Response to Three Texts on Teaching Writing to College Freshman
The three texts on the subject of teaching writing, especially at the beginning college level, are illuminating and encourage me to think about my writing, and learning to write better, differently. It is a little bit humbling to realize that so many people are concerned about whether a course that I took for granted is worthwhile and accomplishing what it needs to. It is also distressing to realize that those people are often not paid well or equipped with the facilities (for example, as Crowley notes, mailboxes, or offices) to do their jobs effectively.
Furthermore, it is a bit daunting to realize that this is not the last writing I will be doing in college but merely the first. I also am beginning to be a bit apprehensive at the thought that there will be not one but several ways of writing that I will be expected to master before exiting college.
Finally, I am hopeful that what I learn here will prepare me for what could be an entirely different form of writing in the working world. I do not know what the best solution to the problem of teaching writing efficiently and effectively is but I do know that these texts make me more appreciative of the effort that my writing instruction has involved thus far. I do think that students would be more excited about learning how to write if they understood from the start that it would be necessary for every field of endeavor for the rest of their lives.
Images of Women in the WWii War Effort
The photo titled “Women welders on the way to their job at the Todd Erie Basin dry dock” shows a racially diverse, well-uniformed, properly equipped, and cheerful group of women off to work for the war. This conveys the message of inclusiveness, safety consciousness, and good fellowship that women can expect if they join the war effort. It also reassures their families that they will be safe on the job. This would encourage more women to participate and reduce the objections of those who did not support the idea of women in any workplace.
This contrasts powerfully with the images of women in Good Housekeeping in the 1920s. IN that magazine, women’s role was circumscribed by the demands of the home and the needs of children and husband. The primary goals were to run an efficient household and raise healthy normal children while still attracting and fascinating one’s husband. While the unceasing demands of kids appear in at least one cartoon in the collection of war images, where a woman holds her baby while riveting a ship, for the most part, the war women are without men, without kids, and out of the home. Somehow, the frail stick figures of the 20s have grown muscles that are useful in the war effort.
Images of Anti-Japanese Racism in WWii
This cartoon depicts residents of the west coast of America who are of Japanese extraction as a fifth column or traitorous element. They are all ready to return to Japan and follow the Japanese government’s instructions. The palm tree to the left of the image and the fact that they are crossing the water from California suggests that they are heading to Hawaii or another island. They are being equipped to destroy the USA with TNT.
Although this is a distressing image today, it was not far off from the opinion of many, given the mass internment of Japanese-American citizens that was ordered. The notable features of the Japanese caricatured in this image are the round glasses, the neat suits, the buckteeth, and the neat small mustache, as well as the uniform smile. These stereotypical characteristics are often used today in negative images of Asians in the USA, so perhaps not as much has changed as might be wished.