Proverbs #2 and #3

2) "The early bird catches the worm" or "the early bird gets the worm" is a phrase that pretty much defines the America people. This phrase can be interpreted to mean that one has greater chance of being/becoming successful, if one acts early. Rewording this statement, if one does something before anyone else/earlier than anyone else, then one has the advantage. The city that comes to my mind when this statement is said is New York City.
In the city that never sleeps, New York City is home to everything you can possibly think of. Businessmen, entrepreneurs, students, families, civil workers, the list goes on. Because New York is home to these diverse groups of people, it has become the epicenter of opportunity. People from all over the world leave their home countries to start a life in America. Trailing back from Columbus's "discovery" to Ellis Island, and even today, immigrants are rushing in to take advantage of a better life. This idea of a better life is more commonly known as "The American Dream."

3) "Practice makes perfect", the term that can describe anyone and everyone who has a goal in life. If one works hard at something, then one masters the techniques/becomes knowledgeable when it comes to that specific subject. This concept is also a roundabout way to define the American Dream. Immigrants, when they come here, are thrown in a life of chaos. With no income and little connections, immigrants are forced into labor intensive/laborious jobs that barely make ends meet, and if they have a family, it makes living even harder, even with government benefits. So how do first generation immigrants survive? They practice how to survive, of course. When my dad first came to this country, he would work 12 hours a day in a grocery shop by day and study at a trade school by night. He had a fixed schedule on how to do things and he "practiced" this schedule every day, and he eventually raised enough money to bring my mother to this country and raise a family. He now builds rockets for other countries. Like my father, many other people have this dream and want to achieve it, and for each one of them, the dream exists so that the next generation can carry it on.

Proverbs exist to educate the mind as well as give advice. It upholds the "common truths" each society respects, and America is no different. As seen throughout the ages, proverbs define both culture as well as history.

Proverbs: The Key to Understanding a Language/Culture

"Don't judge a book by its cover.""The early bird catches the worm.""Practice makes perfect." We have heard these types of sayings at least a gazillion times in our lives and we understand the meaning of these sayings pretty well but did you know that these sayings can define a culture?

Proverbs reveal many aspects about the cultural traditions of a society. Proverbs originated from indigenous humble folk who handed down these wise sayings over the centuries, generation to generation.Many proverbs serve as advisory tales. wise advice, and occasionally chastisement, thus these are the sayings that can define a culture and what it values. Let's take a look at the three proverbs above and analyze what  these mean in the greater context of American culture.

1)"Don't judge a book by its cover.": This may be one of the most used sayings since its inception. People most often use this saying literally,

but in a sense it can also define our outlook on people. Almost every joke I see/hear about black people involve either crime, slavery, or fried chicken. Asians (Chinese, Koreans, Japanese ect.)  are smart at math, can't drive cars for s*it, and that they eat cats, dogs, and snakes (which is somewhat true...). Indians worship cows, drive taxis and tend to smell like curry 24/7 (We can't help it if we like it. For those of you who haven't tried it yet, your missing out on something amazing). Middle Easterners can't help but know everything and anything there is to know about bombs and coincidentally they all happen to be Muslim. Hispanics are mostly illegal immigrants who are stealing the jobs of white people. And last but not least there are the white people. These over weighted, sport obsessed, money hungry idiots are ignorant of the world outside of their own. What do these generalizations say about our own culture. Within this topic there exists religious racism and sexism. This proverb is meant to overlook all of these generalizations and accept a person as a human being, not by what they practice or how they live their lives. This quote is meant to encompass a diverse America. Since the very beginning, America is the land of the free. People from anywhere are welcomed to practice what ever they want without being stopped. Everybody who lives in America is an American, and you can never talk away our rights. If you happen to do so, we will come back and sue your a*s into the next century!
*The explanations of the other 2 proverbs will follow in the next blog or two. Thanks for reading :)

Public Speaking: A Shy Introvert's Point of View

Public Speaking is an art. It is a display of both confidence and rhetorical style (conveyed through the words of the speaker), but for some people, this idea of displaying "confidence" is harder to comprehend and present more than writing the content of the speech. As a shy introvert, I hate the idea of public speaking in general. Just talking to a large group of people (peers/classmates) will give me butterflies and this feeling will overpower me so much that in turn I will start forgetting the words to my speech, no matter how many times I practice. I will feel like I just ran across the Sahara  and preparing myself to run across the world next. The struggle is real. I will also become very exhausted from thinking about giving the speech, and sadly, it is hard for me to sleep well the night before. From the day before up to the presentation, I will count the minutes. When the time of the speech delivery starts getting closer, I will always count the seconds. The pressure that is put on you and the judgment of others is what scares me the most. I can talk to my friends easily. I can even talk to all of them in a very big group, but if I have to present a planned speech in front of them, I will die on the inside.
These are just some of the symptoms of nervousness, but trust me; there are a lot more embarrassing ones. The good news is that we aren't the only ones who suffer this plight. Famous people such as Barbara Streisand and Adele have suffered from stage fright as a result of their shy personalities, but because they are rich individuals, they can get their condition treated in rehab or a therapy of some sort. So how do we shy introverts conquer this fear of shyness (by the way just to be clear, not all introverts are shy and mot all shy people are introverts)? Well to tell you the truth, we never can completely conquer it. We might be able to give speeches on a normal basis, but we will get the jitterbugs. The fact is that we can't show it. For the 4-6 minutes we are up there presenting, we have to deal with it. It is something we can't avoid (unless you truly try). Having a fear makes me uncomfortable, but knowing that the fear is there, just makes me feel like something is holding me back. I can never 100% conquer public speaking but what I can do is plan what comes after the speech. After the speech I will go out and eat whatever I feel like and care less about how people view me. I will plan to go out the weekend and party it up to forget about my horrendous failure. Just remember, there is always for improvement and there are almost always great resources out there to help you. So the next time you feel like this, just remember that you are not alone.

Rhetoric and Civic Blog #1 "Igniting Cross fire on Crossfire"

Recently, I've had the pleasure of binge watching reruns of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.  As a very political person, who enjoys debates, and a teenager, who enjoys entertainment, this show along with The Colbert Report gives me the best of both worlds when I am bored in my room. Chapter 3 of Rhetoric and Civic Life illustrates a heated exchange on the show "Crossfire" between Jon Stewart, and the hosts of the show Paul Begala (liberal) and Tucker Carlson (conservative). This heated altercation is eventually what got "Crossfire" canceled.

"Crossfire" defines itself as a show that contests the opinions of politically liberal and conservative people on their views of current events in a debate-like format. I say debate-like, because this show isn't really actually a debate. It is a travesty of what a debate should be. A debate is a formal discussion on a particular topic in a public meeting or legislative assembly, in which opposing arguments are put forward; however, "Crossfire" doesn't exhibit this. Instead, it exhibits trite remarks on the obvious scenario presented and gives little to no room for the guest speaker to voice his/her opinion. It makes me wonder why the guest is even there. 

Furthermore, if the hosts aren't even going to let the guest utter a word, they should have a bigger table with more political pundits and discuss and vent about/support the issues that the world is currently facing. They should also change the name from "Crossfire" to "The View with Political Pundits" and because no one would be watching this show (not that anyone was watching it before); it should be a good starting lineup for "The Shows Currently Airing on C-Span". This show might actually triple the viewership on C-Span if it presents itself as an actual debate show, because I mean come on, who doesn't like to watch arguments. 

Are you interested to see how good debating should proceed and be handled? Check out the Prime Minister's Questions held every Wednesday at the UK. The media is partially to blame for the way debates are viewed and handled because it has evolved debating into a “winner/loser” system. People/viewers expect to see winners/losers, but that is the entire opposite of what a debate is. The words of a debate are important and meaningful because the person presenting their side of the contest/rebuttal does so with their beliefs and heart, and thus it should be respected to a certain degree. A debate is the use of rhetoric and rhetorical strategies to get one’s point across about a certain topic and gaining the attention of the viewers they are presented to. I am glad that Jon Stewart went on this show to vent out his views because I completely agree with him. If a show with so much potential cannot present itself to be an inch of what it is supposed to be, then I am glad that it is cancelled because shows like these are indeed “hurting America”. 

Welcome to Rhetoric and Civic Life!

This blog is devoted to CAS 137H, a course dedicated to the interaction between rhetoric and civil life. Enjoy!