Privacy or Safety?

Would you scarifies all of your privacy for safety? This one of the things we discussed in class. Should the Government be allowed to see everything we do? Personally I say no, because i don't like people snooping around in my life looking for something that isn't there.

So how does this relate to english? Through reading we are able to learn about the world around us and to be able to look into past events and to relate them to current events. In the book when the bridge was destroyed the government came and monitored everything everyone did. This is similar to what happened after 9/11 but in the book it was much worse. After 9/11 the government was grated the right to search your house without you knowing. To me this is going way too far. I don't see how someone people destroying the trade centers and part of the pentagon gives the government the right to take away our privacy and snoop around in our houses with out us knowing.

All of this became clear to me when other people's computers were take control of. Even though it is a bit funny, it still is scary to think that just about anyone could just click a button and have complete access to our personal files without us knowing. And this is where people say that if you have nothing to hid you don't nee privacy. But the thing is that even though i don't have anything to really hid, i still want to keep my personal life personal. I mean personal doesn't mean anyone can go ahead and look, it mean that it is for me only and anyone i trust. This whole talk really showed that privacy is huge in life and having that take away is like taking away all of your rights. and the way you showed this really made it clear.

Dumbest generation?

My generation is regarded as one of the dumbest generations ever because we can't say what the largest lake in America is or explain what a "Colored Entrance" sign is. This is based on that we don't hold onto info that is regarded a valuable. I find this to be completely wrong. My generation, while not retaining "important" info, does retain skills and info that is useful to a developing mind. These skills come from the constantly developing technology. All of the technology in today's society is said to be the cause of our stupidity because we don't need to flex our minds as much to find information, when it actually helps to improve our minds. The skills learned from technology help the mind to be more flexible and reactive to changes. Like in a video game, the environment is constantly changing and there are a lot of puzzles to solve. This helps to improve the mind to adjusting and changing environments and to solve puzzles. It is true thought that my generation is not as hard working and persevering as past generation and this is due to technology. Technology has completely changed the day to day life of almost every person. While allowing us to do more things at a quicker pace, it has also made us impatient and lazy. So even though my generation doesn't hold onto information that is thought to be important, we still learn skills that help our minds in day to day life.

Why Americas are so Often Restless Q 2&5

2.) A society that is devoted to equal opportunity weakens each individual because it is much harder to stand out from the rest of the people. Alexis de Tocqueville wrote, "When men are more or less equal and are following the same path, it is very difficult for any of them to walk faster and get out beyond the uniform crown surrounding and hemming them in." This illustrates that since everyone is equal it is hard for any one person to stand out in the crowd. Like in a job interview, if you and four hundred other people are trying out for a job; it is extremely hard to stand out, and get picked, since everyone has an equal chance.

5.) Alexis de Tocqueville thinks that Americans are restless because they want what they can never get. He wrote, "Every instant they think they will catch it, and each time it slips through their fingers. They see it close enough to know its charms, but they do not get near enough to enjoy it, and they will be dead before they have fully relished its delights." This demonstrates that you get very close to what you want but never really achieve it. And that Americans will keep trying to get to it eve though they will never achieve it. Like if you are trying to win a championship and you are in the final round. In that final round you are so close that you can feel the happiness of winning, but you lose and never achieve that goal.

Passage Analyse

"He was on his way to dig someone out of a grave..." This passage is a foreshadowing of a future event. Charles Dickens use the word dig to signify that someone was found. The grave was the dungeon and fifth-floor room Mr. Manette is in. Later in the passage it reads, "Buried how long? Almost eighteen years." This is referring to how long Mr. Manette was "dead" until he was found. Next the passage reads, " You had abandoned all hope of being dug out? Long ago. You know that you are recalled to life? They tell me so." The first part of this statement means that Mr. Manette long ago gave up hope of being rescued, by anyone, from his imprisonment. The next part is saying that now he is found he is "resurrected." Later in the passage it states, "I hope you care to live? I can't say." This means that even though he was "resurrected" he doesn't really care that he is alive. "Shall i show you to her now? The answers to this question were various and contradictory. Sometimes the broken reply was, "Wait! It would kill me if I saw her too soon."Sometimes it was given in in a tender rain of tears, "Take me to her..." This part is how Mr. Manette would react to the opportunity of seeing his daughter. This passage, Dickens wrote, shows that how Mr. Manette would react is a mystery till it really happens. THis whole passage is one big foreshadowing of Mr. Manette's finding.

Why do we care what others think about us?

Is it difficult not to care about what others think of us because we want to look good and fit in. When we are near other people we want to be as beautiful as possible to make a good impression or to just have people accept you. We control this by changing our hair, clothes, your attitude, and, in some cases, changing our actual appearance. Most of these are done to fit in, or to conform to society.

When changing our attitude, we will change they way we act completely based on who we are around. Like when I am around my parents, I don't swear, much if at all, and I am polite. But with my friends I am very casual and have the mouth of sailor. This example is showing that around older people, like my parents, I act completely different then when I am around my friends.

Some people also change the way they look. They will change their hair and clothes to the "in" fashion so they fit in to the "in-crowd." Most people do this, while a select few just don't give a crap about it and will go place with bed head and wear what ever they want and not care what people think. Some adults will go to the extreme and they will go and have surgery to change their appearance to look younger.

All of these are changes you make to try and make other think better of you an accept you. Even after making these changes though, you can't be one hundred percent sure that every person will think better of you. Some people will find the way you look to be "uncool." In the end though it all comes down to what some people like and don't like. Everyone is different and you please them all.

Freedom or Survival?

To me Survival is more important then freedom. Survival is more important because even though you are free you can not survive. But with survival you live, but might not be free. The reason I chose survival is because I would rathe live then be free. To me no one in this world is free. Even in our country we are not free. If we were one hundred percent free we would be able to do what ever we want, without the interference of any person or persons. But in our country we are limited to what we can say or do by the laws enforced by our government. With survival almost no rules apply. In the wild if you need to kill to survive it does no matter if the animal is endangered, you can kill anything to survive. But with survival comes the fact that someone will come to power, most likely the strongest individual, to tell others what to do and how to live. But to me, survival is still better then freedom. Just in my opinion there can never be such a think as true freedom, because someone will always censor you or say that something is not allowed. I also chose survival because freedom is not as important as living. If survival means I have to follow what someone else says so be it. But looking at that, that is what our society is like today. I all to me survival is much more important then freedom.

Is war ever a good thing? Is there any cause for which you would go to war?

To me war is not a good thing. In my opinion it is a pointless way of settling differences. All was is, is sending people to die for a cause they might not believe in. But in some ways it can be good. WWII for example, if the Nazis were not taken out of power they would have killed all of the Jewish people and taken over most in not all of the world. In most cases thought war is just a very dumb way of settling problems between people who are too thick headed to sit down talk to each other. Now I would only go to war as a last choice. To me the easiest way to settle differences is to sit down and talk it over to end it before you send hundreds of people to fight agents someone to prove that you are right and they are wrong. A cause I would go to war for would be to save people, like in the case of the Jews, or to help a country that is being oppressed by a bigger country. Besides that I can't really find any other reason why i would need to go to war. There is almost always a diplomatic solution to every problem. And if it is one of those problems that does not have a diplomatic solution then I would try to stay out of it, and if that isn't possible then the only other choice it to go to war, well that or let your self be attacked and taken over. In all war is pointless if you can talk it over and settle the problem before hundreds die.