Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Topical Essay #1

In the field, anthropologists face a lot of problems in other cultures because they don't know what its like to live their lives. In the summary of Shakespeare the teller of the story ran into a problem with Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism because of the way the natives had grown up. They felt they knew more because their elders had taught them the proper ways to tell stories. They think that some of the things in the story are impossible because it can't happen in their culture. When Hamlet see's his dad's ghost the elders in the tribe started freaking out because it had to be caused by witchcraft. When the story is over they tell the story teller that he needs to find out details of the story that they feel are very important because it has cultural pride to them.

The anthropologist that was living in the Kalahari had to deal with a different problem because he didn't know that their customs were so crazy compared to ours. He wanted to throw a big Christmas party but he ran into a problem with Cultural Relativism when everyone made fun of his cow purchase. This upset the man greatly because he didn't know why they thought the big cow wouldn't be good enough for Christmas. In their culture they make fun of the person and their catch or purchase so he doesn't get a big head over it. When he ask his friend why he didn't tell him about it before his friend simply replied "you never ask."

This shows that we need to realize that the cultures that we might travel to or live in have special things that they do and we won't know about them unless we ask. Questions are a good thing and should always be ask and answered.

Dating and Marriage

Marriage and Dating are big things in our society. They show a special bond between two people. It is important to be sure it is someone you want to be with before you get married to them.
That is why you date different types of people while you are young. I have seen many different types of relationships in my life with all of my cousins, aunts and uncles, and friends. My cousins haven't made very good choices with the people that they dated and so they both have kids and no husband. My aunts and uncles are examples of great relationships both with just dating and marriage too. I have seen the love and compassion that they show towards each other. In our culture you aren't supposed to date until age sixteen but most kids start "going out" in about seventh grade. It doesn't mean much except they have the title of going out with someone. Once we hit sixteen most people go on a lot of dates before finding that special someone. I think that people that find special someone early are very lucky. It is a hard thing to do. Those people have my respect.

Monday, May 2, 2011





I eat as much or more than the average teenage boy. The day that I took these pictures I hadn't been eating very healthy which is totally like me. Just usually not that bad.






The above are all pictures of my lovely room. I left it how it usually is because that how I am.



This is me on a typical non school day. I just like to put on clothes in the morning and not really care about what they look like as long as they are clean.
In a normal day I don't spend much money on things other than gas for my car. When I bought gas on that day the lady couldn't figure out her cash register so it made me laugh.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Final Draft

Final Draft

Words are such a strong thing that we need to be careful what we say and how we say it. If we’re not careful our words can be taken the wrong way and cause lots of trouble between even the closest of friends. I have seen best friends torn apart over something that wasn’t even really said. Everything is based on words. Communication is the key. You hear that a lot but what does it really mean? It means that we need to communicate our points so that someone can see what we mean. Words are a way to end wars but they can start them just as easily. We need to remember that people don’t always perceive our words the way we want them to.
If we didn’t have words how could we say what we mean? Have you ever been somewhere where the people around you don’t speak the same language as you? If you have you know what I’m talking about. It’s hard to explain what you mean and get something useful from them. Usually all you get is “no habla,” or something along those lines, which is pretty obvious when they just give you that blank stare. Body language is a big part of how we use our words. There are even entire languages based on hand and body motions. It’s really frustrating when that happens because then you have to find a way to translate it or just give up and leave.
If you get in a fight with someone and you start throwing around derogatory words because you’re mad, you don’t know what the repercussions might come from that. You might really hurt that person and then that’s one less person you have on your side if you need them. Words in anger are a bad thing because you’re not thinking when you say them. Think about that next time you want to yell that at the guy that just cut you off driving down the road or when you get upset at the kid at school because he looked at your girlfriend in the wrong way or whatever reason you have.
You can also express good feelings and emotions with your words such as love or praise. When you tell someone you love them do you mean it? Because they will think you do. But if you don’t mean it don’t say it. It hurts them more than you know when you say it just to make them happy. In the long run it doesn’t do anything but cause problems. You’re parents say they love you because they really do. They are using their words to show their feelings towards you.
We have to learn our words at a very young age so that we can survive in the world today. When a little kid gets upset you tell them to use their words so you can understand what they mean and help fix whatever is wrong. If you can’t understand them how can you help them? Well the answer is you can’t. You can guess until you figure it out but that doesn’t really work to well. You need to be able to understand the problem in order to fix it.
Words are such a big part of life we just can’t live without them. We need them just like we need to breathe. So just think before you speak and realize what your words are meaning when you say them.

Rough Draft

Draft of Response

I think that judging people is hard not to do but we need to try harder to not do it. Just because someone makes a mistake doesn’t mean we should shun them and never let them live it down. It is human to make mistakes because it’s how we learn and improve. If we don’t make the mistake how are we supposed to learn from it and get better?
In my experiences words can cause people to freak out over the smallest thing because they are so powerful. An example was when the H1N1 flu came through our area the medical field was calling it an epidemic so that the general public would freak out. They succeeded because of their words.
Hester Prynne made a mistake but I don’t think that she should be punished so harshly because that is a very cruel thing to do. Everyday someone see’s her kid they will know that it was an adulterd child, so why embarrass the family even more? I think that’s what a lot of the puritan community was based on, embarrassment and humbling. We need more of it in this time period but they did it to much. All she did was make a mistake so now she will forever be remembered as the lady who cheated on her husband. The letter A is also a representation of how strong words can be. That one letter shows the whole world her story and they don’t even know her.
If the world would just realize the power of words then we would have fewer fights and more developments in life. Words are a very important part of life and we need to remember that.