Your blog is an on line personal journal or diary. It is a place to share your thoughts and feelings about significant topics based on The McGraw Hill Reader and on line sources. Unlike a journal or discussion, a blog requires a visual presence. Think of it as your own website. Some prompts will require visuals, photographs, or web links, but you are encouraged to use these in all your posts. Be sure to familiarize yourself with the tools in the text box in order to take advantage of the full scope of the blog. Each week there will be two prompts requiring your response. Responses may be posted in one blogentry or two, but each response should be clearly titled. While blogging is more relaxed than formal essay writing, it requires a minimum word count (see individual instructions), good grammar, and correct spelling. It also requires APA documentation of sources when quoting or citing from a website or using any on line source. Remember, it’s your world and your blog! Wk. 1 Blog: Family and Identity Chapter Five asks: “How do we become who we are?” Many factors affect who we are, and how we become who we are today. As noted in our textbook by Muller (2014), As much as our identities are shaped by powerful institutional forces like the family, what we are might be even more powerfully determined by the forces of sexuality and gender. Freud asserted that human behavior is rooted in sexuality, that gender (rather than family or school or social institution) is destiny. Clearly, notions of what it means to be a man or a woman have an impact on the construction of our identity. (p. 229) Prompt #1. For your first blog, consider a person, place or thing that had a major influence on you. Find a photograph, graphic, or video that captures the feeling of that influence. It might be an actual photograph, a music video, or an inspirational graphic or quotation. Perhaps, you might browse social media like Pinterest or Instagram. Post the photo or graphic along with 300 words sharing what that influence meant to you and its effect on your goals and dreams. Prompt #2. After reading Annie Dillard’s “An American Childhood” (pp. 241-246). Then, write a short descriptive essay about someone you know very well, using several anecdotes or examples from that person’s life, so that by the end of the essay, the reader will have a mental picture of your subject’s personality, values and attitudes. This could be someone in your biological family or someone else with whom you are or were close. Minimum 300 words. Requirements: Respond to two prompts with a minimum 300 word each Graphic, photo, or other visual required (Prompt #1) Cite any sources used or quoted material.

Prompt #1

Photo credit by Time 100Photos

 

A case is clearly demonstrated by a single photo taken by a photo journalist Kevin Carter who had travelled to South Sudan to cover the famine which had stricken the nation in 1993. Kevin had taken a photo of an emaciated toddler who was hungry and collapsed on his way to a rescue camp where such children could be given food and water.

The child collapsed and was subsequently followed by a vulture which landed besides the boy. Instead of Kevin to help the child, he walked away after the vulture failed to feed on the child. Kevin was awarded the Pulitzer award for such a remarkable photo. However, one year later in 1994, he took his life citing that he was being haunted by the cries of death and hungry children besides the suffering of the world.

In the contemporary society, people should strive to make ends meet and be successful in whatever they do. The satisfaction that success brings in inspirational to many generations who would seek to know the story behind the success. However, it should be noted that being successful does not entail sacrificing human dignity. As such, the influence and motivation in life drawn from such a photo shows the extent to which human beings should value one another.

The main point should be, to what extent is actions taken, or failure to take an action affects other people. Would happiness be gained a success story where most people are left behind crying and suffering because of a selfish action taken that hurts most people?

Unlike Kevin who celebrated a short success of winning an a ward and ended his life later, humanity should strive to make the world a better place by lifting other people on their way up the ladder since they will meet the same people on their way down the ladder. Life is short, get satisfaction in helping humanity.

Prompt #2

Nelson Mandela was a soft spoken leader who most often would be mistaken to be a weak person who could not lead the people (Sampson, 2018). He struggled, just like many people to end the apartheid regime in South Africa that was oppressive and repressive to the people. However, unlike most of the reformists and change advocates of the time, Mandela was exceptional in his ability to forgive and move on with life.

Most notably, and documented in the life of Nelson Mandela, is that he was arrested by the white colonialists in South Africa where he was tortured and  subjected to dehumanizing conditions which clearly violated his fundamental human rights (Nelson Mandela Foundation, 2018).

However, on his release, even though most people wanted revenge against the white colonialists, he stood firm and said that he had forgiven his enemies and moved on. He was ready to work with the people who had tortured him, denied him food and assaulted his family for the past 28 years while in prison.

To prove the point of his ability to build bridges with enemies, he was able to divorce his wife who he perceived to be too radicle and opposed to the peace initiatives he was advocating for.

According to Mandela, peace was the pinnacle of human growth and development. The tall, light skinned gentleman with a rough but steady voice was able to move millions and silence his critics for his diplomatic approach to conflicts.

Even after Nelson Mandela had left active politics and being president of South Africa, he continued to be an activist for human rights and championed for peaceful coexistence of people and promoted social justice. He lived a life not just for himself, but for the future generations.

Mandela is a sign of people who are selfless and possess big hearts, who would rather sleep hungry but their next door neighbors have a meal. The little they have, they are willing to give, not because they have more or expect something in return, but because giving is their moral responsibility.

 

References

Nelson Mandela Foundation NMF (2018). Biography of Nelson Mandela. Retrieved from https://www.nelsonmandela.org/content/page/biography

Sampson, A. (2018). Nelson Mandela: the authorised biography. Bentang Pustaka.

Time (2018). 100 Photographs: The Most Influential Images of All Time. Time 100Photos. Retrieved from http://100photos.time.com/photos/kevin-carter-starving-child-vulture#photograph

 

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