The Social Animal By David Brooks

In our book groups we discussed two essays “The Connection Between Strangers” by Miles Goodwin and the essay “The People Who Love You When No One Else Would” by Cecile Gilmer. In my group we said that “no matter how big or small your act of kindness is, it could change someones life” was demonstrated in both essays. In the first essay, “The Connection Between Strangers”, shows this because this little girl walked up to this solider and congratulated him. Little did she know, that the small action had changed the soldier’s life, as he said in the essay, “That girl undoubtedly has no memory of what happened years ago… It doesn't matter why she gave me the magazine. The important thing is she did” (Goodwin 83).

Jay Macleod’s ethnography, Ain’t No Makin It, sheds light on the institute of education in America and how the country’s capital economy both mirrors and produces inequality by creating hierarchies that make social mobility obsolete. He does this through the use of two groups of predominantly Caucasian and predominantly African American youth who reside in the same low income neighborhood and attend the same school. He soon learned that in contrast to the Hallway Hangers, the predominantly white group who for the majority believed that there was no escape from their socioeconomic background, the Brothers, the predominantly African American group do aspire to hold middle class jobs in the future that provided stable incomes and commit to long term relationships with significant others. However, in his pursuit to conclude his research on the two groups MacLeod found that with the exception of one or two, members from neither of the groups were able to climb up the social ladder and bring about change to their status. Although the two groups did share a common upbringing, they differed in race, beliefs, ideas, and attitudes and therefore their failure to achieve success cannot be seen as mutual.

In chapter six of “The Social Animal”, David Brooks, through the story of Harold and his teacher, offers us something of a model regarding how we, as students, might effectively study/learn/attain expertise in a given field. Specifically, Brooks argues that students learn best when given time to master new information. As Harold works on this paper, his teacher sets up a guideline for him to follow to eventually achieve the final product, a paper. He first collects resources and reads them, he then rereads them while keeping a writing journal, and then lastly he integrates what he read with his life’s experiences. This process occurs over a large amount of time. As the author himself puts it when learning new material, “there should be a long period of gestation, as [the student] looks at the material in different ways and in different moods.

Animals by Simon Rich is an outstanding short story which takes a unique perspective on the everyday life in a classroom. The story is written from the point of view of a hamster who spends his tortured life entrapped in a cage. From the first point in this story, it is clear that the purpose of the writing is not to understand the hamster, but rather to analyze the different actions of the people, and to discover that how they act towards the hamsters reflects on their character. It is curious to view the everyday interactions of people through a different set of eyes, that is done by humanizing the narrator’s perspective. Based on the actions of the many people and the treatment of the class pet, the author suggests that human nature is very much a product of the financial circumstances a person is subjected to.

     Why do some groups not succeed in academic settings? One theory brought up in “Understanding inequality” suggests that the gap in the socioeconomic status drives the inequalities in the school system. The low and working class have less time and income to intervene with schooling. This means they have less time to meet with teachers, hire tutors, and provide continuous transportation. Therefore the lower class can’t possibly compete with the middle and upper classes. Angela Valenzuela gives the accounts of some Hispanic students’ experiences in school. These students feel that it is the inferior nature of the schools in the US that contribute to the low success

Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer, narrates the life of adventurer and free spirit Christopher McCandless, who died August 1992 in the Alaskan wilderness; however, his journey still remains relevant in today’s pop culture due to the unresolved controversy of whether he is a saintly role model or hubristic fool. Krakauer openly states that he “won’t claim to be an impartial biographer” (Author’s Note) due to the parallels he struck with McCandless, and provides a more idealistic approach to the biography. By having this biased point of view, Krakauer readily attracts many critics such as Craig Medred, who wrote the article The Beatification of Chris McCandless: From Thieving Poacher into Saint, which discredits Krakauer’s legitimacy and emphasizes McCandless’s narcissistic personality and naïve nature. He has also sparked many questions including why McCandless’s story is so significant, which writer Laura Moss tries to answer in Why Are We Still Talking about Chris McCandless?. While it is clear that McCandless’s story has affected every reader due to its many interpretations, two distinct sides form: the avid romantics and their counterpart, the pessimistic realists, which provokes the question of which argument is more valid.

Imagine you are having dinner with your family, at your favorite restaurant. You exchange stories about your day along with smiles and laughter. Now imagine suddenly being knocked out, and the next thing you know, you are taken away from your family, confined in a cage in captivity. You notice instruments near you and realize it's for experimentation. You cry out in protest, but they continue anyway. This is the life of many animals who are vulnerable and can’t defend themselves against neglect and abuse. Therefore it is our moral responsibility to protect animals. Animals should have certain rights to protect them from being treated inhumanely. Animals are similar to humans and shouldn’t be experimented on, held in captivity or have their natural habitats destroyed.

Everyone has at least one friend. This book is perfect in describing what that friendship is about. Also containing some amazing quotes of the do's and don'ts of a friendship. A book that would make a splendid gift but make sure to get a copy for yourself. My opinion is that you must buy the actual book. Purchasing an e-book gives you the ability to read the quotes, but you will lose out on the superb pictures and quality of the book. In the front of the book is a special area to write the name of the person receiving it plus who the book is from also there is even enough space for a little note. Nice touch. This is a book to be given. The quotes arise from people from all walks of life. There are many authors such as C.S. Lewis who wrote

Social inequality stems from many facets of life and mindsets reproduced continuously in America. The main backbone of systematic inequality is formed off of race, gender and class, which all contain crucial aspects that further oppress those subjected to inequality in various aspects of life. The resources-schools, occupations, invested parents- around one fuels the opportunity in their lives, a concept highlighted by Malcom Gladwell, in his book, Outliers. Situations one are brought up in or uncontrollable genetic aspects can very easily restrain their opportunities. Racial discrimination, gender roles and inferiority and the lack of fluidity in the low and working class push inequality, which simultaneously influencing the rich and privileged.

Throughout the course of history, many people have used the power of language to manipulate audiences to gather support for their personal agenda or gain. Donald Trump speech is an example of using the power of language to manipulate people. President Donald Trump told about two dozen chief executives of major U.S. companies that he plans to bring many millions of jobs back to the United States. When it comes to the topics of bringing jobs back people will readily agree. In the article “A Change Of Heart about Animals”, Jeremy Rifkin, author and president of the foundation of economic trends in Washington D.C, suggests in a seemingly, unbiased fashion, that animals “are more like us than we had ever imagined” (Rifkin). With the support

While all these possibilities from providing increased educational funding to inner city schools seem to provide a solution to the educational difficulties, the underclass is a multifaceted problem with several contributing factors. For example, the issue of students dropping out of school is not only affected by simply the quality of their education and resources. The appealing allure of drug dealing and belonging to a gang, both behaviors that involve criminal actions that could lead to incarceration, severely entice students from finishing their education. Furthermore, many children lack familial support to complete school. Their families tend to consist of numerous high school dropouts, and, therefore, lack the knowledge that comes from past experience leaving the student at a severe disadvantage. Plus, some family members will even remove the students out of school themselves, because they view the school as a waste of time. Even more detrimental to the underclass are the longstanding problems of unplanned pregnancies, single parent families, racial discrimination, and welfare dependency. With all these contributing obstacles that build upon one another in mind, it may seem pointless to fix the educational issues, so why should society and the government still pursue this option?

“An Animal’s Place” written by, Michael Pollan is an article on rather animals should have the same constitutional rights as humans. Pollan explains in the article that, “Zogby poll found that fifty-one percent of Americans believe that primates are entitled to the same rights as human children”. Pg. 362 meaning, people want to stand up for how animals are being treated in factories. More and more animals are treated like they are machines and not animals. Pollan goes on to explain how he went to a few of the animal factories in the United States, to see how they operate. We found he was displeasing. They cage thousands of hens and pigs to the point that they become depressed. They start producing less and some resort in eating cannibalizing.

The Vancouver Aquarium uses dolphins and belugas to provide entertainment and utilizes the profit gained, to aid them in research. In The Case for Animal Rights, Tom Regan’s moral principles state that there should be total abolition of the use of animals in science as well as for entertainment purposes (337). Moreover, he claims that humans and animals have equal values and rights. Based on this principle, I argue that the practices of the Vancouver Aquarium of using belugas and dolphins for scientific and entertainment purposes is immoral and thus unjustified.

Humans have always had a complicated relationship with non-human animals. This relationship has always benefitted the needs of humans, with little consideration for animals’ needs. Some animals are tortured for entertainment, some are butchered for food and others are taken from their habitat and family, and forced to be pets for humans. These are all examples of the ways humans have exploited animals for their own satisfaction. Hal Herzog’s essay “Animals Like Us” describes the complicated relationship that humans and animals have, and how difficult it is to determine what is ethical when dealing with animals. Jonathan Safran Foer makes a similar observation in his essay “The Fruits of Family Trees” of the ethical issues in the

The Fifth Elephant is a fiction novel written by British author Terry Pratchett. Copyrighted in the year 2000, it contains three hundred and eighty nine pages. The story chiefly follows the plight of one Captain Vimes of the Ankh Morpork City Watch in a distant land called Uberwald. After the unfortunate disappearance of the previous ambassador to Uberwald, and with a Royal Succession to happen soon, a new ambassador is found in Samuel Vimes, who, apart from being the Captain of the City Watch, happens to be the Duke of Ankh Morpork. It is soon discovered by Captain Vimes that a priceless artifact used in the coronation of the new king, is missing. An artifact so important that its disappearance will start