"The Red Chevy"

In the essay “The Red Chevy” by Juli Bovard, she describes several of the most traumatic days of her life. She depicts not only the day she got raped, but also the days spent in the police station, the courtroom, and salvaging control of her life. After being raped Juli felt nothing she had ever felt before. However, soon after she gained back control of her life-or so she thought. After seeing her perpetrator again in the courtroom she felt the same dreaded feelings she had the day of the rape. She completely lost control of her life. In the end, she actually started living instead of just existing and I think she is a hero for that.

A lot of girls get raped each year and after it happened to Juli she just became another statistic. If this tragic event ever happened to me I don’t think I would have ever been as brave as Juli. Even during the attack she tried and tried to get out of the frightening truck. She may have stumbled along the way, but Juli eventually got herself together and in fact started living a better life she had before the attack. Anyone who has been raped could definitely look up to her and know that they are not alone. Sharing her story could not only help her, but it could help thousands of other rape victims who read it.

Thinking about this heartbreaking event optimistically, you could almost say that in reality it helped Juli. After the assault she led a better life and has helped so many people along the way. This disaster has in actuality has changed her life for the better. Also, while reading this story it made me think of the book, The Color Purple. The author, Alice Walker, was also raped and wrote about it. Both of these women went through similar catastrophes and they both shared their stories with the public, which in my book makes them heroes. Juli, by sharing her heart wrenching story with others, has impacted many lives and will continue to do so as long as her story lives.

“Some Don’t Like Their Blues at All”

Everyone has seen an advertisement in a magazine that might strike them as stereotypical, but usually you say a smart remark and move on. In the article, “Some Don’t like Their Blues at All” by Karyn M. Lewis, she goes on and on about how stereotypical a Fila jeans advertisement is. I understand that she may have a strong opinion about how people look at men and women, but she analyzed Fila’s advertisement to the extreme.

For almost three pages Lewis goes on about how Fila’s jean ad is corrupting the image of men and women just because the woman in the picture is soft and girly and the man is strong and brusque. Men and women have been seen like this for forever. One ad showing the difference between men and women shouldn’t be that big of a deal. Of course not all women are soft and girly and not all men are strong and brusque, but it’s just one picture. In the article Lewis also talks about how the man being black and the woman being white is also demeaning our ideas about men and women. She goes into full detail about how the skin color shows that men and women are “fundamentally different in all things.” Honestly, the makers of the advertisement probably just wanted to have a variety of skin colors, but Lewis goes in depth about how that has to be a sign that this ad is being very stereotypical.

Lewis is being melodramatic about this whole advertisement. It’s really just a picture trying to get people to buy Fila’s products. Companies will do whatever it takes to get money even if that means making extreme stereotypes and Lewis just needs to get over that fact. After reading this article it reminded me a lot of the Lion King article we read in class. Both writers of these articles look too into and over analyze everything. They just need to relax and enjoy the little things in life. If they don’t like something and it really makes them that disgruntled, such as the jeans ad or the movie Lion King, then just don’t look at it or watch it. It’s as simple as that.

“Thousands of Students Victims of Grade Inflation”

In the article we read in class, “Thousands of Students Victims of Grade Inflation”, by Nancy Mitchell she discusses the problem of grade inflation and how it affects students. In this paper, Mitchell gives examples of studies done about grade inflation and she gives a lot of peoples’ opinions about what it does to schools, students, and even teachers. Grade inflation is a problem in almost all schools. Every teacher has most likely given a student a boost on a test or quiz to help him or her out. Although grade inflation is a major problem, all schools are different and it will never be completely solved.

One main reason grade inflation happens is because of the differences in schools. In the article it states that at a Jacksonville high school the grading scale is 94 to 100 is an A and under a 69 is an F. At Lima Senior 90 to 100 is an A and 69 to 60 is a D. All schools operate differently and until every school functions exactly the same grade inflation will be a problem that will never be solved.

Grade inflation can be positive and it will never be solved as long as we have teachers with hearts. Teachers are people too. They have hearts and aren’t ruthless. If they see a student has worked really hard and needs one point to get an A in the class, it’s only natural for them to give the student that point and there’s nothing wrong with that. Helping a student out with just one or two points is not going to hurt them. It will actually boost their self-esteem and make them feel good about what they’re doing. Of course, giving a student an extra 20 points to help them out will hurt them badly and should never be done. All in all, grade inflation is a problem that will never fully be solved.