Closing Argument

Today we have argued that the true message behind Christmas is of altruism by talking about how people generously give to those in their communities during the holiday, how people spend as much money as they have to in order to reach their families, how there would be no need to give gifts if there were no focus on altruism and lastly how there are more donations to institutionalized charities to assist those in need during the holiday season.

Paraphrase-
According to the article there is an increase in the amount of people that are making donations on the behalf of others (NY Times, 2006).

Summarize- More people around Christmas time are making donations to charity organizations on the behalf of others. The significant increase in donations to charities around Christmas has prompted the group, Oxfam America to start an online giving website, that allows people to make donations on the behalf of others, as a gift, on the internet. This website since it's creation has made over $400,000 (Ny Times, 2006).

Direct Quote- “Heifer International, which provides livestock to needy families worldwide, took in $1.25 million in gift donations on Dec. 23 and Dec. 24 last year” (NY Times, 2006).

Ideas for class debate

Topic: Christmas Brings Family Together

According to the United States Bureau of Transportation

Monday, December 22, 2003 - During the Christmas/New Year's travel period, long-distance travel grows as much as 23 percent compared to the rest of the year, according to a new National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) report from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS).

During the 2001 Christmas-New Year's season, travelers made 16.5 million daily one-way long-distance trips, compared to 13.3 million daily during the rest of the year.

Forty-three percent of Christmas/New Year's long-distance trips are for visits to family, while visits make up only 24 percent of long-distance travel during the remainder of the year.

Research Questions

How do television shows that promote cosmetic surgery affect how society views cosmetic procedures?

How do television shows that promote cosmetic surgery affect the self-esteem of young girls and women?

Does society view cosmetic surgery as an easy route of escape from emotional hardships?

How does cosmetic surgery enhance our culture's idea of the perfect body?

Thesis Statement CC

Thesis-

The television program "Extreme Makeover" has made our culture view cosmetic surgery as an easy way to achieve an idealized "perfection" and a way to eliminate emotional suffering.

-It's not a very good thesis, I'm working on it!-

Napoleon Dynamite

SVR

1. To what extent is the character playing a particular role and how do you know? In what ways are they buying into cultural expectations and in what way are they resisting them?

I believe that Kip is playing the role of a person that is searching for true love. One big expectation of our culture is to find love and get married. Kip plays into that role by searching for the love of his life. By the end of the movie he falls in love with Lafawnda. When he meets her, he decides that he wants to marry her. Kip is a short, dorky white guy and Lafawnda is a tall, African American women. There are people in the world that would not expect a guy like Kip to fall and love and marry a woman like Lafawnda. That is how he is resisting his role, because he is looking past skin color and marrying the woman he loves for who she is. That is something that is not a cultural expectation for many people in this world.

2. Who is the most self-actualized character in the movie? Why?

I believe that Pedro is the most self-actualized character in the movie. In the movie he had just enrolled in a new school, yet he had enough confidence to run for class president against a very popular girl. Most people that have just moved to a new town would probably not feel confident enough to do that. When the school dance came along, Pedro decided that he wanted to have a date and he believed in himself enough to be able to ask Summer, the most popular girl in school, and Deb. Even when Summer turned him down, he didn't let that get to him. He knows his full potential, knows what he wants out of life and knows how to get it.

Topic For Paper!

I have chosen to write about how the media negatively effects the body images of women.