Darn Research Paper

This week’s blog assignment is to vent about my research project, I was surprised by this assignment at first but my surprised rather turned to joy. I say joy because I needed someone to talk about this assignment; the whole Rlit theme has really put a damper on my optimism leading up to this assignment. The book is written well but I was not as thrilled with the book as others in my have appeared to be. This is probably the reason my research paper is not coming along as well as I thought it would be at this point. I figured I would have it almost done by now, but I have other classes that have required my attention over the past couple of weeks and I have not got a chance to put my full attention into this project. I hate to use excuse but it is what it is. I consider myself an average writer, so I already knew that this assignment would be challenging for me. I tried to put together a realistic period of how long it would take me to put this paper together but every time I sat down and tried to gather the info need to make that assessment other things came up that prohibited me from doing so. I had to do something to get me started or headed in the right direction so I went to my professor’s office to gain some clarification on this paper. I also wanted to speak with her about a so-called “communication glitch”, which failed to fully explain the direction we as students should be taken research topics that were assigned to this paper. The glitch turned out to be a minor glitch for me because I had not started my paper, thus saving me the frustration of rewriting my paper. My professor was very helpful, I asked her array of different questions and she answered them all without hesitation or confusion. I walked out of her office feeling very confident about my ability to complete this assignment and get a grade. This was promising but the bottom line was that I still had not started my paper to this point. I had gathered all types of information on the topic of women rights now, the challenge was incorporating that information along with those resources into my paper. That visit was earlier this week and since then I have been able to make some positive progress on the research paper. I was able to clarify what resources were proper for me to use and not use, which saved me a lot of time because I did not have to search through useless information on my research topic. I am not sure how much of it I will have done by Sunday but I am going to try my best to put maximum effort into developing a comprehensive research paper that portrays my thoughts and ideas properly. I plan to achieve this by missing my family’s field trip this weekend in order to put this paper together. I am down about not being able to go because I have not seen my family in Fresno in almost eight years, but I have to do what is necessary for me to be a successful student in this class.

Taboo Language is Aright with me

John McWhorter believes “Taboo Language simply reflects our social mores”, he makes this statement in his short essay “Lettings Words fly”. In this essay, McWhorter points the fact that a federal ruling that overturned a Federal Communication Commission policy geared towards language on live television had no affect on life itself. He goes on to give several examples of the use of “Taboo Language” in almost everything we encounter today, which he does not feel is the problem. The problem he feels is the way Taboo Language is viewed and how it is often criticized when it used in public or in the media. The essay was short but impactful and represented the author’s thoughts very well. From the essay came the questions of my opinion of the use of Taboo Language from the 1960’s up until today. Why I think Taboo Language should be used uncensored in media and the effect this type of language has on character and their ability to sound like reality. I do believe that the use of taboo language has grown since the 1960’s and that people are far more reluctant to shy away from the use of it especially when there are some many different outlets where literature can be published, and if not for the explosion in technologies Taboo Language might be still in minor use.
The use of Taboo Language is great when used in ways that do not offend or disrespect intentionally, if that is possible. I for one am glad that I am not subject to overbearing censorship of language, which at it foundation represent the reality I live in. McWhorter spoke of how Victorians of the past would suggest that certain words be renamed because their original name may refer to sexual body parts. Victorians or not that way of thinking is selfish and full of shit. Humans being should have the right to make their own decision when it comes to what type’s languages they want to hear or speak. For me, the only way to spread language is for it to be spoken it truest forms no matter how offensive it may be. Censoring Taboo Language in media would only allow distortion of reality. The way we view Taboo Language has changed because as humans, we seek knowledge and knowledge is not obtainable if it is constantly being covered, or hidden from us. Thus, more I do believe that Taboo language is a key skill in the repertoire of skills an actor should have in order to play an effective television character. It is not expected for an actor to draw a healthy crowd if the script or show he is performing does not represent a reality that an audience can relate to. I do not know about you but every day I hear some type of word or sentence structure that has language that could be labeled Taboo, but to me it is just another part of my reality. For me, it is the language itself, that is instilled in our culture and it speaks for us, and is not necessarily spoken by us.