a discreet gang rape. At first, the viewer might not make this assumption, but once one looks closer at the image, they can assume this is exactly what it is; men surrounding a woman, waiting their turn, as one of them pins her down.

This image also brings in the helplessness of women, and how they are submissive and obedient to men. In the image, while the men look sexually hungry and ready to attack, the woman has a paralyzed look on her face, she looks indifferent, like she's lost life and has given in to the men. In a normal case of a gang rape, of course a woman would fight and scream, but this image is pushing that women might as well not, that they should be obedient and submissive, and basically let men do whatever they want to them. The way she is arching her hips towards him, shows too that she is also sexually giving in to him. She's fulfilling his desires, and all of the men's desires. This advertisement says that women should give in both physically and sexually to men, and let them take advantage of them without saying a word, moving a muscle, and with a blank expression on their faces.

Instead of upholding positive cultural values, this ad does the opposite. It upholds instead the obscene and perverse, the sexualizing of everything just to sell some expensive clothes that only rich people can afford. It conveys that women should be obedient and submissive, and instead it glorifies the scene of a gang rape waiting to happen. Although it sexually appeals to viewers, it also indirectly conveys that it’s OK to treat women this way. It downplays the act of gang rape and manhandling women by dressing the models (even though it’s scantily), but still emphasizes the act by making the pinned down woman the dead center of the image. It distracts the viewers with its sexuality, gorgeous models, and stylish clothes, but once one looks closely, it is evident what is actually going on in this image. It glorifies the act by making the models look extremely beautiful, and like it’s a normal, everyday thing to do this. They glorify it by making it seem that we should look up to these beautiful, rich and influential people in this ad, and to believe that we should do what they're doing only because they're better than us.

The purpose of this ad, of course, is to sell its clothes and make Dolce & Gabbana more facous than it already is. By making the image sexually appealing, it attracts more buyers. Because someone might see the image as "sexy,"they might go and purchase the shoes the woman is wearing, or the sunglasses on the man that's pinning her down, or the shorts one of the bystanders is wearing. That is always the intention of the creators of advertisements. They want people to buy their product, but they use our human weaknesses to draw us in, they glorify the most perverse and immoral things, they use our oblivion to draw us to their brand, like moths to a flame.

The Results of My Observation

After observing my surroundings a bit, really looking at my situation at home, surveying and really thinking about dinner time, watching kid's entertainment, reminiscing back to the old days of Disney movies, and surveying my environment in high school, I found that my previous perception of society and of my culture has not drastically changed. 

I chose to write about dinner time in my house because of the fact that it is so unconventional, so nontraditional, and I am so not welcome at the table, or in my parent's "adult" conversations. This is their place, their time, where they sit down and watch the news, where they sum up their day to each other, and where they chose to talk about subjects that I am not allowed to talk about or "butt in" because I am not an adult. Although they may seem spiteful, I think they just try to protect me from the stresses they go through, and deep down inside, they don't mean to banish me to the dining room to sit by myself. They have long days, and at the end of the day, they want to sit down and enjoy a meal, talk about what's on their minds without their kids bothering them. This has become a tradition in my house, for as long as we've had the television in the kitchen; they have tuned in to news 12 every night at diner and watching in on the current events of our society. I've always though they didn't pay much mind to the news, and that they only became interested in the events that shocked them or were interesting to them. But, i came to learn after a while that even though they are not showing interest, they are still listening in on news about the economy, about crime, about accomplishments in our society, about the world, and it still gets registered in their heads. I think news is definitely important to them, and it is their tradition and almost daily ritual to sit down during dinner and watch the news, and of course, like almost all places a group calls their own, outsiders are not welcome, and always are on the outside looking in, just as I sit in the dining room- the outside- looking in. 

Disney's movie Brave has been my favorite so far since it came out. I remember when i was little i used to say i wanted to be a princess, and now that I’m grown i remember the values and morals the movies taught children through exciting and magical stories. But, as I grew older, and became aware of society, and of expected roles of men and women, my views on these Disney movies changed. I no longer appreciated the love stories and happy endings, because I knew that they were there to restrict and distinguish the female roles as dainty, obedient, duty-full, kind, and compassionate, a cleaning, cooking, and submissive little "princess." Although some values and traits are still important to me, like compassion, kindness, and obedience (to an extent), I find that the female roles in the traditional Disney movies are really outdated. In our society now, in the 20th century, the roles of women have changed dramatically. Brave is the prefect movie to play out that change. Instead of the protagonist being a dainty soft spoken princess, it is a rowdy, wild-at-heart girl who doesn't want to conform and give up her free spirit to fit into the gender role destined for her. Although in the end Merida is told she has to become queen, and get married, she does learn valuable lessons, including the one to follow her dreams, and that it’s OK to break the norms of society. 

I couldn't say I just recently stopped and observed the hallways at school, because I've been observing them since I became a part of the flow of students in them. I've always been very observant of the styles, the personalities, the music and fashion choices, and the overall choices the people that walk in the hallways in between each class make. We are the face of this generation, we are the future, we are the society that will prevail, and our values, traditions, and rituals reflect this. To our generation, music is important, clothes to most is important, our friends and relationships are important, and to some our education is important. This says a lot about our generation as a whole. Although some might think we are shallow, and are straying away from traditional values, we are just growing and adapting to the times, and as the times pass, so will some values, and as the time progresses, so will others. 

Our society, our culture values education, by going after our goals in high school we achieve what we want to be. We value important traits such as persistence, determination, and "breaking the mold," being different, and not fitting into gender roles chosen for us by being what we want to be. Our society values the freedom of expression, the freedom to be who you want to be no matter what sex, or sexual orientation. Our society strays away from oppressing girls and women, from being submissive to being powerful and independent. We all make our own cultures, and we chose places that are important to us to act out these cultural traditions and daily rituals, and sometimes we also have to be on the outside of others' culture looking in.