Non-Fiction Reading Response: "Guess Who's Looking at Your Facebook Page?" Alessandra Potenza (Upfront)

          According to the Upfront article, "Guess Who's Looking at Your Facebook Page?" by Alessandra Potenza, college admissions officers and employers are using social media, like Facebook, for a background check on school and job applicants. Many people are losing their jobs and being turned down from big colleges because of their interactions on these online sites.

          Throughout the article, the author wants readers to understand the negative impact of social media on your economic and academic life. For example, Potenza begins with a huge sentence starter that gets you hooked right in to her piece, "she posted her Facebook status update on a Friday night in July. By Monday, she was fired.", here the author not only makes you want to read her story to figure out why she was fired, but also gives you a hint as to what her article is going to have to do with. Potenza then continues on to give more real world examples that social media can have that you don't want it to have. The topic makes me want to get rid of the social media that I use, like Instagram. The way she presents her reasons make you realize how enjoyable things can turn their backs on you. Here's another example from the text that convinces me into getting rid of my online profiles, "At Pitzer college in Claremont, California, an applicant was denied admission because of offensive comments he had posted on Facebook about one of his teachers.", by the end of the article, my mind was made up. I think that it's a fair way to give these types of background checks, it's simple, don't post negative things and don't be impulsive, think before you post.

          However, the author didn't show much bias in the article, in fact none was actually present. Although, there is a small box that explains some tips "to tweet or not to tweet". Potenza stated her facts and supported them with evidence in an objective tone, giving a full summary on her main idea. Something I admired in her article, were the small anecdotes she included throughout her whole plot. Each of them explained the different ways that social media can be used for background checks, all in real life situations. I cherished each of these anecdotes because of the way they were presented, and because they made me understand what I should and should not do on social media.

          Now that I have read this article, it has changed my thoughts on Instagram, Facebook and many more of these types of applications. I realize that everything students post from my school might just affect their future academic life. Tons of kids on social media like Instagram, are always cursing and posting weird stuff that are certainly questionable. I would also like to further investigate on these "background checks" and maybe get some results and tallies on young adults who have been rejected from school or work because of their interactions with social media. I predict that in the next few years the numbers will rise sharply.

 

Upfront Magazine, New York Times, "Guess Who's Looking at Your Facebook Page?", Alessandra Potenza

          

                                                                  Trip Reflection

          The trip my classmates and I took Friday was great, it was a nice opener to the year. We got to learn something new, activism. We visited the "Museum of the City of New York" and got a small tour of the activism section. During the tour, we got to look at visual presentations and listen to verbal interpretations. At the end we even got to create our own pins, depicting an idea of activism that we supported.
          Aside from being an exciting trip, it really helped me in learning a bit about activism and to get a first glimpse as to what it really is, since we're going to focus on activism/social issues in class. For example, I learned about some well known topics that produced many activists. Women's suffrage was one of them. The fight to uplift racial segregation was another topic. Surprisingly, creating more bike lanes and ensuring biking safety was also a big one, that's still currently taking place.
          We also learned some of the common tactics used in activism. Portraying things through political cartoons was and is a huge way to convince and persuade people, you don't only want to keep to the point and be serious about it, you also want to add some humor into the topic. The other main tactic is to get out and make your self noticeable in a non-violent way. In a place like New York City, there are tons of people you can persuade and get into supporting your side of an idea by getting noticeable. This is where using some humor really works, of course there will be people noticing you regularly if you dress in a certain way, but if you add some comedy into the mix, you are sure to have more of a crowd noticing you. Hopefully that crowd will also be able to understand the serious side to what your doing and get themselves involved in what you want them to support.
   
 Check this example out! 

          Bike Lanes by Casey Neistat - YouTube

Here's an example of a political cartoon used in activism
       


   
















       
          Attending the exhibit at the "Museum of the City of New York" made me understand what activism is and what you can do to be an activist yourself. I think that the trip is also going to support me when we write and read about activism further into the year. I just want to say thank you Ms. Galang and everyone else for making the trip possible.


Some other photos of activists/activism

                                                   "Huckleberry Finn: Reading Response"

          Throughout, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" written by Mark Twain, there were plenty of reasons that popped up in which could have contributed to why the book is banned. For example, things like language, violence and alcohol/alcoholics were some of those reasons. Some of these things got very intense at certain points and many people think that young children shouldn't be influenced by.

          The first and largest reason that the book is banned is language. In the book, many curses like nigger, bitch and more appear multiple times throughout the story. Huckleberry Finn uses the n word plenty, for it was normal to call African-Americans by it," ' You borry'd store tobacker and paid back nigger-head.' ". Another example is, "...and she doesn't bray like a jackass.". These types of sentences repeat many times and many parents don't want their children learning new kinds of curse words, especially dangerous ones, like nigger, they can start conflict. They can leave an impact on young readers, but children older than eleven or twelve should be able to read Huck Finn.

          The second reason is because of violence. In the book, Huck is abused and more violence is depicted as he is constantly on the move. Here is Huck's father directly from the text, threatening his own son, "...said he would rest a minute and then kill me. He put his knife under him, and said he would sleep and get strong..." another example of violence is when a drunk is shot in the street, because he didn't leave the town as he was ordered to, " 'O lord, don't shoot!' Bang! goes the first shot, and he staggers back, clawing at the air-bang! goes the second one, and he tumbles backwards onto the ground, heavy and solid, with his arms spread out." This isn't even the worst, fist-fights and dog fights take place in the book as well. These things also happen in real life, in the street and in certain areas, it can occur often. Sometimes, murders can even happen, though, less often. Since all these things take place presently, it shouldn't be introduced to a young mind in such a way. Yet another reason the book may be banned.

          The last reason, is alcohol/alcoholics. In the book, Huck's father is the main alcoholic, but as the plot progresses Huck encounters plenty more of them. Here's an example of other alcoholics that are encountered, "There was considerable whisky-drinking going on, an I seen three fights." not only is drinking present, but it also leads to fights. Here's an example of Huck's father, "He drank and drank...He groaned and moaned and thrashed around this way and that..." Huck's father keeps on this way through the whole book and completes many violent acts because of that alcohol. Plenty of people believe the topic of alcohol shouldn't even be discussed. However, many people - especially in New York City - are alcoholics like Huck's father. the sad thing is that it's hard to control it and it can lead to very negative things. So the book is aimed for older readers because of its dominance of alcohol.

          "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" shows plenty of points that lead to the banning of it, and children under the age of twelve shouldn't be able to read the book. On the other hand, it should be up to the reader to decide whether or not they want to be exposed to certain things and let themselves be influenced.