Rand

I think the message that Rand is trying to give is that racial discrimination is a terrible thing and that a person should not be judged on their ancestry. In the beginning of the essay Rand talks a lot about the racial discrimination against blacks. She states that no one race should have more superiority to others. A quote from the essay is "A genius is a genius, regardless of the number of morons who belong to the same race- and a moron is a moron, regardless of the number of geniuses who share his racial origin." I think the quote is really powerful because it shows that someone should be judged because of the way other their people in their race act. A very intelligent black man should not be denied a job because of his race. Another point Rand brings up is about children and the schools they go to. Rands says it is "pure racism" to make children go to a certain school so that the school can meet the "racial balance". Now because of that children are being treated unfairly.

Overall, I thought this essay was interesting to read. I think Rand had a lot of strong points in the beginning. However, toward the end of the piece I was a little confused on what Rand was fighting for. I feel like a lot of the end wasn't supported very well. I thought it was strange how Rand talked about how evil doctrines and can not be forbidden by law. I really liked hearing from a woman's point of view about racial discrimination in 1964.

Sedaris

Being that David Sedaris is an extremely sarcastic man, most of his humor comes from his sarcasm. Most of the jokes in this chapter come from the crossword puzzle. Sedaris uses the crossword puzzle in two ways. One way was to defend himself and to make him look smarter. As according to Sedaris, people around him will think he is a "genius" for having the Times crossword puzzle. The second way is that Sedaris fills in the the boxes with incorrect words. He uses words that he wishes he could to say to the woman right now. It is funny because Sedaris is basically having a conversation in his mind between him and the woman. He spends most of the flight comparing himself to the woman and trying to think of how he is not an asshole. Also, another funny part is in the beginning with the cough drop and how Sedaris thinks of ways to get the cough drop off the woman. I think it is so interesting how all these hilarious things  go through David Sedaris's mind.

"What did the fish say when it ran into the wall?"

"Dam!"

Ronson

In the chapter "The Klansman who won't use the N-word, Ronson tells the story of how he spent time with the Ku Klux Klan. In this chapter, Ronson proves how the Ku Klux Klan is different nowadays than it was in the past. The Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, Thom Robb, is not the usual type of leader for the Ku Klux Klan. Ronson tries to show how Thom wants to do things differently and have a more positive image. The fact that Thom avoids using the word "nigger" shows that he does have some feelings for black people. Ronson wants us to get the impression that the Ku Klux Klan doesn't necessarily act and live the way everyone thinks they do. Even though the members of the Ku Klux Klan don't seem as terrible as everyone makes them out to be, they still believe in some horrible and offensive ideas. I think Ronson wanted us to realize that the members are people just like us, just with very different views. I think Ronson exemplified this by how he had normal conversations with them and how they really didn't judge him, however they didn't know he was Jewish.

I thought this chapter was extremely interesting. I was so surprised by a lot of the actions of the members of the Ku Klux Klan. I guess i never really did a lot of research on the subject, i just knew it was a horrible thing that was classified as a "cult". It is interesting how there are different Ku Kluz Klans throughout the country and how their actions differ from each other. The new Klan is a big improvement on the old Klan, however I still think they are pretty messed up but at least they are trying to be a little more polite. By Thom making his members avoid the N-word, can help lead them in a better direction. I don't think it will fix anything major or change anything anytime soon but it is better than nothing. I did like this chapter though, it was entertaining.

Bitch Summary

In the piece, "Bitch" by Beverly Gross, the author defines the word bitch and states the many different ways it can be applied to women. I think Gross's main point is to prove that the word bitch can be used in many numerous occasions, most of the time to describe a malicious woman. Also, Gross states several times how males use the word to show their power over women. "Bitch, the curse and concept, exist to insure male potency and female submissiveness"(80). I think her evidence from the dictionary is very strong. It really makes a point and its interesting to see how dictionaries really define a curse word. In addition, I thought the real life examples really added to the article because it proves how people, even Barbara Bush, can use the word bitch.

I really enjoyed reading this piece. I thought it was funny and interesting. It's not everyday you read something professionally written that's titled "Bitch". I found it amusing how Gross made the point of what it meant in the past and what it means now. "In the old days a bitch was a harlot; nowadays she is likely to be a woman who won't put out"(80). I believe that this piece is convincing. It has very good points and connects all of them. I feel like most males would agree to this. This piece may be a little outdated, but not much. I think one main thing that is different, is how bitch is used a lot more frequently between females, sometimes to offend another woman or just something one friend calls another. I found it funny that one of Gross's students thought that the word "boss" was the male equivalent to bitch. Personally I think the male equivalent would have to be "dick". I wish more english articles that we read were like this.