Author: NoahS
Government Corruption
Blacks, Hispanics, or any other minority group is heavily impacted by government/political corruption. May it be police brutality, or even the disadvantage when it comes to work or school. There is a huge problem with corruption that occurs in the U.S. and heavily impacts not only minority groups, but as well as those who are seen to stand or believe that they are on top which would be white people. There is almost a night and day difference in the way the two groups are treated and this is a problem that needs to continuously be addressed in order for something to be done about it. There are many ways in which minority groups are negatively affected due to corruption which also benefits those who contribute to it. These groups have always been treated unfairly especially when it also comes to equal rights which is what the U.S. is built upon. I chose to write to minorities due to me being able to relate to them, and the government because I believe that they have to acknowledge the fact that they are hurting their people, and need to know that is must stop and it will. This topic was chosen because I feel government corruption is not spoken about too much and there is so much complexity to it which makes it hard to write in a way, but overall it is something very serious and is being used to abuse minorities.
Dear Minority Groups,
I hope to help to inform you more on how you are oppressed and how much bigger the government plays a role in that in which many may not know. According to the article “American Racial and Ethnic Politics in the 21st Century: A Cautious Look Ahead” by Hochschild, the article speaks about how blacks have lost their trust in the government due to the actions that they take. One example would be how government investigates black elected officials in order to make them lose their credibility therefore losing votes or the possibility to get a job and bring change that will truly bring equality. The article goes on further to speak about how the government purposefully make drugs easily accessible in black neighborhoods in order to ‘control’ them. Drugs are already a huge problem, but seeing as it’s actually being supplied by the government in order to keep black people from having the credibility or to be seen as equal is inhumane. My goal is to inform you guys of how the government is attempting to isolate you by making it more difficult, so I ask that you fight against it and not be tempted by drugs and such, and instead follow a different path that could lead to change and power
Minority groups also face the challenge of democracy. Even though everyone is able to vote there are still those in the government that are trying to suppress minority groups and prevent them from having the power or ability to vote. In the article “Systematic Inequalities and American Democracy” by Solomon, it speaks about the past and how people of color were unable to vote until much later on. When voting rights were available to all citizens there was no huge change until 2012 where there were more votes from those of color than whites. This caused the Supreme Court in 2013 to greenlight the suppression of voters of color. From that time to the present many minorities have had more racial discrimination when it came to them voting or using their voice to participate in politics. This is what the corrupt U.S. government wants. They want those with color to lose their voice/power in order to keep all the power to themselves and those who back them. I ask that you the people use your ability to vote and try not to let this stop you and know that no matter what you do have the same rights as that of a rich white person. Together you can stand on top and use your rights to fight and allow your voices to be heard.
Police brutality is a huge topic and issue that can be spoken about for a very long time. Police have become more and more corrupt over the years and have gone as far as killing innocent black people and even abusing their power and beating/harassing minorities. Moore the author of “Police Brutality in the United States” speaks about how here are so many people who have been victims of police brutality, but are unable to tell their story due to the lack of political influence or the lack of financial stability. In recent years there have been more protests which was sparked by the death of Michael Brown in 2014. This lead to protests against the police and the officer who killed this innocent young man in cold blood. Unfortunately, these protests have yet to have been held by more established groups which would help in the sense of demonstrating that the people have a voice and corrupt police officers have to be delt with in order to maintain a safe environment for the people. Police brutality also dates back to the 1900’s and have caused many race riots. Instead of the police force helping to ensure the safety of people they are basically encouraging violence and giving a bad example of how to deal with things. The police also have a lot to deal with drugs and getting minorities behind bars. They are known to set up people and even go as far as to plant evidence in order to convict someone, and they are not able to fight back due to lack of knowledge and their position as a minority. Overall, I am writing this in the hopes of minorities being able to gain a bit of knowledge on the truth of what is happening and pick something up may it be how to fight back, or even making it so you become interesting to the point that you do your own research to further gain knowledge on what to do and become a voice who fights back and helps others.
Dear Government,
Your corruption will not stop the people you are trying to suppress from fighting back. Throughout all of history there is always someone or even a group that fights back and stands for the people and eventually wins, so my goal of this message is to stop trying to suppress us and just accept that more change will come and there is nothing that can be done about that. In Transparency Internationals article “Corruption in the USA: The Difference a Year Makes”, the article speaks about key issues being how wealthy/rich individuals and companies pay those who who in the government in order to have an advantage over others. These individuals and companies pay these people in order to abuse their power over minorities and people who live in certain areas in order for those people or companies to gain more money or simply for the pleasure of it. According to the article throughout the Trump’s presidency it is said that this corruption has gotten much worse than it was before. There is also a chart which shows the percentages of which people/departments are the most corrupt to least corrupt. Also note that pretty much everyone in the government is corrupt to an extent. The only action the people are able to take is voting, but even then there are restrictions of voting on minorities and the suppression of their voices. The corruption of government officials is further spoken about in the article “USA Corruption Report” by GAN Integrity. The article is really good in going into detail about the different types of corruption and gives examples/events in when the corruption has taken place and etc. Thus, my point in this message was to inform the pain and suffering corruption has caused to minorities and seeing the actions and how far you have gone to suppress these people is disgusting and actually shows that you are in fact scared of what positive change minorities are capable of bringing. I also wanted to inform that there are those who have the knowledge and know what is truly going on, so prepare for there to be change.
References
Hochschild, Jennifer L. “American Racial and Ethnic Politics in the 21st Century: A Cautious Look Ahead.” Brookings, Brookings, 28 July 2016, https://www.brookings.edu/articles/american-racial-and-ethnic-politics-in-the-21st-century-a-cautious-look-ahead/.
Solomon, Danyelle, et al. “Systematic Inequality and American Democracy.” Center for American Progress, https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2019/08/07/473003/systematic-inequality-american-democracy/.
Moore, Leonard. “Police Brutality after World War II.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 27 July 2016, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Police-Brutality-in-the-United-States-2064580/Police-brutality-after-World-War-II.
e.V., Transparency International. “Corruption in the USA: The Difference a Year Makes.” Www.transparency.org, https://www.transparency.org/news/feature/corruption_in_the_usa_the_difference_a_year_makes.
“USA Corruption Report.” GAN Integrity, https://www.ganintegrity.com/portal/country-profiles/usa/.
Reflection
After gathering the sources for my bibliography I found that they all contained several similarities to each other while also being different. A similarity would be how seeing as my topic was based on greek mythology, it was seen that there was always ethos being used along with some logos. They were also trying to inform us that greek mythology was not entirely myth, seeing as how it was a religion the greeks believed in and celebrated, and indicating the authors tone was informative. The sources also share the fact that they use greek mythology stories whether is was how it impacted the greeks and others, or what that story was about. One last similarity between all the sources would be how the authors state that the word ‘myth’ was something that should not be used since it was a religion that was celebrated and some events were seem to have been not entirely false. I’ve somewhat learned more about this topic one thing being the origin of greek mythology. I also learned that the authors sources I used wanted to inform their audience of greek mythology and open their eyes up on what it achieved and how it impacted/inspired many ideas. I would still like to learn how relevant it is today as a religion, what is greek mythology compared to other mythologies (did it inspire other mythologies, how did others who believed in those mythologies view the greeks, etc). Throughout writing this assignment I have learned a lot more about myself as a writer. Since this is the first time I’ve done an annotated bibliography I feel that I was able to carry over my experience from writing different types of papers and such over to this topic which helped me out. Although it was not entirely difficult I found that I kept running into blocks meaning what else should I say or write, especially when it sounds repetitive to me. Whenever I write and begin to sound repetitive I find myself wanting to stop or pausing in order to recollect myself and figure out what else I can say to sound unique and keep writing. That was one problem I had when writing the annotated bibliography. My strengths as a writer would be laying out what I will write beforehand. Before I write a paper I think about what I am going to write, how will I write it, and so on so forth. I always map out what I will do from beginning to end, and I find that to be my biggest strength when it comes to writing. Continuing to grow as I writer I would like to improve on creativeness and further developing what makes my writing stand out more than others. In order to make those changes come true would be to write more, read more, and just see what I can take and make into my own so I can see maybe what my style of writing is more likely to turn out to be. Overall, the annotated bibliography was fun to write, and this reflection has opened my eyes up to what I have learned, could have done different, as well as helping me to grow as a writer and what improvements I can make to make it possible to grow.
Annotated Bibliography: Myth
Noah Smith
Prof Jewell
English 1101
Annotated Bibliography
Wilford, John Noble. “Greek Myths: Not Necessarily Mythical.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 4 July 2000, https://www.nytimes.com/2000/07/04/science/greek-myths-not-necessarily-mythical.html.
This article discusses how mythology may not have been all ‘myth’. Noble uses research done by Adrienne Mayor in order to create this article. Noble speaks about how Mayor found that places used in stories of greek myth seem to be fossil sites. These fossil sites are most likely the reason as to why these myths came along and were made into stories. The greeks could have been inspired by these findings or the creatures/people themselves causing them to make up such stories which seem to have evidence of having existed just not in the way that they portray it. It was also found that the story of Heracles (known hero) who saved Hesione (trojan princess) where he slayed a monster resembles a fossil that seemed to have belonged to a giraffe which is now extinct. More fossils had also been found belonging to other large mammals and such which was further connected to other stories that were made in greek mythology. The author in this text uses the fact that the sites that were spoken about in greek mythology seemed to have fossils that were heavily connected to the stories that were spoken about. Since there are facts to back up these myths it doesn’t deny the fact that the greeks were not too far off seeing as they were able to use these animals in stories without any real knowledge on paleontology. Thus, the author is speaking in a formal tone using logos by stating facts that are connected to greek mythology stories, such as the case with Heracles saving Hesione from the extinct giraffe.
Padilla, Mark W. The Myths of Herakles in Ancient Greece: Survey and Profile. University Press of America, 1998.
Padilla speaks about the twelve labors that Hercules, who is also known as Heracles carried out. Padilla tells us how Hercules was a popular figure due to him being seen in all sorts of artwork. In this book Padilla continues to speak of the myths that Hercules is represented in and what he is known for. Hercules was a symbol to many people in greece and many were inspired by the stories told about such a person. Padilla goes on to use multiple sources that explain the origin of Hercules. Padilla says how these stories use appeal to the beliefs of the greeks due to the ‘mythology’ that they had believed in. Some greeks saw this as a true religion which is what makes it have such an impact on how they learned and passed down these stories. Also by stating how Hercules was seen in all sorts of artwork and using him as a symbol put on shield and weapons greatly impacted how all of this was perceived.
Cartwright, Mark. “Greek Mythology.” Ancient History Encyclopedia, Ancient History Encyclopedia, 29 Oct. 2019, https://www.ancient.eu/Greek_Mythology/.
Cartwright states that ‘myths’ is a bad term due to the negative thought around it being fake. Cartwright speaks about how greek myths were used for educational and religious purposes, as well as the intention for entertainment. Myths were passed down through many forms. One of them being orally which was just telling the story and then the people hearing that story passing it on to the next. It was then put in the form of a poem which was put in written form. Lastly, it was passed down using pottery and such. Buildings were decorated in order to celebrate some of these beliefs of the stories that were told. The stories that were told were also to explain how things came to be, one example would be how the world was created. Cartwright also speaks about how stories about heroes and such were used to give an idea of how poor behavior could lead to something tragic and such, so people would not end up doing anything rash and learn from these stories. Thus, Cartwright is stating that some logos and ethos was used in these stories in order to provide reasons as to how the world was made as stated earlier, and as well as those reading the stories to feel connected and learn from any mistakes that the characters made in order to not make the same mistakes.
Gwen, et al. “Greek Mythology, Origin of Greek Mythology.” Greek Myths & Greek Mythology, 3 Nov. 2010, https://www.greekmyths-greekmythology.com/greek-mythology/.
Gwen starts out speaking about what greek mythology is about, and how it opens people up to a whole new world. Greeks were polytheistic due to the many Gods that were believed in. The origin of greek mythology came from two very old poems created by Homer which is the first text that was made that depicted stories of greek mythology. Using these beliefs lead to it being passed down in other forms. These stories began to be depicted through plays and such and art. This gives an idea to how big of an influence greek mythology as had on history. For it to have been passed down for so many years and impacting both culture and history. Gwen also speaks about how philosophers, scholars, and such use greek mythology to try and give explanations about the world and its ethics. Overall, for greek mythology to be such a huge influence it has appealed to many types of audiences causing them to want to continue passing down such stories may it be through writing, movies, or even artwork.
Sakoulas, Thomas. Greek Mythology, https://ancient-greece.org/culture/mythology.html.
This author talks about how what we now call mythology was the culture of ancient Greek. They had many beliefs spiritually and traditions that were taken place. One of them being telling the stories that were passed down. Sakoulas gives a list of heroes and important characters that were spoken about in these stories. It also gives a brief summary of who they were and what their role in the story was as well. Ancient Greek culture also gave headway to what we call now Pagan religion. Pagan religion refers to those who are polytheistic otherwise known as those who believed in more than one God. He also goes on to state how even though religions like this one were suppressed in order for other ones to become more known, it was still passed down showing how much the audience it was passed to believed in the stories and heroes. It is fascinating to see how these stories have impacted many people and it still does today seeing as there are popular books that have been made or are still being made and people go on to read them.
The Labors of Hercules, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Herakles/labors.html.
Although there is no true author for this, it is one of the many stories from greek mythology. This story gives an idea to how the people who it was told to were impacted and truly believed in these stories which lead to implicating it into their culture, making it a religion, and etc. This story speaks about how Hera, whom is a Goddess, aimed to make trouble for Hercules. Hercules ended up losing his mind which caused him to kill his wife and children. Hercules asked for forgiveness from the Gods and was tasked with punishment for twelve years. The twelve labors consisted of Hercules over the course of twelve years, to go on and slay very strong monsters and carry out impossible tasks. Hercules ended up succeeding in all tasks. Through these struggles it is said that Hercules was the symbol of pathos seeing as how many people became influenced by this story convincing people to see it as a true story. Thus, this story gives an idea to how it made people feel seeing as they connected to Hercules by reading or hearing about his struggles which most likely made them feel some type of way that made them want to continue passing these stories on.
