Week 3: Paraphrasing

In “What is Privilege?”, Allan Johnson brings up the issue of people society giving certain groups an unearned advantage over others. He defines privilege as something people who belong to a certain race, gender, or sexual orientation benefits from, as opposed to those outside of it. According to Johnson, privilege does not dictate whether a person succeeds or fails at something they’re trying to pursue, but it does often impact it in some way. The complicati0n about this is how people may be very unaware of what is happening because of how it has become almost part of the norm. And focusing more on this subtle problem may offend those who are affected positively by privilege.

Niall Richardson’s “The Gospel According to Spider-man” compares the Christian ideology of feeling shame of one’s sin, putting guilt into action, then moving beyond these human feelings to what transpires in Spider-man’s life during the film. When he first came out as a superhero, Richardson says it was about atonement his contribution to his uncle’s death—much like humans’ urge to do good because of our sins. We are born broken sinners, and through our actions we make up for our flawed beings. However, the Word is supposed take over because it is stronger than our will to do what’s right to make up for our wrongs. Spider-man successfully defeats Green Goblin but not through his acquired powers alone but through “spiritual transcendence”. In the same way, people also surpass the conscience-stricken way of living when the Word is made more prominent, as a result affecting and empowering our limited physical capabilities.

Week 2: Example of Privilege?

One obvious example of privilege I can think of is the advantage of white men in politics. During the past presidential election, there was more attention generated by the Democratic Nominees Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton than the other nominees in both parties. It was the prospect of getting either the very first black or woman president that causes much of the media attention. Most of these nominees were white men, but their presence in the race and their ability to lead weren’t criticized or questioned as much. Nobody was surprised that they were being considered, because people have been accustomed to white men holding position in the US government.

When John F. Kennedy was elected President of the United States, people didn’t make a big of a deal that he’s white or that he’s a man. They concentrated on the fact that he was Catholic, worrying that his decisions may be too heavily influenced by the Pope or the Catholic Church. During that time, if it were a black woman who has Catholic beliefs that ran during the election, it probably would have been impossible for him to win. A white man has the privilege in the race because they just have always been seen that way in history.

Week 1

My name is Joan Santos, and I am a freshman at APU. As of now, I am still undecided as to what career I should pursue, but I am leaning towards Nursing, Applied Health, or any field related to science. Of all the classes I’ve taken since pre-school, Science and Math have always been the ones that I’ve enjoyed the most. I have grown up and have lived in the Philippines for 13 years, which is why the English language is not exactly my strongest subject. Even though English is the class I struggle the most, I do still enjoy it because of the wonderful books and ways of writing I learn from it.

I have a pretty wide range of interests, from interior designing to watching TV shows about crime-solving. Various forms of entertainment have fascinated me the most, however. I’m really fond of searching for new kinds of music, TV shows, movies, and books that I can obsess over. This is one big reason why I think I will appreciate this Freshman Writing Seminar class than those that deal with other topics. Not only will I get to spend time in class learning about superheroes, but I’ll also connect what I learn to issues in society. I love getting into a certain subject and learning about it in-depth. I expect the class to be very challenging for me, but I also think I will view a superhero movie with a different perspective afterwards.

After seeing Hulk vs Thor, I took note of how I really enjoyed the complex story of the fight. It started out from the evil Loki trying to destroy his brother Thor, but it ultimately became a fight to prevent ragnarok—the destruction of gods in a battle with evil. Some characters were really driven by what they want. Amora desires but cannot have Thor and so she turns against him. Hela wants a soul for the underworld, even taking his father’s to have one. In the end, I appreciated that one character was willing to sacrifice his desire for a “greater good” for the world. Bruce Banner left his comfortable life with Betty in order control the pure raging Hulk who’s wreaking havoc in Asgard. It turns out that with all the efforts of the mighty god Thor, it was an action by a simple but brave man that ultimately caused triumph.