that's what she said

This is my last blog for my ENC 1102 class, it’s kind of a bittersweet moment right now. The good thing is that I won’t have to do any of these homework assignments anymore, but then again the work wasn’t that bad. I am gonna miss my classmates, well the few that I got to know. That’s the bad thing about taking classes during summer, since the time flies by so fast you really don’t get a chance to connect or get to know as many classmates as you’d like. It also doesn’t help that I was absent three times and since it is summer we don’t really have that many classes. All in all I really did enjoy the class. I feel that my writing skills improved quite a bit. I definitely have a strong grasp and understanding on the concepts of ethos, logos, and pathos. I understand now how determine an authors intended audience. I know the different types of arguments and basically what you need to formulate a good argument in general. I always feel awkward and just really don’t know what to say whenever teachers ask for recommendations on what they can do better. Because I don’t wanna sound like a kiss ass and be like “the class was awesome, you’re the best don’t change a thing!!!”. At the same time I don’t wanna be that student that criticizes every single little thing. So at the moment I can’t really think of any significant that could have be done differently, I don’t think I had a problem with how the class was run or anything. So I think that I like how the class was and that you did a good job teaching us. Well my thoughts for you on the first day when you gave us that whole run down for the class was “clearly rate my professor was wrong, what the hell did I get myself into” (I did contemplate dropping) . But in the end, you actually turned out to be really nice and a really cool teacher, so rate my professor was right. This was good the students were cool. So I had a good time during this super short and super fast summer semester. By the way, Summer Lovin’ was stuck in my head as I was writing this, hence the title.

In the very beginning when Sanjay Gupta asks Candi Cushman about her stance on the neutrality policy, she answers by saying “we do support the policy”. By answering with “we” she makes it seem as though she has the general public’s support and she’s their representative. Also she doesn’t specify who she’s refering to when she says “we”. Cushman claims that the policy allows teachers to speak about homosexuality but in a “age appropriate and factual” way. She doesn’t elaborate on exactly what is the age apropriate and factual way to speak about homosexuality. I didn’t even know it was possible to speak about homosexuality in a way that wasn’t factual or age appropriate. At what age is it appropriate to speak of homosexuality? How do you speak about it in a factual way? Also she states that homosexuality can only be discussed when it’s a part of the curriculum and that it should not be promoted in classrooms. Even though discussing homosexuality would be banned, the teachers can still punish and step in if they see a child being bullied because they are perceived as homosexual. She then generalizes that most American parents do not send their kids to school to discuss homosexuality.When Rosalind Wiseman expresses her thoughts about the policy, she states that it won’t seem neutral to the bullys and the children being bullied. She states it will seem as though people are siding with the bully. It will create isolation amongst the targets. When Gupta asks Cushman will she object to telling kids that there’s nothing wrong with being gay to foster an atmosphere of safety and inclusion; she doesn’t respond to his question at all. She claims that the policy supports parents’s rights to determine when or if they feel that their child should be exposed to homosexuality and gay marriage. By repeating the word “we” and that the policy is not neutral about bulllying, Cushman doesn’t not fully explain exactly what the policy will do. The fact that she brought up gay marriage, which was completely irrelevant, did not help her cause. Wiseman brings up a good point when she states that gay marriage has nothing to do with discussing homosexuality. Wiseman also questions exactly how will the people implementing the policy will ensure that the teachers, counselors and basically all the people that work in schools will know the proper way to educate children about homosexuality. All in all I agree with Wiseman, I feel that the implementation of this policy will make children feel as though homosexuality is wrong.