Postman 11

     At the end of the eleventh chapter, Postman makes the point about being aware, or un-aware of our changing culture.  This brings up the point of "boil the frog slowly" which basically means: if you put a frog in water and slowly turn up the heat, he won't realize that he is dead until...he is dead.  Especially true with our generation, we only know the type of life that involves entertainment and electronics.  The question is, how hot is the water?  If it is true that this is really bad, is Postman the only one who sees it?  He does make some good points in the book so maybe he is right.  Maybe we should stop entertaining ourselves with constant stimulation, and get back to our roots.

Silence

     Last Friday, I went the entire day without talking.  The only communication that I did was by illustrating what I was trying to say or acting it out.  Yes and no questions were easy.  But, I found that when I was trying to explain something, I could not express my self the way I wanted to.  I could not use as much detail as I wanted either.  In example, I tried to say something that I did Thursday, but, my picture could not describe it and I could not act it out.  This caused a major dilemma and ultimately I simply decided it was not important to say.
     Relating to Postman's book, I found that as he said, I could not express myself.  Someone could ask me questions until I they got the answer right but I, on my own, could not really say anything.  This did teach me a lesson.  I never realized how helpless I was without words to say how I felt.

Neil Postman Video Response

     Yes, it is ironic that we are watching this, on youtube, on a computer, on another website.  Right now I am typing this next to fifteen other computers.  And, there is a cell phone (MLD) in my pocket.  The quote: "Try to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and if possible, speak a few reasonable words."  jumps out at me as the point of what he is saying. 
     A similar idea between the book and the video is that we are becoming slaves to our technology.  An idea that we exist to serve it, not the other way around.  On page in Amusing Ourselves to Death  "We are people on the verge of amusing ourselves to death". We are a changing era.  This era is that of cloning and of facebook.  As quoted in the video "That because we do live in a technological age, we have some special problems."  Postman makes the point that although we are advancing technologically, we are not necessarily advancing as a whole.
                    



Cadaver

1.     "Quite simply, use what you have until it can no longer function."  This single sentence proves his point.  That being, use what you have, your body, even when it does not work anymore.
2.     Semrau keeps some important information from you, throughout the article, on purpose.  It suits this article well.  If he gave all of the information, the reader may become distracted by all of the facts about himself that he gave.  By keeping it this way, he focused the article on recycling, not on himself.  He began his work career as an engineer, then, later in life he decided he wanted to become a surgeon.  At seventy-five, he holds many jobs and believes that he is doing good by reusing his ability to work.  When he dies he donates his body, another example of reusing what he had "until it can no longer function."  Semrau gives you just enough information to keep the story focused on recycling not his life story, which is how I think, this story is supposed to be.

Savior of the Nations Come

     Luther uses a combination of pathos, logos, and very detailed description throughout the entire hymn.  The phrase “not by human flesh and blood, by the spirit of our God was the Word of God made flesh” contains emotion proclaiming; God made Jesus into flesh not by flesh but by divine power.  “Though by all the world disowned still to be in heaven enthroned” is an example of logos or logic that Luther uses.  He uses the truth that when Jesus came to earth he was an outcast, and he was crucified and died for us.  “Still to be in heaven enthroned” also states the truth that Jesus rose from the dead and lives and reigns in heaven.  Some description is shown in “Brightly doth the manger shine glorious is its light divine…ever be our faith thus bright”.  The way that he describes how Jesus’ manger shines in glorious light describes to us how our faith should shine. Luther ends the hymn, simply, by praising God for the entire last verse.  He praises God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit for “ever and eternally”.  What a great hymn, not only for Christmas, but for Christ’s second coming.

Sermon Diagnostic

1)  Jesus' name was mentioned 17 times

2)  The verbs were: Made holy, slain, took, slain, died, rose, came, rose, came, and is.

3)  The theme of Borghardt’s sermon differed greatly from Edwards’ sermon.  Although only a segment of Edwards’ sermon, which totaled six hours, I find it hard to believe that he mentioned Christ as much as Borghardt did in fifteen minutes.  Borghardt preached God’s grace because of Jesus.  Edwards was all about God’s fury and the pains of hell.  Edwards’ sermon offered one way out of these pains, that being Jesus, but he rarely mentions it.  It seems he would much rather rave about how bad hell will be than how you can get out of that eternity.  Borghardt preached Christ saves.

Mitch Albom Response

     I think that the main point that Albom is trying to make is that it is not about race, but Lebron is only supporting the stereotypes about his race.  I Agree with him because Lebron made it seem like he was loyal to Cleveland and he wanted to bring home a championship for them, but then he went and changed his mind and decided to create a super team in Miami.
     I think that Albom's most effective point is the quote that he took from Lebron.  "I'm gonna take my talents to South Beach"  This quote just shows how cocky Lebron James truly is.  Instead of saying anything else that would not seem as un-offical as this, Lebron goes and says South Beach. (The Miami Heat don't play in South Beach)
     In conclusion, it is not Lebron James's color that is the factor.  It is his ego, the boastfulness that he shows by drawing his decision out over a one-hour TV special.  Lebron surrounds himself with people that make him think he that nothing can ever be his fault.