*Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space by Brett Staples

Brett Staple's essay, "Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space"  examines the precariousness that each individual takes around him, because of the urban, impoverished setting they are placed in. Staple provides an anecdote about him walking behind a girl at a night, with more than enough space between them, but because this took place in the high-crime part of New York, he began to blend in with the other muggers and rapists waiting to prey on her; causing her speed off to into the distance for what she thought would be her "safety". Staple also uses a generalization to point out that "women are particularly vulnerable to street violence, and young black males are drastically overrepresented among the perpetrators of that violence. The author then comments on the amount of changes in his behavior he has made to escape, or the lessen the fear that people depict when they are around him. Staple, a black man himself, is relating to his African American audience as well as his other audiences that make certain prejudges about African Americans without knowing their full intent. His purpose is to bring notice to actions that African Americans and other races do, subconsciously that comes across suspicious to others who easily prejudge. 

Our Babies, Ourselves by Emily Prager

Emily Prager's, "Our Babies, Ourselves", is an article that is exclusively criticizes the mixture between gender and toys, in particularly Barbie. Prager starts off with a small anecdote about reading over the obituary of Jack Ryan, in which she learned that he was the creator of Barbie. Her argument  focused mainly on the physical features of Barbie. Prager suggested that Barbie was poorly proportion because of her "bustiness" and tiny waistline. Flashing back to her past, Prager tells of her anxiousness to know exactly who was Barbie's creator. After learning that Barbie's sculptor was a man, Prager comments that knowing that "a woman didn't design Barbie makes me [her] a whole lot saner'. As Prager starts to discover the motive for her physical appearance, she uses numerous amounts of rhetorical questions to analytically come up with a reason about why Jack Ryan felt the need to expose Barbie, but make "Ken with that truncated, unidentifiable lump at his groin". 

Application: Considering on how female dolls looked before the existence of Barbie, why do you think there was a change in the female doll's figure? 

Style: Hows does Prager's style promote a sense of disapprove? 

Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain by Jessica Mitford

Jessica Mitford's "Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain" is an exerpt from her novel The American Way of Death. In this piece, Mitford provides information about the procedures that are made when embalming an corpse. She assumes that her audience doesn't know the real "truth" about how unpleasant embalming really is. To her prove her arguement, Mitford uses grotesque language to develope graphic imagery that discourages her readers from considering the process of embalming a corpse as a form of decompostition. From her angle, she believes that if the general public really knew the procedures that are done within the state of embalming a cadaver, they would certainly want nothing to do with it. Mitford uses quotes from experts, and commonly held beliefs to further promote why embalming is actually more unpleasant than it seems. As a part of a future anecdote, even Mitford requested to be cremated after death. 

Application:

How would you like to decompose, and why? (Would you like to be cremated, embalmed,mummified, etc..)

Style:

Does Mitford's style have a greater sense of negativity than Mary Roach's style in Stiff? Explain. 

Los Angeles Times Precise

"Schools' risks rise as vaccine rate declines"

By: Rong-gong Lin II and Sandra Poindexter 

The research between Rong-gong Lin II and Sandra Poindexter  is blended together in their article: "Schools' risks rise as vaccine rate declines". This article focuses on parents choosing not to immunize their children by getting "routine vaccinations" in fear of autism. According to the Autism Society of America (ASA), autism is a complex developmental disability that serves as a neurological disorder that affects the normal functioning of the brain, impacting development in the areas of social interaction and communication skills. Even though this disability is "widely discredited in medical research" parents still believe it to be true. In result of parents not immunizing their children, it will be very likely for their children to become infected with childhood diseases. The authors provided an anecdote that told ofa  situation that happened last year with a seven year old boy who acquired Measles in Switzerland on a family trip, and brought it back with him leading to an outbreak in
San Diego, California. The two author's purpose of this article is to inform readers and fellow
Americans of the harm they could be doing their children by not  immunizing them properly. The U.S. has state-mandated-shots that every young citizen must have for their safety, as well as others and people should follow those requests.  

style: Does Rong-gong Lin II nd Sandra Poindexter's use of informal diction convey an informative tone or a tone that scolds the parents for not immunizing their children?

application: Try to switch shoes with parents that are scared to immunize their children, how would you feel?