BB's episode 1

Episode One

Reaction: Being with my first time watching Breaking Bad and hearing so many things about this show; I felt that it was interesting to watch and enjoyed watching it. I picked up from Walter's character that he was bored with his lifestyle after finding out that he was going to die soon. I also assumed that the reason of why he decided to start making/selling drugs was because it was easy money and why not do it since he would be gone soon?

Gender Expectations: The personality traits that was expected from Walter was a "goody two shoe", he was seemed to be uptight and did things of the ordinary. Once he started changing his ways, his family and others didn't expect him to act this way. For example, when he cursed out his boss, his boss didn't expect this reaction. His family also didn't expect him to lash out those who were making fun of his son in the store. Also, the person that he decides to do "business" with, doesn't expect him to be serious about making drugs.

Masculine Traits: In the beginning, Walter doesn't show masculinity traits being how his personality was, because he didn't want to hold the gun at his surprise birthday party, and just had an awkward demeanor. However, his brother-in-law showed masculine traits because he cursed, drank beer, and the type of job he has.

Social Problems: The social problems that were revealed was RJ getting bullied and economic problems because Walter's wife told him not to use the second credit card to buy things.

Last post of crapalachia

I think the moral of the story is that the author wanted to show readers how growing up in a small town with a big family was like. It seemed like Scott had a traditional way of how his family did things, whom all lived in the same exact town and neighborhood. There was no change between the families and how they did thing, except for a couple of members that moved away. What was also "traditional" and ironic were that most of his family members committed suicide. I don't why death was a broad topic in his writing and why most of them chose their death date. In my opinion, I found the book interesting because of how his style of writing was and how his family were towards things out of the norm.

Type 3

The aspects I see in this writing so far is society and family. Nathan is treated differently than the rest of the family because of what he has. I think this is stereotypical because a family member that's disabled is treated differently than the rest of the family members. In general, society treats those who differently that is different. I feel like Ruby is treating him like this because he is has cerebral palsy. I also think Nathan dislikes the idea of this and wants to say something but fails to do so because of his condition. For example, he does try to explain the best of his ability that he is grown and doesn't need the extra treatment. "My god, she treats him like a child. He's an old man, but she'd still breast feed him if she could." (McClanahan, 20).

Themes in 'Mama'

There are a lot of themes that can be mentioned when reading Mama by Terry McMillan. The main theme that stands out is isolation vs individualism. The main character to experience individualism is Mildred. On the other hand, Money experiences isolation. 

The only thing Mildred ever knew was to become independent, and not to rely on anyone to help her. For example, when Mildred is asked to help contribute to Doll, her daughters' wedding, she agrees although she knew she didn't have the money to do so. Her pride also got her in the way of asking others for the money. "There wasn't a soul Mildred could borrow from, not even Big Jim,...and her daddy she couldn't ask him." (273). 

Money experiences isolation because he feels like everyone is after him and no one is on his side. When he gets released from jail, he tries his best to find a job but fails at doing so. This makes him even more depressed because he feels like a failure. "...I'm gon' go crazy. Keep on getting high when I get depressed, which is damn near always. I'm tired, can't you understand that? Sometimes a person just gets tired." (291).

Mama vs Freda

Throughout chapters 6-8, Mama and Freda goes through different obstacles that they face with each other. Freda continues to grow older, maturer, and resembles Mama more and more. Ironically, Mama and Freda appear to switch roles with each other. For example, Mama begins to act more promiscuously and Freda is the one that takes care of her siblings more. She often tells Mama what men she shouldn't be around, for example, when Mama explained to her kids that she was seeing someone that Freda didn't approve of, she made sure to call her out on it. "Please don't tell us you like him, Mama. He a ladies' man. What you got that ain't none of them got?" (86, McMillan). One of the biggest and heated dilemmas between Freda and Mama was when Freda found out that she was sleeping with a guy twice her age. "Get up! Get your ass up! Right now!...he's young enough to be my boyfriend." (118-119, McMillan). 

Is Mama starting to become a bad role model towards Freda and is she wrong for going after these certain men? 

Should Freda mind her business and stay in her place as her daughter? 

Class

Class by Alexie is about a Indian American guy, named Edgar Runner. In this short story, Edgar goes through a journey of trying to find himself and trying to figure out where he belongs. He marries a middle classed white woman and experiences the lifestyle of how she lives. Compared to other Indians, Edgar has "it" made. When trying to find himself, he runs across two other Indians that explains to him how much they'll pay to be in his shoes. Edgar finally realizes what he has taken for granted. "We have to worry about what to eat. What do you have to worry about? That you're lonely? That you have a mortgage? That your wife doesn't love you? F*** you" (Alexie, 186). 

Class relates to real life situations because most of the time, those who have it better than someone else doesn't even realize it. For instance, I bet some of you, at some point of your life had felt upset about something that was so minor and made it into something bigger than what it was. Such as, if your phone suddenly stops working, if you can't get something you want exactly right now, or if the line in McDonald's is too long. These small examples is how some people like Edgar take advantage of, and what lower class would've liked to have.

America's Secret

The article Class in America's Myths and Realities by Mantsios explains how America and society is. For example, most people that don't live in the U.S., probably think living here is much easier and less stressful because of the way our country portrays itself. In reality,the secret is that no matter how hard you work, you may never become as successful as how you want to be. Some people can work hard all their life, and still be categorized as low to middle class. The article explains that we try to avoid categorizing whose higher class than the other, whose making more than the other, and that everyone can be successful if they just work hard. Our society tries to "tell" others that it's easy to become wealthy if you just put in your best ability. However, what society doesn't tell you is that working just to be where you want to be in life is challenging.