" Should College Athletes Be Paid? " by Veronica Majerol- Non- Fiction Critical Analysis

"Should College Athletes be paid?" is a non-fiction article, found in upfront, about the debate on whether college athletes should due paid for participating in big-time college football or basketball programs. The article presents to us different sides of the opinions, with yes meaning they should be paid, and no stating that it would ruin the fun! The author seems to lean more toward the debate that they SHOULD be payed due to their ability and age. One way in which they do this is, the author presents to us a college football player's life outside of the field, showing how not getting payed has a negative effect on the players themselves. "There are nights that I go to bed and I'm starving." This fact is life-threatening and I bet that no one would have expected to hear that. Another way in which the author tries to get her point across is by predicting the outcome of college players' lives if they were to get paid, she looks into the future and presents to us ideal situations of how the players' lives would change in a good way. Lastly, she presents her argument by her use of language, which implies that it is unfair how college players are treated as mega stars but don't get the power and acknowledgement as people with the same job, yet just 10 years older. She presents it to us in a way where she says that they aren't being given the acknowledgement they deserve in their industry, which furthermore adds on to her bias, that college football and basketball players should be paid.

The author hopes to persuade kids that college players' should be paid because they are being treated unfairly, just due to their age. She wants us to feel the pain that some people have to go through in this industry, because they aren't being paid for what they do on a daily basis. One way in which the author persuades us is by using a big company to make her point. " At the same time, the NCAA and its member universities benefit enormously from popular athletes, who brings in millions of dollars in TV revenues and memorabilia sales, increase alumni donations and attract new students." This is a 'power' company in the industry, who seem to benefit from the paying so it seems to prove the author's thoughts as they both have the same viewpoint. Also, the author uses her own bias by using very strong language to persuade readers that college players should be getting paid. " The NCAA gets a cut; universities get a cut; coaches get a cut. The only ones not cashing in, it seems, are the players themselves." The author uses very persuasive language, for example; she could have said not being paid but instead she says 'not cashing in.' It is just more persuasive and it makes us feel like we are siding with her.

The article made me think about the lives of these college athletes, and that they aren't all wonderful. I agree that the players should get paid, as they aren't being treated fairly for the work that they do, however I think that most of the money that they get given should be put in trust funds, so that they aren't influenced by what big time players spend their money on. My thoughts have changed because I had never thought about the negative effects that college players have to go through, and quite frankly I had no idea that they didn't get payed.

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue fish- Social Action questions

Whilst I was reading ‘One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish’ by Dr Suess, I started to realize that there is a deep message portrayed in this kid’s allegory text. The book is about how there are many different ‘species’ of fish and that they are all great at something. It also touches upon how each fish in the sea have separate talents and can each help function a place if they participate in their ‘specialities’. As you all probably realize, this book is a child classic, where I have not met anyone who hadn’t read this as a child. However, most kids just read the outside layer of the book but if you re-read and dig deeper into the text, you find that there is a discrete message that is a representation for a real-life issue.

            The first social action question was the first thing that I thought about whilst reading the text, what really difficult or complex things are happening in the text? The story portrays a message of slight racism and segregation to being with. This is portrayed at the beginning of the story because we are introduced to so many different fish, that are all different in talents but they are al treated differently. It isn’t quite the section of racism that we are accustomed to, for example: The Civil War. But in fact, it is the kind of racism where you are judged on your looks. Throughout the book, these fish are assessed due to the colour of them or the way that they do things. They aren’t acknowledged for their personality but more for the way they look etc. However, towards the end of the book, the message takes an unravelling turn and we realize that the message is portrayed in two different ways. From the beginning of the book and to the end, we are portrayed with the same issue but kind of a resolution to the first aspect. For example, in the text, towards the end of the book, we learn that everyone is different yet each equal because everyone is the same being deep down and have equal value inside and out. It shows that everyone is unique, and has different qualities, but each person is the same truthfully and people should be equally respected and not just observed by their looks. We learn this by just observing the different characters and you start to observe a pattern, where we find that each person walks the same way and are the same, but just have a different skin colour and different talents.

            Whilst I continued to observe the 1^st social action question, I was almost intrigued by the 2^nd one, whose point of view is missing? The story is about the fish but yet told by a boy. The point of view that is missing is the ‘fishes’. The only person’s POV that is shown are the narrators and the one human’s voice. I think the author chose not to include the fishes point of view because they might have had different opinions about each other because of their looks, which may be not agreeable with the author’s issue that is tried to be shown. It shows that the author was choosing who gets to be heard just to fit his perspective. It doesn’t show a fair way to portray the book, because if we are learning about these fish, then why aren’t they being allowed to speak? It causes us to have less trust in the author and we aren’t accustomed to how the fishes feel about their way of life. The perspective of the one human being is included because it is seemed to be the ‘typical’ and ‘normal’ people looking in on the different people’s perspective and views.

The third social action question, is justice served, was a hard one because honestly the answer isn’t clear. At the beginning, justice isn’t served because each fish is being ‘racist’ towards each other and not joining and acknowledging people’s opinions because they are all base each other on their looks and how they are different. It shows no justice because they don’t give each other a chance to express their true ideas and perspectives but that they are automatically crossed out because they look different and have a different approach to things. It isn’t fair because you could meet your best friend but if they don’t look nice or ‘normal’ then you would never know that. They don’t acknowledge anyone’s similarities but only the differences between everyone. But in the end, justice is served because everyone realized that each other are the same deep down and that their looks don’t define them.

In conclusion, we learn a lot of messages throughout the book, which all have a deeper meaning than you would already think about. Not only do we approach the different perspectives in a deeper way, but also we realize how some kid’s books actually aren’t just for kids. The messages in the book, wouldn’t make sense for a child, so then we think, who is the author’s true audience. I feel as if this is another question that could be asked because it gives insight into the authors intended audience for the book.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd- Racism portrayal

            In the ‘Secret Life of Bees’, there are many societal issues, mostly revolving around racism. The Secret life of bees is set in a time, where racism was at its highest and that was the major social issue then. The book is about white and black runaways, who come across a farm, run by African-Americans. The book is mainly about the journey of how these two runaways have to fit into society, due to their race. It is hard for both of them because in the town, many different races portray ideas and interpretations differently.  The author portrays these events really well because she links racism to other events that are occurring in the story.

            One way, in which the author portrays racism, is by using people’s thoughts to portray the racist thoughts of whites from blacks. “’But she’s white.’ This was a great revelation- not that I was white but that it seems like June might not want me here because of my skin colour.” The societal issue here is racism from the black race toward the white race. This novel was written in a time where blacks and whites were segregated. The issue revolves around how the world was segregated and how each race took the issue in a different perspective. I can infer, whilst reading, that we as a generation always hear about the racism of whites towards blacks. This is because they were the victors during the Civil War and as we all know, the victors write history. But here in the story, we are shown how blacks were racist toward whites, which was an interesting manner and how whites took to themselves as the ‘enemies.’ It teaches us as readers that, people can be rude and mean, but as soon as they are backfired by their insults, they realize all of their rudeness actually hurts.

            Another way that racism is shown is by using religion to portray the issues of racism in the world. “’Well, if you ain’t noticed, she’s colored,’ said Rosaleen, and I could tell it was having an effect on her by the way she kept gazing at it with her mouth parted. I could read her though: If Jesus’ mother is black, how come we only know about the white Mary?” The issue here is an underlining issue of racism but due to that, it is also about religion, and how religion is portrayed as being racist. It shows that practically all religions are revolved around white portrayals and this shows racism. Many people acknowledge this and some may take it differently than others, but it still makes the situation seem racist and I wonder how far it can go without everybody realizing that the main portrayals in every religion are white. I can infer, whilst reading, that people can infer religion differently nowadays. Even if things may be true, we do start to think: why is one of the most popular religions, Christianity, only a portrayal of white men or women?

In conclusion, there are many ways that racism is portrayed in the story. In The Secret Life of Bees, there are many ways that life revolves around racism. This societal issue, really fits into the novel, because as a major social issue in the society at that time, it needs to be portrayed and wouldn’t gain success if this issue hadn’t occurred. The Secret Life of Bees is a great novel for the portrayal of racism, because not only does it include this issue, but it is discreetly stated and you have to work out the text, in order to realize what the author is symbolizing. Overall, this book was very good and the way that the racism sector was portrayed was very intriguing because it wasn’t ‘too in your face’ and more a thorough excerpt of life in the 20’s.

"Should YA books be banned?"

The First Amendment of the Constitution guarantees our right to free speech, which includes the right to read and write books that might be considered by some to be too violent, hateful, or offensive. In this generation, many people argue about ‘the darkness and horror’ that Young Adult books have deflected into. Some objectors are disapproving with the way YA books are now written while others are just traumatized by the themes portrayed. Over the last couple of centuries, YA books have changed into not being just a book, but a societal argument. This has caused many effects such as, YA books being banned by schools and even proposals put forward by state electives. Parents are especially argumentative on the issue of ‘the new genre of YA fiction’ and are taking it to many levels of opinions. They believe that the darkness of YA fiction has spiralled out of control and that their children need to be protected from the maturity. This has been argued for and against in many ways, for example protests and town meetings. But still there are haphazard decisions being made daily all over the United States regarding this issue. Access to YA fiction shouldn’t be limited in anyway because it provides young adults with real-life situations and outcomes, but adults should be made aware of what their child is reading, to protect them in case of misinterpretation of dark, gruesome images.

            Young adults are already exposed to very intense things in the world, such as ferocious movies or videos, so YA fiction shouldn’t be penalized for portraying the ‘real world’ that young adults come across everyday. “Teenagers look at this darkness all the time, and I always think if you’re not addressing it in your fiction then you’re abandoning them to face it themselves.” This quotation from Husna Haq’s very persuasive article, “Should young adult books have age ratings?” shows how teenagers are exposed to darkness but for some reason in published books, it is being hidden from them. In civilization nowadays, there are many dark things occurring, such as ‘R’ rated movies, pornography and even suicide. These things are occurring and frankly, no one can be hidden from them, as they occur everyday 24/7. So for YA books to hide it, isn’t exactly sensible, since kids will find out about these uninviting topics somehow. In fact, not having these veracity topics in YA fiction just makes kids want to read them more so they can find a unique book that addresses what they are learning outside in the real world. However, some may agree that books include numbers of harsh images that hardly any teens are aware or accustomed to around the world. For instance, Meghan Cox Gurdon’s quote, “If books show us the world, teen fiction can be like a hall of fun-house mirrors, constantly reflecting back hideously distorted portrays of what life is”, shows how some teens are affected by having real life events and situations portrayed. It acts as flashbacks and therefore harms some kid’s thoughts that are not normally accustomed to dark and mature themes. ‘A hall of fun-house mirrors’, really shows the outcome of kid’s thoughts after reading these dark images because they are surrounded by horror, which may be new to them. It shows that although using the “real-life” darkness in YA books shows very “distorted portrayals” of life, it also harms kid’s intellectual thoughts, which could be prevented if they don’t read YA books. However, with parental acknowledgement, kids should be aware of what is happening in society, and therefore in order to learn more about the world, many kids are already aware of graphic themes that even parents can’t hide them from. “Teenagers look at the Internet, they look at the news, they look at pornography on the Internet, and they look at violent movies on the Internet. So if children literature is not addressing that, if it’s addressing the world as it should be rather than it is, then why would a teenager read you?” This quotation, by Husna Haq, shows once again that although some kids may be totally naïve to such topics, most aren’t and in order to grow up, they will learn them somehow. Teenagers are presented with many murky themes in their everyday life that are frowned upon, but at least it displays reality. Husna is right, if the YA books aren’t addressing reality, then it makes out the world as a fantasy, and then what will teenagers really be made aware of? They are surrounded by so much darkness in the world already, so why are YA books the only thing being reprimanded?

            Another reason why YA books shouldn’t be banned but should be read with parent acknowledgement is because YA books are called ‘young adult’ books, so therefore they are designed for the teenager eye and not for an adult’s reading life. “And when I asked her what she thought of the WSJ piece this weekend, she rolled her tween eyes and said, “Does she get it that they’re not called ‘children’s’ books? They’re ‘young adult.” Adult.” This excerpt from Mary Elizabeth Williams’ ‘Has young adult fiction become too dark’ is very persuasive because it is from a teen’s perspective. The quote, responded to by the daughter of Mary Elizabeth Williams, is in response to Meghan Cox Gurdon’s “Darkness Too Visible” article. In this article, Meghan doesn’t include any teen perspective, but only the older generation, to enhance her views that YA fiction should be banned. The response shows how the younger generation don’t agree with the fact that Meghan didn’t include their thoughts and therefore want to put there argument into perspective. As the leading readers, teens think that adults interfere too much in their reading life, even though the books aren’t designed for them. Parent consent should be given, however too much interference just causes kids to lose interest and not agree with their parent’s choices. We have sympathy for these kids because they obviously feel as if their parents, who they should feel respected around, are obstructing their reading lives. If teens aren’t allowed to recite about these ‘realistic’ topics, then how are they supposed to respect their parents’ future decisions, if they can’t respect theirs? Some adults may say nonetheless, that as parents, it is their job to determine what their teens read, as they do everything else. “Parents should be vigilant if a child is reading a lot of these books.” Quoted from Tanith Carey, we learn that parent’s need to keep a watchful eye on what their child is reading in case dangers occur. As parents, they should be protective of their child’s life and be aware of possible dangers and challenges that their child may tumble into. Although parent’s thoughts should be given, they shouldn’t interfere too much to the point where a child feels insecure and at risk of their reading life being affected. “It’s ok as long as parents are talking to them about these books and what they are thinking and feeling.” Again, quoted from Tanith Carey’s, “The ‘sick-lit books…’ many parents get very involved in their kids’ reading life but maybe if they spoke to their kids’ about what they are learning, rather that assuming the worst, then maybe kids and parents won’t feel under pressure to pause the reading. Maybe after their parent’s observe what their child is reading, they will ascertain that their teens are actually benefitting from reading YA fiction as it teaches them how to overcome situations. Parents should be made aware of what their teens are reading but not make the kids feel as if there are restrictions. When parents are too over protective of what their child is reading and ‘ban’ the book, that isn’t benefitting anything, not the parent and child relationship and especially not the young adults.

            Lastly, YA books portray many themes that report violent or mature matters and therefore help kids learn how to overcome such disasters, teach them lessons, and even help kids be aware that they can overcome terrible situations. “When young people are lost in such traumatized states, it’s vital that they don’t feel alone. Novels and stories on the subject offer sense of commonality and, most importantly a sense of hope.” This quotation proves that teens can be influenced by dark themes, by helping them to understand solutions that are available to them. Kids benefit from the themes portrayed even if it is distinct. It shows that these ‘dark topics’ can be taken with a whole different perspective, teens can look for guidance in these YA books, which shows that they act as a ‘helpful hand’ to teens in need. However, some parents believe that the themes in YA books, just influence teens to perform harsh acts such as suicide or self-harm. “I know a girl of 12 in whose class the book spread like wildfire- several of them also started cutting themselves.” Taken from Tanith Carey’s article, although learning about blackness is educational, it can also have a major intellectual effect on kids who may not normally be used to such themes. It influences them to experiment, and therefore they might try self-harm to feel relieved. Everyone is different and depending on what each teen is aware of, it could harm some in a physical way and even in a mental way, which could lead to severe circumstances. However, even though it may cause children to harm themselves, it does also have the opportunity to protect kids’ thoughts and physical chances of harm. “Reading about homicide doesn’t turn a man into a murderer, reading about cheating on exams won’t make a kid break the honour code.” Quoted from Meghan Cox Gurdon’s, “Darkness too Visible”, this quotation entirely backfires the chance of kids’ cutting themselves because there is so much other proof, like the quote above by Meghan Cox Gurdon, in the world, that some things just don’t cause the other. It shows that it depends on the emotional or physical level of a child and therefore it is uncommon that kids will harm themselves just because of what they read. There are other influences in the world, such as domestic violence or stress at school. But this data shows that kids are protected by these themes because it influences the kids not to do self-harm etc. as they are persuaded by other examples in the world. They are shown the effects that others have gone through and this impacts them not to participate in such harmful activities because it shows them what their life could turn into. If reading about the effects dangers have on kids doesn’t stop teens choices, then I don’t know what would?

            In conclusion, YA fiction is very dark, and by no means should that be forgotten, but this darkness can be used to people’s advantages in the long run. YA fiction may only be meant for ‘reading’ but it certainly has a deeper meaning that no one should be concealed from, especially teens. Even though parents may disagree with the choices kids are making in their reading life, if they truly respect their kids, then they should acknowledge what they want to learn and improve their education about existing reality. YA fiction truly reduces the likelihood that the readers will experiment with the acts portrayed, even though it isn’t 100% certain, like most things. Although there are many counter arguments surrounding bad influences, with parental guidance and acknowledgement, YA fiction shouldn’t be banned because it does give helpful advice towards teens and could have a major beneficial effect on them in the future. If YA books were to be banned, then what would teens be reading 10 years from now? It is all well and good banning a book in the present, but is anyone actually thinking about the future? Decisions made now, automatically affect what the world will be like in ten years time. People need to start realizing the affects that banning YA books could lead to and the people it could impact in the future.

"The Girl With The Pearl Earring" by Tracy Chevalier

The book "The girl with the pearl earring" by Tracy Chevalier is a historical fiction book about a girl and her journey of joining a family as a work girl. Griet is a hard-working girl who had to leave home because of her families' poverty struggle. She moves into a home where there are many obstacles such as, 6 children. Throughout her stay she becomes part of a wider circle of the family but only one person accepts her for who she is, the master. The master understands her love for art and for that he lets her admire his paintings, which no one is allowed to do. This causes a jealous and unenthusiastic household. But one day, Griet has to step in to be the 'object' of the painting and this decides her future forever. Throughout the story, we follow the path of Griet, and we are always aware of how her family and her perseveres with the idea of her new job.  

One way in which Griet shows perseverance is when she reflects back on her old life and compares it to her new. "I had walked along that street all my life, but had never been so aware they my back was to my home." This quotation carefully show the reflection and feelings in which Griet has. We can tell by her 'reflection tense' that she is feeling guilty of the way she is acting and that she s acting in a selfish way. We can infer that she is being mesmerised by the thought of the money of her new family but she isn't thinking about her actual family. This makes her believe she is becoming unaware of her feelings for her real family and she is feeling ignorance and regret. 'My back' shows a very strong piece of her body that symbolises how she is feeling, 'back-stabbing', ignorance and regret. It shows perseverance because it makes us realise how Griet has to become loyal to one family but not to the other, in order for everyone to benefit.

Another way in which Griet perseveres with her new life is by respecting her parents' wishes. “I felt as if my parents had pushed me into the street, that a deal had been made and I was being passed into the hands of a man. At least he is a good man, I thought, even if his hands are not as clean as they could be.” This quotation is very intriguing because not only does it tell us about her perseverance but also her previous attitude. Her previous attitude shows that she felt useless to her parents and that they were denying her happiness for money. But then as the story progresses and as the quote suggests, Griet looks at the positive and just tries to please her family. The quote above suggests that Greit puts her parents happiness and well being before her own. It shows that she perseveres with her struggles in order to befit even if it may hurt her along the way.

Lastly, we learn how Griet's family perseveres with the 'new Griet' and the new girl that she has become.  “You know I don’t listen to market gossip,” she began,“but it is hard not to hear it when my daughter’s name is mentioned.” This shows us as readers that Griet's mother, especially, is finding it hard to adapt to her new daughter's lifestyle. With Griet in a 'rich household', we can infer that her mother seems jealous and just wants her daughter back. It seems as if Griet hasn't go time for her mother and therefore, her mother is learning about her through other people. We feel sympathy for the mother because it just seems as if Griet id disowning her mother and is taking her for granted.

In conclusion, 'The girl with the pearl earring' really shows the feelings of others and how they persevere with the new Griet. It shows a connection that has been transformed just because of a reason to get out of poverty. The book teaches us that there are many ways to persevere with things, but along the way you may upset people. In this case, this was Griet and each different one of her family members took the intuition differently.

"Has young adult fiction become too dark?" Critical Analysis

In “Has young adult fiction become too dark?” by Mary Elizabeth Williams, Mary wants us to know that YA books shouldn’t be banned because although they have become “trashy as hell” and contain some gruesome content, they are educational and it isn’t right to ban teens reading YA fiction when they have grown up with dark fairy tale stories. One thing that Mary does is use quotes from Meghan Cox Gurdon’s “Darkness too Visible”, to make her counterclaim. One example of this is, “ ‘Contemporary literature has too much sex and violence, and our kids need to be protected from its ‘depravity’. So says critic Meghan Cox Gurdon in a scorching Saturday editorial about Young Adult lit.” She also uses examples from fairy tale books to feature her thoughts by explaining how its funny that kids have been raised with “big bad wolves” and “poisoned apples.” Adding on, Williams portrays the works of YA books to make the author’s intentions clear. “… devour the ‘Flowers in the Attic’ series without having sex with their brothers.” These examples just furthermore show how Mary wants us to know that YA fiction is educational and that Gurdon’s views aren’t portrayed right.

Mary Elizabeth Williams hopes to persuade readers that YA fiction writing has gotten worse, but that it helps kids learn and has a positive effects on the outcome of a child’s growth, and to be disgusted at the points claimed by Gurdon. One way that the author portrays this is by using many casual tone phrases that seem as if the author is talking to us. She asks many questions such as, “Oh jeez, do we really have to have this argument again?” which is used to make a connection with the audience and to emphasize why the author’s focus is right in a casual way. Another way is the author uses her own daughter’s opinion to make her claim. Her daughter claims that ‘young adult’ books aren’t for ‘adults’ as the name states. She uses this source to make a strong claim from such an innocent child, who might receive sympathy from readers. Also, she intentionally includes her own anecdotes to make it seem as if she knows the situation with a lot of knowledge, so that her ideas may come across a lot clearer and seem like she has more experience in talking about the darkness of YA fiction than Meghan Cox Gurdon for example.

Mary Elizabeth William’s article made me think about the exposure that kids are exposed to. Never before have I thought about how dark fairy tales are but now thinking about it, poisoned apples and big bad wolves are things that would be frowned upon if they weren’t in fairy tales. I think that this opens up a new glance that maybe I would like to know more about as it was only briefly mentioned in the article. I now realize that darkness isn’t the only thing that people backlash at YA fiction for, but now for the actual writing quality. My thoughts have changed because now I realize that there are so many opinions and even authors sometimes have many ways of disappointment with others’ writings. One thing that I was disappointed in was the source that the author used as a feel that using her daughter wasn’t very reliable and trustworthy.