Cultural Conflict

*The issue in this is an external conflict (man v. society) because the women who choose to wear hijabs are often looked down on by feminists and people of other cultures who do not understand the significance of the garment.

*Globalization can cause conflict when the values of different societies don’t mesh. For example, in this case, Americans are used to objectifying women and don’t understand the reasoning behind protecting women from this culture. She thinks that globalization is mainly the flow of Western values to the rest of the world. The only benefit she sees in this is the empowerment of women through Western role models.

*The Quran and the Constitution

Utopia

*A utopia is a place in which everything is perfect. Each person’s definition of utopia is different because everyone has a different idea of what “perfection” is.

*My utopia would include a general acceptance of all cultures and peaceful interactions between everyone. There would be no terrorists, bullies, or other mean people. Emphasis would be placed on solving any issues that arise and loving one another for who we truly are.

*My soundtrack would include music from all genres and cultures because my society would be one that accepts all different types of people and musical taste.

“You Were Right” by Built to Spill

*This song is about a relationship gone wrong and how the singer’s significant other lied about how positive things were going to turn out.

*The unusual tune and passion in the singer’s voice aided the song’s attempt at pointing out the pain the singer feels after the relationship.

*The combination of pained lyrics and rough sounding music resulted in a successful attempt at exhibiting the typical post-breakup feelings. This song didn’t really appeal to my taste in music, but it did get a specific feeling across.

“Reading Critically”

The article “Reading Critically” explains in what ways an article should be read and studied to obtain all possible information. The author explained how to annotate an article and then went on to discuss how a reader should summarize, synthesize, and analyze the text of a piece of writing to fully understand it. These steps are important so that the reader understands the surface meaning of the text, and the reader can explain why the author chose to write parts that he or she did because of the way each word influenced the entire piece.

“Shame” by The Avett Brothers

*The subject of this song is a relationship in which the speaker made many mistakes. His tone is remorseful.

*His tone is exhibited by his use of the phrase “please lift is off” because it shows that he is powerless and wants his shame to be taken away. The word undo explains how he wishes his actions could be taken back. The word boatload explains how his guilt is weighing down on him.

"Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out"- SOAPSTone

The subject of Dave Barry's "Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out" is the social differences between men and women. This invisible wall that divides the two genders is illustrated by him saying that women can "see extremely small quantities of dirt". This points out his main point that women care more about neatness than men. He goes on to explain how men are more passionate about sports and television.

"Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out" was writing in the late 20th century/21st century. The essay’s time of creation is displayed by the presence of the World Series and the view of Poe's writing as being classic. He also mentions some products, such as Windex, that are relatively modern. The probable place of the essay’s creation is America. This is because of the importance of baseball and the interactions between men and women. Clearly, the men and women are equals in society and many American products are present in the story.

The time and place of the essay’s creation influence the essay in his tone. His sarcasm throughout the essay and the external conflict with his wife would not be as entertaining if he had written the essay in bland language or without a sense of humor. By adding in some comic relief, Barry lightened the subject matter. When Barry jokes, “I just Windexed...and she's seeing dirt everywhere!” This shows that he doesn't understand why women think the way they do.

Dave Barry’s specific audience for "Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out" is married women. This is shown through his in depth analysis of why men feel the way they do about sports v. cleaning. The conflict in his marriage is common in many other marriages, so his article can be used to explain to women what men actually think about different topics.

The author’s general audience for the essay is all American adults.  The author’s general audience is communicated as Barry makes many references to American culture and the relationship between him and his wife. He even goes so far as to say, “...We males could not focus our attention on the various suggested topics because we could actually feel the World Series television and radio broadcast.” This proves that the audience is American adults because they understand conflict in male-female relationships and the importance of the World Series to many American men.

Barry’s purpose in "Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out" is to communicate to all married Americans that communication can be difficult in relationships because of differing priorities of different genders. This message is explained when Barry reflects on the different genders' reactions to each other's actions. 

Dave Barry believes that relationships require effort. This value is illustrated by his repeated attempts at pleasing his wife. Although he was unsuccessful in these attempts and only gave a partial effort in some of his actions, Barry, clearly, wished to maintain their relationship. He included this value to show to even though men and women have many differences, it is important to work through them. This ties into his purpose because it communicates the idea of differences in genders even further. The author’s use of imagery when explaining the "lack of filth" in his house showed how different things looked from his perspective versus from his wife's perspective. 

Barry exhibits a humorous, lighthearted tone about the differences in genders in "Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out". These attitudes are expressed as Barry jokes about his and his wife's actions in multiple scenarios. These jokes show that he has serious beliefs about their differences, but believes in looking at them with a positive perspective.