Postman

Postman, in the last paragraph of chapter 11, makes the distinction between the Age of Exposition and the Age of Show Business. He explains that now, in the Age of Show Business, as a result of entertainment, we laugh at things we do not understand, and we laugh at things that have no context and teach us nothing. In the Age of Exposition, people were entertained in their learning, while today we are not, and it negatively effects our intelligence and literacy. The example in the last paragraph referring to our laughter relates perfectly to Postman's premise that he has argued throughout the book: our entertainment is free of logic, and our obsession with entertainment is antagonistically impacting the attention span and acuity of our society today.

Communication Breakdown

On Friday, I remember having a hard time answering questions in my math class when Ms. Reick would look at me to answer. Not only was I frustrated with myself because I could not communicate even the most obvious answer, but she became frustrated with me also. She became so flustered with the class that she could not take the silence anymore, and told us all that we could talk in her class. This incident reminds me of Postman's point in the second chapter of the book where he discusses oral discussion showing truth in African culture. Without oral communication, they would not know truth or communication. This is relatable in society today. Postman seems to fear that we are straying away from all forms of communication except for communication through technology, which would be detrimental to our society, and even answering simple questions in school would become incredibly difficult. Maybe he has a point, maybe the medium really is the message.

Postman's Point

In both his novel Amusing Ourselves to Death, and in his interview, Postman discusses how society becomes more reliant on electronics and technology as time goes on. In his book, he compares our society to the bustling city of Las Vegas, the entertainment capital of the world, which is consumed in technology. He argues that people are becoming "pets" to their electronics. Technological advancements such as facebook and texting entertain us, but at what cost? He goes on to talk about, in his speech and in his novel, how these new ways of conversing are hardly advancements, and actually have set human kind back, and that not all advancements are actually beneficial to society.
In his novel, Postman also writes about how society's morals have tanked as a result of technology. For example, we have become more obsessed with physical appearance as a result of technology. He argues that news anchors are more concerned with how they look and their make up than with the news that they report. Also, he discusses cloning. He states that we started with monkeys, sheeps, and frogs, but that humans are the next step. The thought that our society believes that cloning is the proper response if anything at all goes wrong with a person's body is morally pathetic.

Chavez Article

1. "Civility in public discourse is important". This opening shows that Chavez believes that being articulate and well mannered in public is important. She places high value on proper word choice and in politeness to avoid a public scene or tragedy.
2. The word "bellicose" used in this article describes an eagerness to fight, which fits this articles purpose perfectly. It serves as a perfect segway from the arguement that colorful vocabulary did not cause the Tuscon shootings to the arguement that we use words all the time with references to battle. For example, the word "campaign" is derived from a French word to describe military manuevers. She also argues that using words like "target", even in light of the shooting, should still be used because words like this did not cause the tragedy.
3. The point Chavez is trying to convey is that we should still use words that are not politically correct as long as they are used in polite and correct context. Her best arguement for this purpose comes about when she references the use of the word "niggardly" by former Washington mayor, which forced him into early retirement. This word sounds as though it is politically uncorrect and offensive, but used in the correct context, the word actually means miserly. It was incorrect to assume the offensiveness of the former mayor's statement, showing that people need to stop worrying about word choice as long as it is in the correct context.
4. I disagree with Chavez. Not all people are intelligent enough to know that some words that may sound insulting are not actually that demeaning.

Donate Your Body to Science

Semrau's point is best expressed when he writes: “Quite simply, use what you have until it can no longer function.” I believe that the intent of the essay was to pursuade readers into the idea of giving their bodies to science. His writing style was very effective. He opens up with the idea of recycling and going green, which is something that most people know about. This engages readers to his article, which will be important if he is to talk them into doing what he wants them to do. He also tells about his job, which makes him relatable and trustworthy in that people would approach him. His unique way of hiding details is effective in that it is different. This approach can best be described as a sales pitch in disguise. If it does not appear to be like the dreadful sales pitches Americans have grown to despise, it will not scare the reader away and will be more effective in persuading the reader. Instead of directly telling his audience what he wants them to do, he simply states the positives of donating your body to science. This makes the reader feel less pressured and more obligated to donate their body to science. Semrau persuades his readers by being more approachable and fun; he is relatable and creative in his writing.

Savior of the Nations, Come

The overall theme portrayed is that Christ our Lord is powerful, merciful, and relatable. Luther shows Christ's power in the line "captive leading death and hell". This imagery of holding death and hell captive, as if it were a dangerous enemy involuntarily submitting itself to Jesus, helps one better understand Christ's strength and authority over everything. Christ's merciful quality is expressed through Luther's use of pathos when he writes: "Though by all the world disowned, still to be in heaven enthroned". Writing about Christ's death for us, despite a majority of His beloved children rejecting Him, results in feelings of guilt. Readers feel guilty for denying His bountiful mercy all together. Finally, with diction, Luther shows Christ's relatability in the statement: "Not by human flesh and blood". He says that by God's works, not ours, Christ is human. He is human so that He may have something in common with us and relate to us, increasing probability that we would accept Him because we do not see Him as a distant and dissimilar God. Luther's words "flesh and blood" reveal how material humans are in contrast to God's divine power in creating a human-God hybrid that we can relate to and more easily approach with praise and trials.

Sermon

1. Rev. Borghardt mentions the Christ 22 times in the sermon, using the following verbs: makes, slain, took on, died, rose, reigns, does not push, came, smiles, and lives.

2. While the theme of Rev. Borghardt's sermon is that there is something better than Christians have ever experienced waiting for them when their life ends, Edwards' theme is that sinners will be punished for all eternity without relief. Borghardt talks about heaven for believers as an escape from fear and darkness, enticing nonbelievers to believe, while Edwards goes on about punishment and damnation for sinners and unbelievers in an attempt to scare people into believing in Christ. Both sermons share the same goal, to save nonbelievers from damnation, but both have a very different theme and approach to doing so.