Ashley


 * 1/23 - Find Two Opposing Viewpoints**

Pornography Addiction and Violence

Weiss, Daniel. "Pornography Addiction Can Lead to Violence Against Women." //Addiction//. Ed. Louise I. Gerdes. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2009. Opposing Viewpoints. //Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context//. Web. 17 Apr. 2011

Weiss argues that pornography is an extremely addictive substance; akin to drugs like heroin. He states that porn addiction can lead people to violently act out their sexual fantasies on other people once the porn is no longer satisfying. Also, when exposed to porn at an early age, children can be confused and therefore more likely to be violent toward other children in a sexual way or to grow up to be violent or even murderous. Rapists, serial killers, and even Ted Bundy all share a common enjoyment of hardcore porn. Bundy stated that even though he was ultimately responsible for his murders, porn led him to consider murder in the first place.

Linz, Daniel. "Pornography Is Not Addictive and Does Not Lead to Violence Against Women." //Addiction//. Ed. Louise I. Gerdes. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2009. Opposing Viewpoints. //Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context//. Web. 17 Apr. 2011

Linz opposes Weiss by stating that sexual and pornographic addictions cannot be proven true any more than they can be proven false. He says that a pornography “addiction” is stemmed solely by repeated exposure to pornographic material and can be reversed just as easily as it was caused. He also states that by following the logic that is required to classify pornography as addictive, activities such as a weekly game of football or playing a video game must also be considered addictions. Any violence committed by people who regularly view pornographic material are not caused by that material, but by the psychological tendencies of those individual people and the only way that it could influence violence is if the pornography is violent in nature.

I'll be writing in the APA format because I want to go into the Psychology field.
 * 1/28 - Research Topics and writing style**

15-25 topics:

Societal Norms and the reasons behind them:
 * Clothes
 * 1) appropriate clothes
 * 2) fancy clothes
 * 3) work clothes
 * 4) fashions/trends
 * Sex
 * 1) why sex is so important
 * 2) the relationship between sex & love
 * 3) the porn industry in culture and economy
 * 4) sex in humans vs other animals
 * Laws
 * 1) why laws are created
 * 2) societies without laws
 * 3) why we follow laws
 * 4) the "big brother" illusion
 * Development
 * 1) brain development in children
 * 2) tools that help/hinder brain development
 * 3) genetic predispositions to intelligence/unintelligence
 * 4) nature vs. nurture

2/4 - **Response to "Representing Ophelia..."**

Showalter, Elaine. "Representing Ophelia: Women, Madness, and the Responsibilities of Feminist Criticism." //EXPLORING Shakespeare//. Detroit: Gale, 2003. //Gale Student Resources In Context// . Web. 4 Feb. 2011.

Showalter examines all of the possible symbolic meanings of Ophelia in Shakespeare's //Hamlet//. After reading her argument, it is difficult to argue that Ophelia //isn't// symbolic. While Hamlet's madness is "metaphysical, linked with culture," Ophelia's is a direct byproduct of her feminism. Everything from the clothes she wears, the flowers she holds, and the way she dies show her feminism. Ophelia's madness even has a name in 16th century Elizabethian culture: erotomania. After explaining this, Showalter goes into an even further examination of Ophelia by analyzing how different actresses have portrayed her. She argues that while Ophelia might be mad, read madwomen were "'too theatrical'" for Ophelia, and although she //was// mad, she was also smart and used her madness to her advantage just as Hamlet did.


 * 2/11 - Interview a College Student**

I interviewed my mom, who is currently going back to college, about research.

1. How many research papers have you written in your year and a half of college? A: none 2. If you had to write a research paper, does your school provide resources for you to use to write it? A: nope 3. Do you remember the research skills you learned in high school? A: a little, but i don't think i could remember them well enough to be useful 4. How many times since graduation have you used those skills? A: never 5. Would you ever have to write a research paper at your college? A: no, i never would.

Based on this interview, i came to the conclusion that research skills aren't really THAT necessary in college, because you will never actually use them.

Nassaar, C. (2002). Wilde's the importance of being earnest. //Explicator//, //60//(2), 78.
 * 2/17 - Response to Nassaar's Wilde's THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST**

 As part of a whole commentary on all of Wilde’s work, this critique by Nassaar would probably have more importance than as a single response to //The Importance of Being Earnest//. In this response, Nassaar spends more time summarizing the common themes among //all// of Wilde’s work than closely examining //Earnest//. He discusses the themes of child abuse in “The Young King” and “The Happy Prince,” determinism in “Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime” and //The Picture of Dorian Gray//, and even Christianity in //Salome//. Eventually Nassaar brings the themes together in //Earnest// by stating that, “Wilde takes themes and incidents from his earlier works and reduces them to absurdity ” (Nassaar, 2002) but this doesn’t happen until the final paragraph in the essay. While it is apparent that Nassaar is well-informed on Wilde and many of his plays, and he gives some insight into Wilde’s motives for writing //Earnest//, as a single standing criticism of the title play, Nassaar’s essay falls short.

CON: Lord, Mary. "The honors advantage." //U.S. News & World Report// 11 Sept. 2000: 101. //Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context//. Web. 18 Apr. 2011. AND Mathews, J. (2004, December 9). In ap-vs-ib debate, a win for the students. //The Washington Post//, pp. VA20. The first short response to an article is one of the few articles available that actually question the international baccalaureate program. It brings about the point that IB seems to have endless amounts of praise and support over AP, even though AP is less expensive and already placed in the US. AP yields results almost identical to that of IB, yet the common belief is that an expensive, imported IB program is necessary. The second, a commentary on the productivity and usefulness of AP and IB, states that although AP and IB both yield higher test scores and more student happiness, students complain that it is more difficult to earn college credit for IB classes. Although some credit may be given for the entire test, when looking at the classes individually most schools will accept AP tests, but not their IB counterparts. PRO: Lewin, Tamar. "World Focus Is Gaining Favor in High Schools." //New York Times// 3 July 2010: A1(L). //Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context//. Web. 18 Apr. 2011. This article states that although IB is offered at less schools nationwide than AP, it is quickly growing in popularity. IB’s two year program is more challenging and contains more of an international viewpoint than AP, and students get a more well-rounded education from IB. IB is starting to be offered at schools with lower test scores as a means to improve, and so far it’s been working. If IB is becoming the international standard, then in order to keep its title as a center for world-class education, the US must align.
 * 3/4 - IB Pro's and Con's**


 * 4/20 - Annotated Bibliography**

--Intro --Section 1 - Porn in History --Section 2 - Porn in Culture --Section 3 - Porn in Economics --Section 4 - Issues and controversies --Conclusion
 * 4/25 & 4/26 - Thesis and Outline**
 * Hook - Percentage of how many people in America and the world look at porn
 * Summarize all main sections of paper
 * Thesis - The ever-evolving and boundary-testing nature of pornography has kept it at the edges of human culture for as long as we can remember, even if we prefered to ignore it. Pornography expresses human nature at its core and even contributes to the economic stability of nations, although many controversies have threatened to ban or destroy the porn industy, and it will always prevail and will always be seen wherever there are humans.
 * Ancient porn
 * cavemen
 * aztecs
 * egyptians
 * chinese
 * Porn in religion
 * Bible (Christianity)
 * Hindu
 * Buddhism
 * Documented (modern) porn
 * pictures
 * film
 * strip clubs
 * internet
 * nature of porn
 * evolution of porn & technology
 * cameras
 * video
 * internet
 * testing boundaries
 * banning and denial
 * acceptance
 * America's paradox
 * sexuality vs. fear of nudity
 * porn wars
 * Revenue of porn
 * problems brought by "free porn"
 * recession proof?
 * increases and decreases in popularity
 * porn and movies
 * porn stars vs movie stars
 * movie ratings
 * appropriateness for different ages
 * legalization of different types of porn
 * fetish porn
 * animals
 * objects
 * violence
 * child porn
 * Where to show porn
 * morality
 * Summarize 4 sections
 * Why is this info important?
 * give them something to think about