Chunk #2 : Outliers[:

Malcom Gladwell's second chunk in his non-fictional text, Outliers Gladwell keeps his purpose the same, and he restates that people are not born genius but the practice and effort pays it off at the end. Gladwell's second chunk concentrates in analyzing why some people of other ethnicity's are not as successful as others. Gladwell first gives an example of Jewish people who tend to be really good at what they do, but people tend to base them on their appearance. Gladwell finds this disturbing because he believes that people should not be based on their looks but they should take in consideration that the Jewish are talented people who have practiced and gave their all to become successful at whatever they do. In the second chunk i found a section very interesting where some parents do not succeed while their children do. I found this interesting because Gladwell takes us back to the first chunk when he states that the month the offspring is born in affects them. Gladwell also points out that one should be confident about the way they live life and that they may need to rely on others to live. Gladwell seems to have a serious tone because he takes success very seriously. Gladwell knows that behind someones success there is some studying and practicing before they became successful at whatever they tend to do in life.


Application Question: Why does Malcolm Gladwell keep the same purpose as in the previous chunk ?

Clarification Question: How does the way you live affect if you will later be successful in life ?

Opinion Piece #2 The Fall of Mexico by: Philip Caputo :)

Philip Caputo's article from The Atlantic published December 2009 argues that Mexico's former president Felipe Calderon has established a war with the major drug cartels. Three years ago since Felipe Calderon equipped the Mexican Army to fight against these powerful drug cartels nearly about 14,000 people have been killed. Most of these crimes have occured in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuaha. Jorge Luis Aguirre, a former writer for the LaPolaka.com an online news service in Juarez asserts that he recieved an annoymous call from a male saying "“You’re next, son of a b****". He immediatly felt threaten by this caller and moved with his family to El Paso. This call of threat was due to that Jorge Luis Aguirre used to talk about the corruption happening in Chihuaha. Based on statistics and data out of the 14,000 people that have been killed during these last three years fewer than 100 have been soldiers. The Mexican Drug Cartels are killing each other. Even though Mexico's last war was the Mexican Revolution, Mexico's former president Felipe Calderon feels as if this Mexican Drug Cartel's are becoming a war. Felipe Calderon has done everything he can to try and stop this problem, but we have to admit that the major drug cartel's are stronger than the president. They have managed to keep the cartel going without anyone stopping them. Philip Caputo's purpose is to show evidence that the major Mexican Cartel's are being a major problem for Felipe Calderon to repair.

Read Some More(:

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200912/mexico-drugs

Application Question: Can these powerful Mexican Drug Cartel's contribute to a war with the Mexican Army ?

Style Question: If this issue is getting to hard to end for the Mexican Government, can the American Government have a say so to end this complication of Mexican Drug Cartels ?

Opinion Piece #1 U.S School's War Against Chocolate Milk by: Gilbert Cruz,(:

Gilbert Cruz' 2008 article discusses that Chocolate Milk has been removed from many lunchrooms at schools according to some nutrition experts. These nutrition experts argue that chocolate milk is contributing to a childhood obesity issue. They also assert that an 8-oz serving of reduced chocolate milk has the same calories as an 8-oz can of Coke. Even though chocolate milk brings happiness to the children at school, they do not know the risk that is behind chocolate milk. Many people are not satisfied with this banning of chocolate milk especially the Dairy Industry so they gave approximately $1 million campaign "Raise Your Hand For Chocolate Milk." They believe that they should not get rid of chocolate milk since they have been serving milk at school for a very long time. A National Dairy Council video on youtube asserts that chocolate milk only has 60 more calories than white milk does, and that children do not grow obese overnight. Gilbert Cruz seems to be undecided of what to think regarding this conflict because he gives data of people against chocolate milk and people who think that chocolate milk should still be served in schools. Gilbert Cruz purpose is not to make schools ban chocolate milk but to give the Pro's and Con's of serving Chocolate Milk to children at school.

Interested in Reading Some More. . .

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1948865,00.html

Application Question: Should they ban Chocolate Milk because it has 60 more calories than regular white milk?

Style Question: Does Gilbert Cruz pro's and con's make people have a different opinion regarding Chocolate Milk ?

Chunk #1 : Outliers(:

Malcom Gladwell's non-fictional text "Outliers" presents us with what are outliers in the first chunk of the text. Outliers are people who master their success at whatever they do. Gladwell examines the elements that are behind the success of numerous people. They can be mathematical geniuses, athletes, etc. Throughout the first chunk Malcom Gladwell asserts that people are not born genius, geniuses are created with all the work and education they have had. To support his thesis, Gladwell examines that most of the hockey players who are born at the beginning months of the year tend to excel at hockey, rather than other hockey players who are born in later months of the year. Gladwell asserts that people who are born in the months of January through March are more physically and mentally mature. Throughout the first chunk of the text, Malcom Gladwell recapitulates the "10,000 Hour- Rule", which asserts that in order to be successful at any field, one must practice around 10,000 hours.

Application Question: If the "10,000 Hour- Rule" did not exist would peole still be successful or "geniuses" as they are today?

Clarification Question: In the first chunk of the text, what is Malcom Gladwell's thesis statement?

Style Question: Does Gladwell's seriousness throughout the first chunk affect the way people interpret the text?

Frederick Douglass,(:

The Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass was a very emotional and touching story.From a scale of 1-10 I would rate this slave narrative an 8. I wouldn't say that I enjoyed reading the book because the slaves were treated inferior to whites, they were often punished and came upon the most gruesome acts. However, I did like the book because it showed the state of mind of a former slave, Frederick Douglass, and how he accomplished his dream of being free. My favorite passage of the Narrative of Frederick Douglass, was when he had a fight with Mr.Covey, and he defended himself and showed Mr. Covey another side of him, that nobody knew. I would say that this is my favorite passage because Frederick, showed Mr. Covey that he was not going to let him lay a hand on him , and show him that he was tired of getting whipped all the time. He showed Mr. Covey that he was a man, and that he was not going to let Mr. Covey whip him.

Even though this is my favorite passage throughout the whole Narrative of Frederick Douglass, i really enjoyed coming across the passage when Frederick Douglass learned how to read, and write. Even though slaves were not allowed to have an education because a Slave would be a Slave FOREVER, Frederick came across some white kids that helped him read. Frederick was very thankful because he was a slave that could read and write, something that the average slave did not know, or would never know.