The Failing Defense of A Crumbling City

The past week I have been asked to peruse Darnell Gardner Jr's article, in the Detroit Free Press, on his views concerning the City of Detroit. I've been asked multiple times to describe tone and style and purpose and any other subject concerning the quality writing of his article. My copy has become marred by triangles and circles, underlines and notes, and any other grammar mark I could think of, but this recent assignment has brought me to a different realization of the article. When asked to describe the essay's effectiveness without using pathos, ethos, or logos, I was almost at a loss for description. Then it hit me that the mere basis of his paper is the most effective part. The way Gardner crafted the purpose of the essay is the reason his essay is so well written. Gardner crafts a purpose and situation that was hidden as an underlying cause of destruction in the back of his reader's minds. The fact that he does not put all the blame on Detroit, but instead points out the fact that Detroit has been this way for years and will continue this way unless the people realize what how they themselves are destroying it from the inside. Therefore Gardner's essay strives because of his contrasting view on why the city is crumbling. By going against what everyone has thought Gardner has made them see that Kwame is not the only cause of this destruction. Hopefully, the city can realize that everyone is at fault for what is happening and they cannot throw all of the blame on Kwame, but until then it may be a good idea for anybody in any English course to examine Gardner's article because much can be learned from all the devices he uses.

Kwame A River

"This unethical, illegal, lynch mob mentality has to stop." Please comment this blog if you are part of this lynch mob. It would include anyone who ever thought that what Kwame has done is corrupt and ignorant of his position in this city. Kwame's use of diction in that quote alone would bring anyone to tears, I mean who wouldn't feel bad for a man who's had an affair with a coworker AND spent tons of the cities money. He may think he is persuading the people to notice their own wrongdoings but his words have fallen on deaf ears and he has nothing left to hold on to. Even before he calls Detroit and "lynch mob" he tries to work in a bit of pathos with the crowd to maybe get a tear out of his loyal followers. After dropping the N-Bomb in his speech and speaking like it is something new in this city he brings his own family into the mix, saying "I've heard these words before but I've never heard people say them about my wife and children." and "I don't believe that a Nielsen rating is worth the life of my children or your children." Any reasonable person could solve the puzzle that is Kwame's trail of destruction by putting events together, and realizing that this statement must be false. Clearly he cares about his kids and his wife because he would rather expel himself out of their life and be with another woman then make them grow up with such a corrupt father. Once again what he assumes will be created in the crowds hearts is merely an allusion to his own arrogance. He cannot capture the city emotionally by including his family if he himself could care less about them. This post must end before I start a new rant on the falsities in the rest of his speech, so "I humbly ask that we say 'no more' together."

The Mind Of Politics

Finding a complete thought in this world is a very trying process. Most people have an idea about what they believe but are not 100% sure when asked why or how they believe in such things. Unlike most groups in the world with their unfaithful members Larry Elder manages to find a very popular group who share their hatred for another group. These people are the Extreme Liberal Democrats. Now, before all the accusations go out against me or Larry for mocking these people, I'll say that I do not believe every Democrat is like this but most who are extreme and are involved in politics everyday have issues with their enemies. Elder recently uncovered what these men actually say about the Republics when expressing how they view a certain figure. Elder generalizes the extreme liberals as hating the Republicans enough to call them Nazi's. Being on the side he feels is best for the job Elder chose Bush for President. Elder makes his statement clear about the clueless mind the rest of the world has, by arguing with a man who only hates Bush because of what he has heard on the internet. It is now clear that those who hate Republicans pass their hatred on to their unknowing followers. Even examining myself I had no idea why I didn't like Bush. I could only come to the conclusion that these extremists have meshed with society because their hatred has driven them to get as many people as they can to bring the Republicans down. Our society must wake up and start analyzing their beliefs quickly before the wrong person comes in power and it is to late because we didn't analyze what we were told.

Who Knew?

As I was scourging the net for my new blog entry about the significance of the "hidden" message I came across this interesting comic involving a boy and a snake. The name of the comic strip, Boy on a Stick and Slither, caught my attention from the get go. As soon as I saw the small boy and the snake I thought this was some kind of boring comic strip as the countless others I had gone through before. Fortunately this comic strip had much more than I assumed. To some the message may be quite blurry as they do not understand what the narrow and wide paths are, but for us Believers we understand exactly what this little boy is saying even if he does not. The snake assumes the role of unbelievers in the world saying they are taking the "super-highway" of life although it is crowded with so many others. The boy assumes the role of a believer in Christ who wants to take the "narrow" path, and although the author gives the boy a sense of misunderstanding in this comic he still has his decisions set on the correct path. Although there is not a clear cut message in this comic, a reasonable person would assume that this is the message of living a god-pleasing life instead of the easy sin filled life that the snake is taking. (I also thought it was ironic that the snake was the unbeliever as Satan was a snake.)

Can They Be Beaten?

For this column I decided to choose Ryan Day's column on the 11 ways Chargers can beat the Patriots. You can find this column here. In essence Day's column does exactly what it says, points out the only ways the Chargers have a chance at beating the Patriots. They must use Rivers effectively, run more than pass, dominate time, get INTs, punish players on defense, and make Brady nervous. Obviously, Day is on the side of the Chargers all the way, in his last line he states that he hates everything to do with the Patriots, but what if he was more clear cut than this. What if Day had to write his column to a group of girls. Now not to say all girls don't know anything about football, but I'd take the chance to say most don't understand what an INT is but I'm sure at least 75% know exaclty who Tom Brady is. Therefore, to appeal to the less informed crowd he would have to explain his thoughts in a more clear and less elaborate way. He'd probably also have to take out the fact that he hates the Patriots, because most people who don't understand football, like the Patriots. Girls don't want to hear about crushing cute Tom Brady they would rather read a more laid back tone such as maybe making Brady get a little nervous rather than being hurt. Poor baby. With all the audience changes aside, I love the Chargers and I hate the Patriots just as Day does. I cannot express all my feelings on my blog so I will leave it at the fact that I want Brady beat. Go Chargers!

Whoville Brings A Message

1957. That is the year Dr. Seuss wrote the "ultimate Christmas story". 2007. This year, people still remember that green old hermit today, and this cartoon does a good job of capturing new Christmas trends and old Christmas traditions. The cartoonist devises this small still-life story in order to show how Christmas has evolved from sitting in your home watching Christmas-themed movies to going out and buying the biggest and best gifts from the major retailers. The cartoonist has a good point though. Kids of today don't care about Rudolf, Jack Skellington, or even the Grinch for that matter; all they want is IPods, clothes, and video games, not a marathon of classic Christmas stories on TBS.
The two sides of Christmas are displayed here perfectly. First, you have the innocent mom with here Rudolph vintage Christmas sweater on that she probably got when she was a young "lass", combined with her ecstatic facial expression that shows she is not joking when she see the Grinch on TV. This is the old Christmas tradition the artist shows. Next, we have the transition period (mind you this is a still-photo) as the stereotypical mom hands her VISA credit card to the suit-and-tie clerk the present is shown to us. She carries her four bags probably each worth more than 100$ because she is paying with her credit card. Also, the clerk has the "another stupid show" look on his face cause he has seen it a million times and it was old the second time he saw it. Even without the words this cartoon tell the story of the fast pace of our American lifestyle. Now, excuse me I must go watch Nightmare Before Christmas, before its to late and they decide to burn all the VHS Tapes.

Hip-Hop Is Dead

Very interesting article this week by Jason Whitlock about Sean Taylor's death. A reasonable person would assume that Jason would talk about the unfair and unjust killing of an innocent man and how we all should pray for his family and mourn this loss, but Jason goes down a different road. Instead of talking about the depressing circumstances surrounding Taylor's death, Whitlock discuses the anger and the blame that he feel should be put on his own race for this unjust death. He blames hip hop music and the "gangster mentality" of the new generations of blacks for Taylors death. Frankly, I couldn't agree with him more. He brings up the unheard of argument that his own race is what is corrupting our society today. He doesn't blame past discrimination or present prejudice, he blames the music that the blacks are creating and he blames the mentality that the new generation of blacks have about murder and the like. I believe he does a perfect job of bringing up an undiscussed topic pertaining to Taylor's death. He will likely receive criticism for his explanation, but at least he voiced his own opinion that others were unable to discuss, and bring this topic to the table of debate. Among the various parallels Jason uses in his article, this parallel speaks the most. "Meanwhile, our self-hatred, on full display for the world to see, remains untreated, undiagnosed and unrepentant." These words go directly to the heart and convey a summary of the whole article. If I was included in this group of people that Jason talks about I would be at a slight outrage but at the same time feel contempt with myself because I see that he is right. He is justifying his reasoning not only with one choice word but the parallelism used in "untreated, undiagnosed and unrepentant.", speaks volumes more than just saying "untreated". It is used in such a way to say that this hatred is spread far and wide and nobody has done a thing to fix it. It is only getting worse in Jason's eyes and he is displaying his feelings in one brief sentence to the entire black community. He uses this parallel very efficiently to clearly state his main point in one sentence for everyone to understand.
So now with one simple line from a song, Hip Hop is Dead by Nas: "What influenced my raps? Stick ups and killings, kidnappings, project buildings, drug dealings criticize that, why is that?" He says this without any regret at all. Now, we can clearly see why Jason Whitlock does not want his race and our world to go down this horrific road anymore.