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Anne Wicks and Raylene Lang Dion have created a valid argument in favour of equalizing women and men's roles in the political sphere. To clarify their perspective in "Women in Politics:Still searching for an equal voice," they have implemented the use of logos as their main rhetorical strategy. With statistics like "21.7 percent of Canada's national legislatures are female, compared to Sweden at 47.3 percent, it is easy for us to see the imbalance. However, I think it is the use of pathos that sells this article to the reader. As a woman I find it outrageous that a male cabinet minister would introduce his female colleague by sexualizing a part of her body. What I find more abhorrent is that he got away with it. So while the numbers provided by Wicks and Dion do make me take notice, it is the examples of objectification that have impact. A commonly held belief is that logic appeals more to men and emotion appeals more to women.It makes me wonder if this article was written with that in mind.

Question: Do you think this article was written with an audience gender in mind? And do you think the information in it will affect men and women equally?
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Though there is much evidence of binaries in Thomas King’s “Borders,” it is the illumination of the grey zones that gives this story significance. The most useful binary to this tale is shown in how King contrasts Canada and America. From the narrator’s perspective, we get the impression America is a violent, rude place. An indication of this is when he speaks of crossing the border from Coutts into Sweetgrass, “You would expect that Sweetgrass, with such a nice sounding name […] would be on the Canadian side and that Coutts, which sounds abrupt and rude, would be on the American side.” Another is when the American border guard comes over to the car at the border crossing “the holster on his hip pitching up and down.” This theme is woven throughout the entire story; Canada is shown as nice and welcoming, and America is grimaces and guns. The narrator and his mother, due to his mother’s stubbornness, are not able to leave the area in between Canada and America. The narrator’s mother insists that they are “blackfoot,” not laying claim to either country. Making use of the countries polarization, King quite literally puts his characters in the grey zone, a kind of purgatory. Overnight, the mother tells her son the stories of her people, the tradition of the elder passing down knowledge. It is no mistake that this event happens in a grey zone; it is the author’s attempt to illuminate the fact that there is nowhere left for First Nations and their traditions anymore. This is King’s deconstruction of binaries which lends such impact to his story, for it is in the space in between that is what this story is really about.

QUESTION: Do you agree with the parellelism drawn between present day First Nations and the "grey zone" in this story?
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Television’s “New Girl” shows a glaring representation of the “New Man” model in each of its four male co-stars. The show’s premise is a woman breaking up with her boyfriend and moving in with four male roommates after responding to an ad on Craigslist. While three of the men go through experiences that lead them closer to their female side and therefore help them to be more successful in their lives; two of the male roommates, Schmidt and Nick, are outstanding examples of alpha male vs “New Model.”

Schmidt, a metro sexual Jewish man is the most feminine of the group. He has a successful job, a string of women and is fit and healthy. He has an attention to detail that borders on neurotic and is the main cook and cleaner in the house. He is unabashedly open with his emotions and “bro-love,” and goes as far as to throw a ten year anniversary for himself and Nick, when they have lived as roommates for the last decade.

Nick is the cliché masculine man which leads to all sorts of trouble. He doesn't like to talk about his emotions, he doesn't take an interest in personal appearance or what he eats, and he drinks a lot of beer. Interestingly, this representation of the traditional alpha male fits in perfectly with the theory discussed by Ken Gillam and Shannon R. Wooden in the “Post princess models of gender: The New Man in Disney/Pixar.” All of the points that make him traditionally masculine are what work against him; he’s out of shape, he’s going nowhere and due to lack of communication he is unhappy with himself and his life.

This is a startling contrast to Schmidt, who as a result of doing the exact opposite of what Nick does, is primarily a happy character. Ironically, though Nick is the least communicative in the house, all the characters strive to be his primary partner, the men as a best friend and the female lead as a partner. This also parallels with “Post Princess” and it’s idea of homosocial relationships. Like discussed by Gilliam and Wooden, Nick often “suffers from the emotional isolation of the alpha male,” and only through getting vulnerable with the other characters he is able to begin to transform.

QUESTION: The "New Man" image suggests that it is acceptable for a man to show some femininity but it also negates man's responsibilities of being the provider. Though women's image has changed through out the years it seems women have been asked to take on more in terms of providing and other male dominated areas, yet retain their femininity as well.

Do you think that these changes in traditional gender stereotypes serve to equalize men and women or do you think that it is still unbalanced?
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Stephen Lewis has mastered the use of rhetorical appeals in his article "Pandemic." Firstly, he takes us on a trip with him through mid 50's Africa. His descriptions are so vivid, it's as if we are standing beside him in the heat, seeing the colours and the smiles of the people: "There was something intoxicating about an environment of such hope, anticipation, affection, energy, indomitably."(378) In this example of pathos, Lewis shows his skill at helping the reader identify feelings of good will with the people of Africa. We are caught up in his enthusiasm for the land and the people, which makes the article all that more effectual when it continues with the tragedy of Africa's HIV pandemic. Another clever use of pathos is when Lewis has us identifying as parents with victims in Uganda: "The trauma of the grandmothers equals that of the orphans; in fact, every normal rhythym of life is violated as grandmothers bury their own children and then look after their orphan grandchildren."(380) Lewis is on point with this statement, as any parent shudders at the idea of burying their own child. In this article, Lewis was obviously targeting an educated, middle aged background, so making an appeal as a parent is smart. Obviously Stephen Lewis has a love affair with Africa. His ability to relate those feelings to us is what makes his article not only a poignant, emotional read, but also a strongly influential piece.

Question: Did you notice the emotional manipulation in the article, how it started off making us feel joyous and then heartbroken? Do you think this is an effective way to appeal to an audience?
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"Food Security" is a thinly veiled campaign in favour of genetic engineering. After being given the facts about the trouble we are in, "more than one in seven people do not have access to sufficient protein and energy in their diet, and even more suffer from some form of micronutrient malnourishment."(1) We are given solutions to help us “close the yield gap” (6) which essentially is the amount of food produced compared to what makes it to the dinner table. The authors argue that there is a “clearly considerable scope for increasing production limits.”(18) It is here they introduce what they see as successes of the “Green Revolution” (19) where genetic modification is used to make more sustainable crops. Genetically modifying plants and animals for the purpose of increasing output is not a feasible option. The authors state that there is a major issue with people lacking micronutrients, but studies have shown that food that is genetically modified is not as nutritious as natural products. In fact, a former research scientist for Agriculture Canada, Thierry Vrain, has stated “These studies show that proteins produced by engineered plants are different than what they should be. Inserting a gene in a genome using this technology can and does result in damaged proteins. The scientific literature is full of studies showing that engineered corn and soya contain toxic or allergenic proteins.” (1) How are we helping people become healthier by promoting foods that have toxicity? It is arrogant of science to start offering as a solution something that we have barely begun to explore. And to offer it as a world wide solution for food shortages is foolish and short sighted. What if a certain strain of GM product creates a new disease or causes death? Most attempts that we have seen humankind take in modifying nature has ended badly. We can look to David Suzuki, a known environmentalist but who’s also a geneticist for the grounding that we need in this lofty venture. “When we create new organisms, new products, and release them in the wild, in our food, in our drugs, we simply don't know enough to anticipate what the consequences will be." (2)

(1) Thierry Vrain, a former research scientist for Agriculture Canada- http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/05/28/gmo-dangers.aspx May 28, 2013.
(2) Frank Diller, American Scientist, 'An Interview with David Suzuki’
http://www.americanscientist.org/bookshelf/pub/david-suzuki


Discussion Question: Are you in favour of GM products?
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Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie states “a [single] story can break the dignity of a people but stories can also repair that broken dignity.” This statement exemplifies perfectly how through contrasting messages Martin Luther King Jr. and Adichie are creating awareness of Africans in the western world. In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” King uses the single story of the African American to compound his points about racial aggression in America. “When you are harried by day and haunted by night by the very facet you are a Negro [……] you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of ‘nobodyness’…” Showing commonality of the black person’s plight allows King more impact than speaking of individual experiences. Conversely, in “ The Danger of a Single Story”, Adichie’s speech is based on the negative impact of one dimensional social stigmas. She states, aptly, “the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, it is that they are incomplete.” She implores us to see all sides of Africa, not just the painful wars and starving children, but the hero’s that exist amongst all the pain much like anywhere else. Both King and Adichie are attempting to “repair the broken dignity” created from the impact of the single African story. But while King’s approach is identifying all Africans with the same common feelings and goals, Adichie urges us to recognize people’s many experiences as individual parts that make someone whole.

Question: Upon writing this paragraph I was very aware that Adichie and King were making these statements at completely different times in the world. If King had not used the single story to make an impact about how black people were treated in America, do you think that Adichie would have had the ability to share the multidimensions of Africa? If not, are there some cases the single story is better serving?

Tarmagedon

May. 11th, 2014 07:39 pm
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Andrew Nikiforuk’s statement that Canada has turned into a petro state much like Saudi Arabia is frighteningly fitting. A petro-state is one in which the economy is singularly dependent on the extraction of fossil fuels. Saudi Arabia is a good example of this. Though not entirely reliant, since the tar sands project, Canada has become more dependent on the extraction and exportation of oil for its nations wealth. This has resulted in a government much influenced by the agenda of the tar sands project. In fact, for Canada to move forward with the exploitation of a natural resource its government must down play the environmental impact the tar sands project has. Nikiforuk points out that Stephen Harper has all but denied validity of climate change “like many Saudi Arabia elites”. Nikiforuk's accuracy in his likening Canada to Saudi Arabia is obvious when we consider the facts. Canada is heading in the direction of a country more focused on present day profits more than preservation.


DISCUSSION QUESTION: Do you think that the tar sands project will take a different turn if the federal government in Canada changes next election?

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