View on Critical Literacy

Topic 5:

You have almost completed this semester, so how do you view Critical Literacy now? If you have any comments and suggestions, please do so as it helps of the betterment of the course as a whole.

                Throughout this semester four, I feel like I am having a special relationship with Critical Literacy. By special relationship here means that I feel anger, sad, love like what someone would feel when she is with someone special. I feel anger and sad of myself whenever I couldn’t find research or anything that can support my premise and stand.  However, whenever I understand what to do and when I do find something valuable to support my stand, I am overly in joy.

                As for my view of Critical Literacy subject, it is undeniable true that Critical Literacy is a killer subject, since it tests your patience and stress. However, when you look on the other side of it, there is so much fun in learning Critical Literacy. Critical Literacy also teaches me not to do any tasks or assignments at the very last minute. If you do so, you are actually booking for a very high level of stress.   Critical Literacy is one kind of a subject that taught me to suspend my emotion and thinking rationally, logically and critically using both left and right side of the brain.

                Nevertheless, I also have some suggestions to make for the betterment of the course as a whole. Even when I said that Critical Literacy is fun, I still need to handle other six subjects as well that added to my stress. In my opinion, we should lessen the article that the students need to complete. It is okay to maintain the hard level of the article but by lessen the amount of it would be a big help for students.

                Lastly, I would love to express my gratitude to the valuable people who have been helping me though ups and downs in going through this subject. First and foremost is to my precious Critical Literacy lecturer, Mr. Mark that has been passionately teaching my friends and I in order for us to get a good result for every assignments that have been assign to us and leading us to a better understanding of what the subject really is. Same goes to my beloved friends who help me directly or indirectly. Thank you. 

Body, Mind and Spirit

Topic 4:The body is the greatest possession, the mind is the greatest treasure and the spirit is the greatest companion.How do you view above statement.

Literally, this quote sum up ones lives because in order to lead a good and beneficial live, one should make body, mind and spirit work together. Not any one of those elements should be left out.  For this entry, I’m going to talk about my view on this statement.

                From my view,’ body’ here refers to ‘health’. Basically, body is the greatest gift that has been given to us by God. In order for us to have a valuable life, we ought to take care of our body and health by exercising regularly, have an enough rest and take healthy food in each meal. We should not neglect our body and healthy by doing something harm against our body and health.

                Next is about mind as the greatest treasure. Ever heard people say that we as a human is lucky since we have mind compared  to any other creatures such as animal. This is because every creatures existed has a brain but only human are gifted with mind. Mind is where we use to think before we make a decision on certain things. Mind as the greatest treasure is right. Without mind, we probably would make a thoughtless choice that might lead us into regretful. That is why mind is considered as a greatest treasure.  We should use our mind wisely and have a full use of it. Do not make a thoughtless choice. Use your mind.

                Lastly is spirit.  I think spirit is the most crucial element compared to body and mind. This is because only with spirit, we can fulfil what our body and mind wanted. The easiest example as a student is when you want to study or completing your assignment. You couldn’t do that without spirit. Spirit also works as a mood or an energy booster in someone’s life.  When someone feels under the weather, they would go find something to rejuvenate and make their mood feel better again. Having a good spirit would produce a happy and great life.

                As for the conclusion, body, mind and spirit are actually equally important. Having a beauty appearance doesn’t make you any better if you do not have these three elements as beauty  is the spontaneous expression of a harmonious body, mind and spirit. Bear in mind that no matter how wealthy you are, none of these three elements can be bought with money. I would like to end my entry for this time by quoting a quote by Criss Angel who said that when body, mind and spirit work as one, anything is possible.

Money can buy happiness

Topic 3: 

 “If money were the only criterion by which a child’s welfare can be gauged, then a baby bought for as much as RM40,000 on the black market would seem set for life. For money-rich but child poor couples, it is a small price to pay to introduce a small life into their home. The cot is gilded, the blanket monogrammed, the college fund filled to the brim. All that’s wanting is a bun in the oven. And where there is a baby-for-sale-racket, money can indeed buy happiness. And after all, why not?” (NST, March 3, 2013) 

 Provide at least two (2) premises or two (2) counter arguments for the statements based on your agreement. 

Money can indeed buy happiness.The statement is undeniable true. In a modern generation like today, almost everything includes money. From the day we were born until we die, everything needs money. Money gives an impact in people’s lives since it really touches everything (Emmet Burns, 2015). Although some people deny the fact that money does can buy happiness, there will always be a turning point where they cannot run away from the fact that money buys happiness. 

Premise 1: As we get married, money cannot be seem as a small matter.

A1: By the time we get married we will require lots of money as we are not only supporting our own self but also our partner living. If we do not have enough money to support living, quarrel will occurred and cause a divorce between couple.  According to Sonya Britt, a Kansas State University researcher, based on her research, she found out that couples, who argued about money early in their relationships, regardless of their income, or net worth, were at a greater risk for divorce. 

Premise 2: Money reduces negative emotion in a person. 

A1: If we do not have enough money to buy something that can provide us happiness, our mood would be in dull and moody. This can cause negative emotions in a person. Like what has been stated in Mark Fahey article which income can cause a reduction in negative emotions while an increase in income can reduce the incidence of serious mental illness.

Stereotyping

2. Stereotyping is exaggerated generalizations associated with a categorizing system , they go beyond the facts at hand and make claims that usually have no valid basis. However, it is also something that most people find difficult to avoid from doing. What do you think? 

      To believe unfairly that all people or things with a particular characteristic are the same. In my opinion, we are living in the world where stereotyping actually has become one of the entire world’s habit. We judge people based on what we see not on what we know. However, we could not avoid from doing so. We could not avoid from thinking that fat people eat a lot; tall people must have good basketball skills, a female and male can never be a best friends without any love feelings and so on. There are certain reasons why one could not avoid from being a stereotype. The reasons are the way we think which is by categorizing people into groups, the things we hear and by assuming person equals the roles. 

    As for the first reason, the way we think which is by categorizing people into groups.  We think based on the categories we form in the past which by our experience. For instance, a woman used to have a dishonest boyfriend and by her past experience; she will have the thought that all men are the same. All men are liars.

   Next, we also pick up stereotypes from the world around us. We hear stereotypical talk from family, friends or the media. For the example, we often hear that fat people eat a lot while it is actually not. Certain people do not living their life as a fat people so they would not know that not all fat people eat a lot. It is all about metabolism that actually matter. People with high metabolism would have difficulties to gain their weight while people with low metabolism would easily gain weight even when they take meals at the same amount as the skinny people. Dr. Yoni Freedhoff Assistant Professor at the University of Ottawa, “Skinny individuals almost invariably have slower resting metabolisms; there is literally less of them to burn while at rest.” As a result, larger individuals usually have a higher metabolism (that is they burn more calories at rest) than their thinner counterparts.Last but not least is by assuming person equals the roles. 

  When we see people in a particular role, we tend to assume that they are well-suited for it (and, by extension, not so well suited for other roles). For example, women are more likely to have responsibilities for rearing children, so on average they spend more time than men nurturing others. Seeing that, we come to believe that women are naturally nurturing, downplaying the extent to which they may simply be carrying out their responsibilities.

  Thus, there are actually many other reasons that make a person as a stereotype. The way we think which is by categorizing people into groups, the things we hear and by assuming person equals the roles. As we grow older, many more stereotype that we are going to face since this phenomenon is unavoidable.