A Risk Free Life

In the story A risk Free life by Leonard Pitts, he describes a case of a woman who’s family is diseased with Alzheimer’s disease and she wants to have a baby. The problem is the baby has a possibility of getting the disease too. So the woman got her baby’s genes screened before she was born for the disease so her baby would not get it. The author then debates that even though he might have taken the same action in the woman’s place, he would still think it is wrong for moral reasons. He thinks that babies should not be like a fast food restaurant and you should not be able to pick him like a meal with whatever you want. Overall the author seems like he has mixed feelings and contradicts himself on the subject.

            The way that I look at this situation is that I agree and disagree with some of the things the author wrote in his story. First of all I agree with him saying that you should not be able to choose every characteristic we want in our children. It simply is foolish and we as a society should recognize that it is morally wrong. The baby should be special to you because it is your blood and your partner’s blood and it should have the qualities of both pairs. Not try to make the baby look completely different to what nature planned for him or her.

            But at the same time I do feel like if we can avoid something such as a disease before the baby is born, we should screen the genes and try to change what is wrong. Personally I would do it. Even though yes, we may face others problems in life like other diseases besides the one we cured at birth, at least we are not guaranteed to be born with the one we have eliminated.

            Changing our baby’s genes at birth may be wrong and go against many things like religion, government, or the way of life for some people. But even acknowledging all this under few circumstances I do approve in the screening of genes and fixing what is wrong if we could.

           

GOOD GRAMMER GETS THE GIRL

In Good Grammar Gets the Girl by Elissa Englund, it talks about how guys should be more aware of the way they spell when they try to talk to a girl online. She had a personal experience on a dating site; of a guy Craig who tried to talk to her, but spelled miserably. She deleted him right away because she felt like that was not attractive at all. Englund goes on giving examples to help someone improve their writing. Concluding that a man should take spelling precautions like combing your hair, and brushing your teeth before dating. “The extra effort shows, and the ladies will notice.”

I agree and at the same time disagree to what Englund said throughout her story, based on different situations. I disagree because I think that what Englund says does not apply to all the men. Now in days even the women are writing in ways which does not spell a word correctly. For example:  “you” is now spelled just with an actual “u” when texting many times. It’s not about spelling the word correctly but actually just getting you point across; even if you have to take shortcuts. But at the same time I agree with her because maybe more grown couples, from ages twenty-six and older, may actually take spelling into consideration. Possibly ignoring you totally if you write a message full of errors.

Overall I think either way you do get judged depending to what age group you are talking to. If you are a younger person talking to your friend through text then I may assume it is okay to use letters such as “U” and “R” to replace you and are. But if you’re online looking for your soul mate on a dating site I do suggest you make sure everything is correct. It is just a fact, people judge us for our writing; especially in dating sites, where the first thing that you can actually judge a person on is his or her writing

Only Daughter by Sandra Cisneros

In The story Only Daughter by Sandra Cisneros, she writes about her personal life as she grew up in a hard working Mexican family. She expressed her feelings in the situation about her father; and how she always felt like her father was not proud of her. Every time he would talk about his family, he would mention that he had seven sons; when in reality he had six sons and one daughter. Cisneros had gone to college to become an English writer, but her dad was expecting her to go to college for a different reason, to find her soul mate to marry. At the end of her story she explains how her father finally took interest in a story that she had written, and for the first time in her life she had made him proud.

Reading this story made me feel very sad for Cisneros. She worked very hard in college to be where she was at, and her father never really had taken interest in her career. She wanted to go to college to make him proud, but all he cared about was that she needed to find a husband. It was like that was all she was born to be in her father’s eyes, just a “Wife”; that only his sons could actually be someone important in life.

            I think that wanting to make her father proud also helped Cisneros be where she is today. She wanted to become someone important and successful, not just a wife. Growing up in her six brother’s shadows made her want to stand out and push herself harder than all of them. This disadvantage was very sad for her growing up life experience, but at the same time I feel like it brought the best out of her.

            At the end of the Cisneros’s story I felt very happy for her. It was like she had gotten her reward for all her years of hard work. She had finally made her father proud like she had really wanted for the first time.

            Overall I think her hard work should have been enough to make her father extremely proud. Even before when she was in college she deserved her father’s support in her decision to become an English writer. Not the support to go to college to find her a husband. I personally felt her father’s thoughts were extremely ridiculous; and she is a very strong minded woman that should serve as a role model for many girls who grow up in her same situation.

           

A Brother's Murder

In A Brother’s  Murder by Brent Staples the story talks about the struggle of life in the ghetto, and how it affected his and his brother. His brother Blake died living under terrible circumstances. Staples explained the gruesome events that occurred and he witnessed as a young boy. But staples successfully fled from the bad situation he lived in, just right after graduating his college career, and becoming successful journalist.  His brother stayed ,and staples tried many times to save his brother by explaining that death surrounded him and he could be murdered at any time, telling him he needed to get out. Blake never took staple’s advice, eventually it was too late and Blake got shot to death.

I felt like Brent Staples could have tried way harder to get his brother Blake out of the dangerous streets he lived in. Blake was addicted to the life-style, but like any addiction, it can be stopped with support and help that his love ones needed to dedicate. It seems to me like Staples tried to tell his brother to get out, but never gave him any other kind of support besides words. He could have helped Blake with school, or even with just helping him have home where he did not have to worry about death or any other dangerous consequences.

At the end of the story Staples talks about these dreams that he has been having. How for weeks he awoke crying from a “Recurrent Dream” in which he chases Blake. Staples in the dream is trying to reach him so that he can read a document he has. A document he felt would protect Blake from any harm.  In the story it does not explain what the document says, but by the looks of it probably was something that Staples wanted to say to Blake. Something that Staples wanted let Blake know, but never got the chance to ever say. Perhaps even something that would have changed the outcome of Blake’s life.

Blake’s death could have been prevented, He just needed help. He could not possibly have gotten out from the hell he lived in by himself. He needed someone to be there for him, someone that cared enough to give it their all to save his life. Unfortunately that someone never really came around. Even now in 2011 many people are living the same horror Blake lived before. These unfortunate people just need a sign of hope, something that motivates them to change their lifestyle and take control of their lives.