I'm sorry, I missed your point

Michelle Speed’s, “Kanye West doesn’t read books but he wants you to buy his” is a newspaper article about Kanye’s clear dislike of books and even though he would read a novel, he wrote one. Books “Just be too wordy”. Popular novels like The Odyssey and many others that we are required to read in school are way too long. The Odyssey for example can extremely be shortened. The book is filled with many unimportant details. Novels usually have morals, and most of time you have to carefully read through over a hundred pages in order to under that moral of the story, like The Catcher and the Rye. Time is precious and I am tired of using my time to read through pages among pages of novels until the moral and the whole point of the book is explained within the last couple pages. Reading books in English class may be more pleasurable if the authors got straight to the point and stopped trying to use symbolism to get across their message, for example, Dante’s Inferno.

The world that I live in is filled with people who want answers instantaneously. For instance, when I type a question into Google like, why is reading boring” I want an answer that is two sentences max. The same method works should be applied in books. If someone is having a bad day, they would say to themselves, “I might as well kill myself”, they definitely would not say “To be or not to be”. Some books are filled with so much words or symbolism that I think that it takes away from the whole purpose that the author wrote the book, like the Lord of the Flies. I honestly could not explain the point of the book, because during class we spent about a week talking about all the symbolism. Please, get to the point!

There are other books, like “Of Mice and Men” that contain stories that learn about every year in both English and History class. You cannot successfully complete an English or history class that doesn’t talk about slavery and how “back in the day” children with disabilities were killed or looked down upon. Successful students in today’s world is expected to play sports while being involved in other extra-circular activities, and plenty of community service projects while maintaining a high grade point average. We truly don’t have enough time to read and get involved in a lengthy book, like Crime and Punishment, which probably could extremely be shorted into about five chapters. Books are designed to help pass time. Books are something you bring with you when you have a long flight, when you are waiting for the bus, or even when you retired and you nothing to do besides watch paint dry.

Many books are created from a personal experience from the author. People learn better when they are actually “participants” rather than “bystanders”. Put the book down and go and live. Thank-you Kanye West, you have officially become my role model. I 150% agree that novels “just be too wordy”.

Gold

An acceptance letter to the Naval Academy Prep School
Perfect GPA, I ain't no fool.
Four years of serious hard work
Late night studying, crunching for grades has its perks.

I'm ready to sign off
People watching my every move, even the slightest cough.
I'm going to sign my name just right
My requirements now are all so tight.

An officer I will be
Five years from now you'll see.
The strap on my cover gold
My future is about to unfold.

Gold is the way to go
Yes, I really do think so.
I'm going to make it to the top
No one but me can make me stop.

My leadership presence made aware in any room
Simply because my gold button gloom.
Gold on my shoulder, gold on my chest
I'm making these years the best!

Why I Use it?

Jason: Dude I got laid last night.
Bob: Awesome! Was she any good?
Jason: The best I ever had!

Where did the phrase “I got laid” come from? Minna and Ada created their surname Everleigh and opened an Everleigh Club in Chicago’s Levee District at a double mansion. Minna and Ada created a new class of bordello. The club had thirty private boudoirs, a library, a ballroom, marble-inlaid brass beds, and pricey obscura. The private boudoirs comprised of many themes including a Japanese Throne Room theme. The ballroom had a gigantic water fountain. Gilded fishbowls and eighteen-karat gold spittoons which cost about $650 a piece are examples of obscura. The Everleigh club also hired butlers, three string orchestras and a chef. The famous chef would prepare lobster and caviar in the grand dining hall. Most importantly, the most experience and well-trained hookers worked at the Everleigh club. Mina and Ada Everleigh “strived to make prostitution safe, clean, and respectable, and how it might have led the way toward legalization if not for religious reformers who pushed local politicians to shut it down.” Even though prostitution is not legal, Mina and Ada left an inheritance for future generations of the popularization of the verb “to get leighed” or “I’m going to get Everleighed”. Years later the 1900 slag turned to “to get laid”. 

Historians know that that the Everleigh sisters ran an incomparable brothel when they names became another word to have sex. There club was open in the Levee District from 1900-1911. In American history, the Everleigh Club was the only brothel that enhanced a man’s reputation. A man wanted to be seen going into the Everleigh Club rather than a lower house. On a busy night the Everleigh sister could make $5,000 easily. The prostitutes at the Everleigh Club were also known to be Butterflies and pocketed at least $100-$400 a week. The Butterflies’ salaries could not be fathomed by any other brothel. Every Butterfly entertained for the same price, but once you were accepted in the Everleigh club, you would make more money than any other prostitute in the world. The early 1900s was the only time where a three course meal would cost $0.50 and a man would pay $50 to just walk into the Everleigh Club and pay another $150 for dinner.

The Everleigh club did have policies. One major policy was that newspaper writers and state legislators were entertained for free. The Everleigh sisters did this so they could be on the headlines only when they need publicity. When Minna and Ada retired they had $1 million in cash which today in equivalent to $20 million. 

Today, prostitution is still illegal in all states besides specific areas in Nevada. We also hear the phrase “I got laid” on the radio, television, and from friends. The internet has websites for men on advice how “to get laid”. Also, the majority of rappers songs consist of how they would like to “to get laid.”Matt Nathanson has a song titled “laid”, Spacehog sings “At least I got laid”, and “I Wanna Get Laid” is sung by the Indocannibals. The English Language has really evolved over the years.  “I’m going to get Everleighed” evolved into “I’m going to get Leighed”, which evolved into “I’m going to get laid”.  The phrase “I got laid” is a more conservative way to discuss your extra-circular activities that take place in the bedroom. Like Kevin Bacon says " Any idiot can get laid whey they're famous. That's easy. It's getting laid when you're not famous that takes some talent."

Check out these YouTube videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4A7GcDtRiLE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeUBR3v_0Cg

Sources:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=get%20laid

http://www.nerve.com/content/house-of-high-repute

http://pattytempleton.livejournal.com/tag/sex

http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/08/01/the-golden-age-of-chicago-prostitution-a-qa-with-karen-abbott/

Not To Be

William Shakespeare originally wrote a play called Hamlet. Hamlet contains a famous soliloquy called “To be or not to be”. In the speech Hamlet debates whether or not he should take his own life. He is not sure if the afterworld is more miserable than the life he is already in. Franco Zeffirelli, Laurence Olivier, and Kenneth Branaugh directed entirely different versions of the play Hamlet.  

Franco Zeffirelli directed Hamlet has Mel Gibson acting as Hamlet. In Franco Zeffirelli’s play Hamlet the tone changes. At times he speaks rather slowly and other times he tends to talk hastily. He is talking about a somber situation, regarding whether or not Hamlet should take his own life. He is listening to himself speak, because in the room the soliloquy is taken place you can hear his voice and steps echo. Mel Gibson is wearing all black and he has a full unkempt beard. His body camouflages in the background. The scene strongly symbolizes how Hamlet is feeling. He is feeling that no one notices him, he insignificant, and that he is just simply another person. He also feels that his intelligence does not stand out from the crowd. Mel Gibson walks into a very dark room similar to a basement. The little light in the room comes from the stairway which he slowly walked down to reach a room full of caskets and statues of dead people. The director did a great job with this scene because I thought that he purposely didn’t allow any light in the room besides the stairway signifying that the life he came from is much better than the life he is about walk into. Mel Gibson paced a lot during his speech. Frequently he would look up at the ceiling, as if he was talking to the gods in Heaven. Mel Gibson is most likely trying to talk to the gods asking for assistance. Should Hamlet take his own life? Mel Gibson touches the statues and the coffins. He rests his body on one of the caskets and assumes the praying position.  The scene is very gloomily and dark, which is very comparable the Hamlet’s words. 

Hamlet’s “To be or Not To be” soliloquy by Laurence Olivier acting as Hamlet takes a different approach on the scenery for the viewers to grasp a better understanding of Hamlet’s words. Hamlet is outside on top of rocks on elevated land. Below Hamlet, is water gushing towards the rocks and land. It looks rather chilly outside and very foggy. In the beginning of the soliloquy he closes his eyes to gather his thoughts. He later pulls out a very sharp-looking knife which he plans to use to end his life. We can hear the wind in the background and Hamlet looks like he has a tight grip on the rocks that he is sitting on. He may be afraid that the wind could pick up speed and push him off the rock. As the speech continues he looks rather relaxed with his thoughts. The actor lacks emotion in his words and body language. In Laurence Oliver’s scene he does get up from sitting on the rock and stands close to the edge looks down and observes the landscape in the distance.  

Hamlet is also directed by and starring Kenneth Branaugh. Kenneth Branaugh “To be or Not To be” speech takes place in a fancy ballroom. The scenery does not give off a gloomily impression. Ballrooms are usually filled with happy couples. The music gives off a vibe as if something bad is about to occur. Hamlet walks into a room and stands in front of mirror. As he is talking to himself he sees himself through the mirror. He is wearing a black suit with a white dress shirt underneath. Kenneth Branaugh has maintained his facial hair and hair is neatly combed. He emphasizes on words, sometimes he takes a breath before and after essential words. He has a knife stored in the waist of his pants which he pulls at the points at the mirror and the reflection looks as if he is pointing it at himself. He also points the knife towards the temple in his head. His speech is interrupted by someone walking into the fancy decorated room. Overall, each director did a great job directing Hamlet. The actor’s presence and scenery is just as essential as the scenery

Effective Medium

Mr. Mamatas is a well spoken man. I thought he spoke rather quickly. I had to carefully listen to his words or all of his words would run together. During the interview, Mr. Mamatas was very calm and sounded relax. Mr. Mamatas had the opportunity to get defensive about protecting his profession but decided to stay calm. He also doesn’t sound to by cynical about his profession. He takes his job as a Term Paper Artist rather seriously. He had a passions and a gift for writing and found he could easily demonstrate his talents through writing term papers He wrote “model paper”. Mr. Mamatas was a helping hand. Who in their right mind would refuse his expertise?  

Listening to Mr. Mamatas did not affect my opinion of him being a term paper artist. I simply just see a man trying to make a living, by taking advantage of lazy or incapable people. Mr. Mamatas is an entrepreneur. Nick Mamatas said “I was a freelancer”. He simply took advantage of a situation that was presented to him. “Writing model term papers is above-board and perfectly legal. Thanks to the First Amendment it’s protected speech, right up there with neo-Nazi rallies, tobacco company press releases and those ‘9/11 was an inside job’ bumper stickers.” Mr. Mamatas is nonchalant our other people views and opinions. He did nothing against the law, just your moral beliefs, but haven’t we all executed an act that broke someone’s moral beliefs? Should we really hold Mr. Mamatas accountable for his actions of making a “model paper” or should we be more attentive on the students that handed in Mr. Mamatas’ term paper?

After listening to the audio, many people could say that he is cocky and doesn’t care that he is an enabler for cheaters. When Mr. Garfield calls Mr. Mamatas actions unethical, morally disgraceful, sleazy, and repulsive, he responds with “No that pretty much sums it up.” He tries to rationalize his work as term paper artist to comparing prostitution and tobacco companies to his line of work. I think the print would do more justice to Mr. Mamatas, because Mr. Garfield is trying to make Mr. Mamatas look bad. Mr. Garfield asks “So Nick, how do you rationalize your behavior? I mean, it sounds kind of whorish to me” and “You’re willing to sell yourself for money.” In the article, The Term Paper Artist, Mr. Mamatas never tried to rationalize his behavior; he just gave us the facts of his job.

Choosing the correct medium is important because each medium will get across the message differently. Using video, people’s opinion may change of the same message from Mr. Mamatas’ body language, clothes, posture, and physical looks. Audio would also change people’s opinion of Mr. Mamatas’ message by how well he talks and articulates his words. Images will change the viewer’s opinion because the viewer may judge his looks. The viewers may find him ugly and geeky. Using print, readers would have to form images in their head, so the author has to carefully choose their words if they want the readers to have a positive view of the message of the article. The medium chosen will be dependent upon the audience the material will be presented in front of. The effectiveness of Mr. Mamatas point of view on his career will be more effective on his supporters and even non-supporters.

A Lesson on Entrepreneurship

The Term Paper Artist, the lucrative industry behind higher education failings, by Nick Mamatas is about how Nick Mamatas had a passion for writing and found a way to use his talents. Mr. Mamatas says “I’ll tell them my horrible secret- for several years I made much of my freelance income writing term papers”. At a young age Mr. Mamatas passion for writing was shot down, but one day while reading the Village Voice he found an ad for wanted writers. Writers would write short pieces on business, economics, and literature. Mr. Mamatas thought this was his opportunity from the term paper mill to start off his writing career. He thought “writing model term paper is above-board and perfectly legal.” The term paper business is managed by brokers who assume risk finically and mentally. “Most of the customers just aren’t very smart”. Mr. Mamatas had to make sure that he did use words that his client would not understand.

There are three different types of term paper clients, dumb clients, one-timer, and professionals who lack writing skills. Dumb clients are college students who would call Mr. Mamatas and ask for the thesis statement and the body of the term paper to be underlined. These students simply don’t belong in college. The one-timers are students who aren’t English majors who are forced to take an English class, who have no idea how to write. The author uses the example of chemistry major college student forced to take a poetry course. The one-timer clients would include future college students who have to write personal statements for college applications. The third group of clients include “well-educated professional who simply lack English-language skills”. This category of clients is mainly people who already have a degree but would like to just get another degree. Mainly the clients are foreigners who were engineers, medical professionals, and scientists in another country.

“Term paper writing was never good money, but it was certainly fast money”. There are many students who would call Mr. Mamatas last minute stating that they needed a well-written paper in order for them to graduate.  The students are “better off spending $600 on the model paper instead of $2,500 to repeat course.” Simply said, the student would rather spend a few hundred dollars to pass the class instead a couple thousand to retake the same course.

“Term paper work is also extremely easy, once you get the hand of it”. Several of Mr. Mamatas friends attempted the term paper business but failed. Mr. Mamatas technique is that the paper is not important, the deadline, page count, and number of sources are the most important elements of a paper. It took Mr. Mamatas twenty minutes to finish a paper which his girlfriend couldn’t complete within twenty hours. Mr. Mamatas argument is that in order to successfully write a term paper first a student has to read a term paper. He uses the comparisons of writing a novel, he says, “Imagine trying to write a novel, for a grade, under a tight deadline, without ever having read a novel”. 

The author, Nick Mamatas, brings up many good points in The Term Paper Artist. At the end Mr. Mamatas says, “The students aren’t only cheating themselves. They are being cheated by schools that take tuition and give nothing in exchange.” Students are supposed to go to school to learn, yet they don’t learn anything. The students pay someone to write their papers in order to graduate and get a good grade in a class. Your college education will determine the future you will have. Everyone wants to be successfully and it begins with doing well in college. The students can write term paper but not well enough to pass their classes. I don’t agree with what the students are doing, but I understand. The students feel the pressure of college knowing that if their GPA is not high it would be difficult for them to find jobs after graduation. These students are not bad people; they just want to be successful like all of us. Their weakness, such as bad writing skills may dictate their future, and they found a way out. I would consider Mr. Mamatas an entrepreneur, he assumes the risk of his business and he makes all of the profit. He is helping out the young minds of America. I am upset that this article didn’t have his phone number or email address because I may need it later on in the future.

tryin somethin

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