Are You Lovin' It?

We are about to begin reading Fast Food Nation.
Over the last several decades, fast food companies have aggressively targeted children in their marketing efforts. Is it possible that fast food companies—like tobacco companies—are recruiting increasingly younger consumers in order to insure a steady customer base as their older constituents die from heart disease, diabetes, and other obesity-related disorders? Should advertisers be permitted to target children who lack the sophistication to make informed decisions and are essentially being lured into eating high fat, high calorie food through toys and cute corporate mascots?

Vote...OR ELSE!

You were off from school for Election Day on November 5th. However, only 67 percent of American registered voters typically vote in elections.
In Australia, voter turnout is 95 percent of registered voters. The reason is simple: It's the law. Those who fail to vote risk a heavy fine and, in rare cases, imprisonment.


Read the information at: http://www.idea.int/vt/compulsory_voting.cfm


Then respond...Should the U.S. make voting compulsory?

Sample Journal for Banned Book Assignment

Chapter/Paragraph(s)/ Page(s)	Text	Reason for Banning due to Text
Chapter 2, Paragraph 9, Page 18	“…Doreen’s breasts had popped out of her dress and were swinging out slightly like full brown melons…”	The character, Esther, is describing her roommate as she is having sex with a boy.
Chapter 6, Paragraphs 2-9, Page 76	“‘Esther have you ever seen a man?’…he unzipped his chino pants…the only thing I could think of was turkey neck and turkey gizzards and I felt very depressed.”	An experience Esther had with a man though she was not married with him.
Chapter 7, Paragraph 3, Page 87	“I felt so fine by the time we came to the yogurt and strawberry jam I decided I would let Constantin seduce me.”	Esther is planning on having another sexual interaction with a boy she barely knows
Chapter 9, Paragraph 6-7, Page 121	“Marco set his teeth to the strap at my shoulder…Slut!”	Foul language is used and Esther is about to almost be raped.
Chapter 10, Paragraphs 5-7, Page 130	“…but nobody but Dodo was on the verge of a seventh. Even six was considered excessive… Dodo was a Catholic. I watched Dodo wheel the youngest Conway up and down. She seemed to be doing it for my benefit. Children made me sick.”	Esther states that she doesn’t like Dodo because she is a Catholic, a religious remark and an anti-feminist one because she stated she didn’t like children.
Chapter 13, Paragraphs 4 & 5, Page 189	“…I unscrewed the bottle of pills and started taking them swiftly, between gulps of water; one by one by one. At first nothing happened, but as I approached the bottom of the bottle, red and blue lights began to flash before my eyes. The bottle slid from my fingers and I lay down.”	Esther begins to have fulfilled her suicidal thoughts after being very depressed.
Chapter 14, Paragraph 5-7, Page 195	“I smiled. The mouth in the mirror cracked into a grin. A minute after the crash another nurse ran in. She took one look at the broken mirror, and at me, standing over the blind, white pieces…”	Esther acted violently once more by breaking a mirror after seeing her reflection, she is suicidal.
Chapter 18, Paragraphs 5-7, Page 245	“Whenever I thought about…and women and women, I could never imagine what they would actually be doing….I wondered if all women with other women was lie and hug….Why did I attract these weird old women?”	The main character, Esther, seems to be questioning her sexuality.
Chapter 19, Paragraphs 3-5, Page 255	“…my virginity weighed like a milestone around my neck…’You know Irwin I think I ought to tell you, I’m a virgin.’ Irwin laughed and flung me down on the bed.”	Esther looses her virginity after all her sexual experiences in the book, but she is not married.
Chapter 19, Paragraphs 3-7, Page 263	“’I thought you should know…Joan has been found’…’Dead’…’I’m afraid she’s hanged herself.’”	Doctor Quinn is describing how Esther’s friend has killed herself, suicide persists in the novel.
Chapter 20, Paragraph 9 & 10, Pages 9 & 10	“Something old, something new…But I wasn’t getting married.”	Anti-feminism is restated, Esther again is out of her bell jar.

Banned Book Assignment

Due: Thursday, November 7th

• Part 1: Read a book from the Banned Book List (or another approved Banned or Challenged Book)
• Part 2: Complete a minimum of 10 reader response journals. As you read, note what scenes and comments could cause the book to be banned. Take notes using a Dialectical Journal (see page 42 in The Language of Composition).
• Part 3: Research why the book was banned, including if the book was banned for certain age groups. Make sure you read sources that support the banning of the book as well as those that support the book.
• Part 4: Write a 2-3 page paper with your local school board as your audience. Using the scenes you've identified, argue if you believe the literary work should be banned or not. Your thesis should address your perspective of the age appropriateness of the work. Your paper should also address why the groups who have challenged the book are wrong or are right.