Class Reflection

Engl101 wasn't necessarily challenging; finishing all the assignments and papers was. I overall enjoyed the class and feel as though I learned a lot about college level writing, which I thought I knew beforehand. Clearly I did not. At times I was frustrated with the structure of the class: writing three big papers on one topic becomes monotonous and boring. It's also unrealistic. The tools I utilized to write these papers, though, I will definitely employ in the future. My favorite aspect of the class was the rhetorical appeals project. 

I would like to specificaly recognize my teacher, Carolyn Urena, for making the class more than just another English class. She really worked hard to incorporate other aspects outside of the dull curriculum to liven the class and add to it. I greatly appreciate the extra effort and enthusiastic energy she brought to class each day.   

Coffee to be in class.. not now

Wow. This movie hit me hard. I know a few people in the Israeli army, including my childhood friend and neighbor who is now a sniper. 

One of the lighter, cheerful scenes in the movie where the soldiers are goofing around as the tank rolls into Lebanon, there is a hebrew song playing in the background. The chorus is "Levanon, Boker Tov," which means, "Lebanon, Good Morning." Although I didn't understand the entire song, the sing-song happy tune is extremely misleading and bleak. The singer talks about how his life is forever changing and his dreams are now over. One bleak verse, he says "I love my life, my short life" and immediately following that the bullet hits the soldier's neck. The music throughout is extremely jovial for such an intense movie. It's definitely part of the fantasy part of war--as in it's hard to accept you're actually there and fighting a war because otherwise it's too traumatic to handle. The quick transition from the light song to the crazy running away from the shooting and having fellow soldiers die all around furthers this theme  in that war is reality. No matter how hard you try to make war glamorous, it's not. It's war.  

Just some more sources, nbd

Works Cited

Gruenbaum, Ellen. The Female Circumcision Controversy: an Anthropological Perspective. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 2001. Print.

This is probably the most useful resource I have in my possession to write considering the other side paper. From both of her personal experience and from an anthropological view, Gruenbaum takes on the controversy of female circumcision, specifically addressing the  historical, social, cultural and traditional complexities of it. She incorporates her firsthand experience of living and learning in Africa about its culture and people to give an extremely credible, enlightening perspective on the issue.

James, Stanlie M., and Claire C. Robertson. Genital Cutting and Transnational Sisterhood: Disputing U.S. Polemics. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois, 2005. Print.

This is a great collection of essays that addresses both sides of the controversy of FGM. I will be using essays 2. and 4. for sure that discuss the wrong Western approach to both understanding and advocating against the practice. 2, “Getting beyond the Ew! Factor: Rethinking Approaches to African Female Genital Cutting,” by Claire C. Robertson spells out the biased and racist understanding of Africa as a country that affects their judgement on FC. This is similar to essay 4, “Female Genital Surgeries: Eradication Measures at the Western Local Level--A Cautionary Tale,” by Isabelle R. Gunning, where she defines America’s naive solution and major flaws when approaching the issue. She stressed stronger colored female leadership, for example.  

Steffen, Charles G. Mutilating Khalid: the Symbolic Politics of Female Genital Cutting. Trenton, NJ: Red Sea, 2011. Print.

This book describes a case in Atlanta, GA--my hometown btw-- that involves Khalid, an Ethopian immigrant, who performed circumcision on his daughter. He was tried for the mutilation of his daughter and convicted for 10 years in prison. The first chapter describes the case, verdict, and Western views on the symbolism of FGM. The rest of the book, however, expands on the issue to eventually defend Khalid and advocate his release. This interesting case will be important when discussing flawed Western perspectives because of the evidence of a real case it provides.

Walker, Alice, and Pratibha Parmar. Warrior Marks: Female Genital Mutilation and the Sexual Blinding of Women. San Diego: Harcourt Brace, 1996. Print.

This intense book documents the experiences of Alice Walker in her pursuit to create a film that advocates against FGM. She collaborates with a Kenya women named Pratibha Parmar for help with the film through her personal exposure and experience with FGM. Stylistically, this is written in conversations, e-mails, journal entries, etc. so it will be extremely difficult to shuffle through. However, the significance and value of eradicating FGM, I already can tell, is hit very hard in the book in a very inspiring yet serious tone. This is will be useful in my final paper!

**better MLA format with page numbers and separate citing for each essay will be done for the paper but for now, without the specific knowledge of exactly what I am using, this will have to do!

5 annotations

"BBC - Ethics - Female Circumcision." BBC - Homepage.  <http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/femalecircumcision/femalecirc_1.shtml>.

*I'll use this in my on both upcoming papers. Another international news station that provides an explanation and response to fgm. 

Donna, Clifton, and Charlotte Feldman-jacobs. "2011 International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting - Population Reference Bureau." Home - Population Reference Bureau. 06 Feb. 2011. <http://www.prb.org/Articles/2011/fgm-zero-tolerance.aspx>.

*Discusses what people do now to take action against FGM, specifically with a no tolerance day. This may be used in either papers.

 "Female Genital Mutilation | FGM." Amnesty International USA - Protect Human Rights. <http://www.amnestyusa.org/violence-against-women/female-genital-mutilation--fgm/page.do?id=1108439>.

*This explains the human rights aspect of FGM--one of my main significance questions that I will address in my final paper and use as one of my strongest arguments. 

"FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION FEMALE (CIRCUMCISION) IN AFRICA, MIDDLE EAST AND FAR EAST." ReligiousTolerance.org by the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. <http://www.religioustolerance.org/fem_cirm.htm>. 

*Hopefully, this source will help strengthen the other side in the other side paper. I'm not 100% about its credibility but it's the one of the few sources that argues for religious tolerance so for now I'll post it but I may not use it. 

 Kirwa, Graham. "BERNAMA - Bill To Outlaw Female Genital Mutiliation Now Before Kenya's Parliament." Malaysian National News Agency :: BERNAMA.01.April.2011 <http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsworld.php?id=575465>.

*This is SO COOL! This is an up-to-date article about a bill being processed by Kenya about outlawing fgm. Their response will be interesting and may help set a precedent or start a revolution against fgm in Africa. 

John Q post

The final scene in the movie when John is being taken away to the jail was an extremely beautiful ending that gave me the chills. This is probably due to the fact that logos, ethos, and pathos were all incorporated and working together to create a satisfying and cathartic end to such an intense plot. Pathos is the most obvious, seen from his son making the strength gestures he made earlier. This time, though, there is much more meaning in his movements--he is a strong healthy boy because of his father's drastic actions. His father's crazy actions, though, are not insane; rather, it makes sense how he would do anything to save his son's life (even sacrifice his own.) Thus logos comes into play, because who wouldn't give up "3-5 years" of his life in prison to save his son? Although it's drastic, it is still logical. However, because John is able to make this decision and take control of the ER for good reason, he gains a unique type of authority, in that he is superior to us simple people for acting in such a heroic way. His friend even calls him a hero as he walks out of the courthouse! As a result of these rhetorical devices working together, the mood of the ending is joyous, even uplifting. The audience respects John for his logical yet extreme actions to save his son and reflects on their love for their family and the sacrifices they might make.

caffeine free, 9 am test in the morning eww

"IRIN | In-Depth: Razor's Edge - The Controversy of Female Genital Mutilation | AFRICA: When Culture Harms the Girls - the Globalisation of Female Genital Mutilation | AFRICA | Children | Gender Issues." IRIN • Humanitarian News and Analysis from Africa, Asia and the Middle East - Updated Daily. 05 Mar. 2005.  <http://www.irinnews.org/IndepthMain.aspx?reportid=62462&indepthid=15>.


"WHO | Female Genital Mutilation." Feb. 2010.  <http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs241/en/>.


Both of these websites are written and funded by humanitarian organizations and both are advocating against female circumcision. They analyze the  procedure of the practice and discuss its numerous health consequences. WHO discusses the poor international response, while IRIN focuses on personal stories of circumcised females. Each one provides good information to define female circumcision and to develop the "so what" question. 

vanilla latte

Circumcision is a unique practice because of its different forms and meanings to numerous diverse demographics.  In modern times, most people recognize its medical benefits for males and do not consider it more than a hygienic practice. However, being a modern-orthodox Jew, I personally have witnessed the traditional roots and ritualistic significance of it.  On the eighth day after his birth, my younger brother was circumcised in my synagogue with the whole community joined together watching. The removal of the foreskin is celebrated in Judaism, because it symbolizes a male officially joining the Jewish tradition by accepting G-d like the way our ancestor Abraham did. Every Jewish male must be circumcised, even those that convert later on in life.

The importance of circumcision in a religious context is not exclusive to Judaism; many other religions sects, even African tribes, find significance in its practice and symbolism. One major point of difference, however, involves gender because both men and female forms of circumcision exist. While male circumcision—the removal of the foreskin—has been proven to be medically beneficial, female circumcision—the removal of the clitoris and possible appendage of the vagina—has been shown to be an extremely painful experience that actually hurts the woman. Therefore, most educated religions and nations do not practice it but advocate against it, even by renaming it “genital mutilation.” Yet, female circumcision is still practiced in certain places for tradition’s sake and for its results, including  stunting female’s sexual desires.