Assignment 6- Choices

The first observation that I had made was seeing Taxidermy as a cultural Taboo and how they evolved into an art. As I read the beginning of the essay I came over 2 quotes, "The deer  came in heards, in carloads, and on pallets" and "There were millions of eyes, boxes, and bowls; of them some as small as a lentil, and some as big as a poached egg" (Orlean 1). I was extremely disgusted by the detail Orlean gives about the amount of dead deer because it sounded as if the deer were being slaughtered for one's own personal gain which I believe is wrong. I think that killing animals for one's own sake is sick and they deserve to rot in jail. I absolutely love animals and to hear such gruesome and careless descriptions of deer hide and animal eyes makes me upset. Orlean also referred Taxidermy as a "black art, and a wholly owned subsidery of witchcraft and voodoo" (2). I think that Orlean was trying to relate how she percieved taxidermy to be an art of the dark side befor she learned of about the rtue purpose that it serves which is to preserve animals in almost a lifelike way. I think that Orlean appealed to us who are learning about the morbid details of Taxidermy in order for us to channel those strong feelings into understanding and appreciating Taxidermy as an art that preserves those sacred moments in nature that one may never be able to witness.

Another choice that Orlean makes is giving some history on how Taxidermy has developed into an art form. "Then in the late nineteen-sixties, a transformation began: the business stearted to seem cleaner and less creepy" (Orlean 2). This confirms that people saw Taxidermy as a very horrifying and messy thing to take part in. She describes it as "morbid" because it was extremely unsanitery to dabble and mess around with animals let alone the dead. I felt weirded out by this idea that people would even dare to make hands on contact with dead animal carcasses. It's kind of sickening and it makes me detes the idea of being something good. "The popular culture also gained respect for this messy and morbid ar" (Orlean 2). As a result, schools began to open, competitions were being held, and word was spreading like wildfire about Taxidermy (Orlean 2).  The art of Taxidermy takes extreme skills and a meticulous eye to master. Orlean gives context in order to persuade her readers that Taxidermy means more than playing with dead animals. It means bringing back those precious momens of the past like the "two tree sparrows who were so lifelike that they looked as if they were going to fly away" (Orlean 6) I think that the background of the development of Taxidermy as an skillfull art was given in order to demonsrate the growing appreciation for animals and the purpose that they serve nature.

I had noticed that Orlean uses eccentricity in her essay in order to portray the overwhelming love that people have for Taxidermy. A quote that caught my eye said, "I love deer. Thay are my babies" (Orlean 2). Reading this quote alone, allowed me to feel that this woman or man was crazy. This person sounds like a complete nut who escaped from a mental institution. When I reread it, I began to feel the extreme amount of admiration tha was felt by this person. Maybe the deer was a pet or an animal that this person cared for all of the animal's life. I definitely understand more and know what it's like to develope such a strong bond with your pet and then lose them. Sometime one may even wish that they would always be with you forever. "You want it to be perfect. You're trying to make something come back to life" (Orlean 6). I feel as if his quote embodies the idea that Orlean is persuading us into considering Taxidermy as not a black art but an art meant to bring life back to the lifeless and make its beauty last forever. I believe that the eccentricity expressed by extreme animal lovers was interepreted throughout this text in order to allow people to express their admiration for animals and to appreciate them.

Assignment 6

Susan Orlean was an animal animal rights acvtivist turned graphic design. In her essay "Lifelike," Orlean is a journalist who is exploring the unnatural art of Taxidermy which some people view as taboo and dark arts and others who view Taxidermy as sort of liberating in restoring nature. When I began to learn about taxidermy, I thought of it as someone just killing animals, mutilating the bodies, and displaying them for sport. While reading "Lifelike," I began to see the other side to those who actually do Taxidermy as an art done out of respect. At the beginning, I read a quote that said " There were foxes, moose, and freeze-dried wild turkeys" and another one that read "The deer came in herds, in carloads, and on pallets" (Orlean 1). This had only confirmed my disgust and loathe for people who take part in Taxidermy. I strongly believe that it is wrong and that the dead should be left to rest in piece. Throughout her essay, Orlean gives many quotes about how seriousness many people take in the art of Taxidermy. More specifically she gives a quote of a woman saying, "I love deer. Those are my babies" (Orlean 2). Another quote an onlooker made about the panda read, "Whew, she made a beautiful mount" (Orlean 4). Orlean purposefully placed these quotes in her text in order to persuade her readers that Taxidermy is an art of bringing the dead back to life. Upon finishing her essay "Lifelike," I felt as if Orlean did just that. She gave context to the background and beginning of Taxidermy and how it was portrayed as a messy and gruesome art and how it has morphed into a popular art form which I now see as a love for the lifeless. I think that "Lifelike" was written in order for the readers to develop an appreciation for the rare moments in nature because it isn't everyday that one can perhaps see animals taking care of their families up close.

Assignment 5

List
-Taboos
- Repetition of Art
- PETA
- Context of the Art of Taxidermy
- Goes from Gallery full of "Art" to rehearsal dinners


This article seemed very confusing to me. I didn't really understand the purpose as to why this essay was written. Something that caught my attention was the taboo of an art that is looked down upon because it is solely used for personal gain and selfish reasons.  I personally believe that messing with the dead, let alone animals, is wrong in every way. The dead should just be left at piece no matter what. If people have absolutely nothing to do with their life, they should go read a book or something. Do not engage in preparing and creating dead sculptures and lifelike displays of the dead for money. How would these people feel if their bodies were disturbed afer death? Those committing such an act would probably will be haunted for their life. More so one will live in a paranoid state as a result of overwhelming guilt. I believe that Susan wants her readers to feel an appreciation for such an art that has and is continuing to grow in popularity in today's world of developing and contributing cultures. I think Orlean purposefully wrote the essay to allow us to see both sides of the story to such a controversial topic and new integration of the art of taxidermy.

Something that I noticed after reading Orleans essay "LifeLike" is the repitition of Taxidermy as Art and an act of clever and very lifelike artistry. Messing with the dead is essentially viewed as taboo or an act of the darkness. Nobody in their right mind, if they're sane, would ever think about doing such an act to  harm anything. Not all people of every culture adopt the same or similar values so it is possible to expect that such a controversial act would be seen as an act of great artistry. I guess what I am trying to express is that the main reason why most, if not all jobs or arts using dead animals, is to make a profit of some kind whether it's by monetary means or just notoriety. I think that his is the most gruesome thing that anyone can encur upon. If anyone was out of a job and had a last resort other than taxidermy, they should take the other route. For me personally, I believe that killing any animal and God forbid a human being is immoral in every aspect of the word. People should really begin to think about there actions and place themselves in the perspective of the animals.

Reading this article definitely made me upset and disgusted. It makes me just look at the people who do Taxidermy differently. It's just baffling and I can't even wrap my head around the idea of wanting to bring something dead back to life. It almost sounds as if this is an art of the dark side. The people who construct wha they percieve to be "works of art" do so like these animals are just puzzles put together piece by piece until the Taxidermists have reached their ultimate goal of being recognized for "creating" something that appears to be so real and lifelike. Looking from the perspective of the Taxidermists, engaging in and creating such lifelike pieces of ar allows us to appreciate nature and everything in it because without it, I world would never have developed into what it is today. Animals do play an important role in the growth of plants and the food chain which is essential to a flourishing life as well as the never ending life cycle.


Questions
1. What do you think Orlean's purpose was in using PETA in her article?

2. How do you feel about Taxidermy being referred to as an art in Orlean's article?

Reflecting on Revisions

The most interesting thing about the writer's paper that I read is that they definitely express how humorous Sedaris is in his essay.  This person says that they "lean more towards the humorous aspect" of Sedaris Essay.He points out that Sedaris uses "gassy quotes" to make the essay a bit humerous. This was interesting to me because I hadn't quite thought that Sedaris essay wasn't that humorous at all. I understood maybe why Sedaris made such remarks about some of the characters and the employees but I think that he did so out of boredom with the long waits and continuous delays. I personally thought thtat Sedaris was subconscioously being rude.

What stood out to me is that this writer often provides a general context for his writerly choices and just for his essay. I really do not see many specific examples from the text that shows why Sedaris essay is humorous. A general statement that this writer makes is 
 "the humor continued at a perfect balance throughout the writing, which helps to read at a great pace."  I believe that if this writer would have included specific examples when they were talking about the writerly choice, this draft would would have been stronger and it would have gave more context to and made Sedaris' purpose more clear.

I went about writing my essay by using writerly choices that not only myself but other readers could definitely relate to. I also decided upon using the writerly choices that I focused on because they were things that I can relate to as well as the feelings that I felt while reading the essay. I decided to compose my essay with an introduction to give background of Sedaris essay to he reader and to pull their attention in by giving an explanation of Sedaris essay in a way that the readers could relate it to their life. 

Some changes that I would make to my paper now is to definite;y include more of my voice to the readers so that they get a sense of who I am. I am so used to writing in the 2nd and third person that I often shy away from using "I" and giving my feelings and how I felt while writing an essay. An example is that "one of the most frustrating things about air traveling is timeliness and altogether the growing impatience of passengers and airline employees who have to deal with that."

I can see that I really want to express myself as a writer and by allowing myself to do so, it allows readers to see who I am as a writer which can help make me a stronger writer.

 

Standing By CP

I think that this affirms how our actions, feelings, and expressions of shared judgements allows our perception of people in the world to be misinterpreted which can contributes to a temperamental environment. 

Jessie Frohwirth- My Weekend

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Assignment 4- Choices

In reading Sedaris "Standing By", I observed that he made a design choice to use the picture of an angry flying airplane (Sedaris 275). Sedaris decision to use a picture of an angry airplane is an expression of how many people feel when they are going into a situation where they are strangers to one another and impatience grows about as fast as you can say one word. I also think that Sedaris chose to use the picture as an overall expression of how people felt during that period of time and the anger that people felt about the careless and hurtful decisions being made. I think that Sedaris choice to use this picture was a good choice which added a little bit of humor to the context. Sedaris might have chosen to do this for his readers to be able to see how the outward influence affect the people of society and how they conduct themselves as a result of the occuring issues at this point in time. This will allow readers to see how their behavior towards people occurs as a result of the outward influences placed upon them.

Another observation that I had noticed was Sedaris use of stereotypes when describing people's appearance. One that I had noticed specifically was his critical and very judgemental description of a young teenage father. He describes he young man's appearance using the words "visually dynamic (Sedaris 276). This young man wore braids with beads at the end, saggy shorts, and a shirt that read " Freaky Mohafocka" all while holding his son and traveling with his family (Sedaris 276). This gives the perception from an onlooker that he does not care much about his responsibilities as a father, that he may be all about living life young, and that he could care less about another human being. May be he was trying to make a statement with his shirt. The point that Sedaris wants his readers to understand is that we are quick to judge others and develop opinions that are contradicting to themselves because of what is heard from others. This may be done subconsciously withou meaning any harm or judgements.

Sedaris makes the conscious decision to reference the tragic terrorist attack made towards the United States 9/11. He uses the words of a flight attendant "pray" and I'll be right back" (Sedaris 275). This was shortly after the attack had happened. The United States was still shaken by this attack and even people in it with the fear of "will I die the next minute by the hands of another person or will I live?". This is a thought that many people would rather not be thinking of  as they are traveling or doing their daily routines but with the unpredictability of the actions of the people around us, you never know what to expect. I believe that this is essentially an idea that people have learned to live with despite the anxiety or distress it may cause. I believe that this horrifying event  contributed to the ignorance of the flight attendance, ticket agents, and the other employees. "Ma'am please step away from the counter" (Sedaris 275). This may appear to be rude being that this is coming from an employee whose job is supposed to make your flying experience more enjoyable. Seeing it from the perspective of the flight attendants, it can also be an unconscious action that was not meant to sound rude or dismissive. These sort of occurences do happen when people are anxious or shaken up by such horrifying events. Sedaris references the tragedy of 9/11 to show how its devastating efffects influence and continue to affect people today.

Something that I had not really thought of but became more aware of after I read Sedaris "Standing By" was the fact that it was written about his experience in an Airport. Why would he write this about an Airport? That is a pretty boring place and nothing exciting happens there. Sedaris chose to write about his experience in an Airport versus a Grocery Store because it is an extremely diverse place. One can see new people almost everytime and still be amazed at others. This can be by their actions, appearance, their close, or anything that seems different aside from what one is used to seeing or being around. As a traveler going into a new place, judgements and thoughts are always being made. This does not have to be said aloud but it is sometimes done in the back of one's mind. "She looks like a georgia peach with that thick tan." "They look like terrorists." "They seem lost and out of place." Sedaris makes a comment on the young father with the cornrows and vulgar shirt reading "Freaky Mothafocka" traveling with his grandparents calling him "Orgasm Donor" and making a statement that "I'm no Gynecologist, but I'm willing to take a look"(Sedaris 276). An Airport in comparison to a grocery store is an extremely diverse place where people have new experiences and are always judging others every time. Sedaris makes this design choice to show that our ideas on how we perceive other people to be or look like is essentially a thought influenced by people, events, and the media surrounding one.

Assignment 4

I believe that the context in which Sedaris wrote "Standing By" was shortly after the Presidential Election of 2008 for which Barack Obama had been elected. This was especially a bit controversial in the sense that it would and had changed many aspects throughout society drastically. One of many changes that has had a negative impact in job losses was the closing of a successful car manufacturer G.M. Throughout the time for which Obama has been and will continue his presidency, he has committed and passed many questionable ideas into law which has contributed to a very confused and careless society. Before Obama, America was once a flourishing society with a successful economy in which people of every social class benefited in some way whether it was attaining a job and being able to work and provide food or shelter for a family or being able to have government assistance to help get by with the bare essentials. These aspects for which many people depend on have changed dramatically making it harder for people who are homeless, unemployed, or have a job and live in fear that it may be taken away at any point in time. With this idea in mind, I thought of the quote "History repeats itself." by Karl Marx. This quote is especially true once we begin to look back and dissect the major historical events especially events which have hurt and placed historical trauma amongst many different cultural groups such as African Americans, Native Americans, and even Jews. In Sedaris case, his mind begins to wander once he makes his way to his flight (276).  It is only normal that going through a day full of unexpected surprises, one's mind does begin to shut down and become selective in such a way that one will become unconscious of the ideas and generalizations being made upon others.After conversing with Mr. Mustache, a fellow air traveler, he partially hears only what his mind is allowing him to. "Hello, this is Adolf Hitler." (Sedaris 277). Keeping in mind Adolf Hitler had essentially destroyed a country along with many Jews with the impression of one day developing a pure Aryan Society. Hitler had done so by having strict control in every aspect of his plan as one would in a dictatorship. In saying so, the ways in which we act or conduct ourselves is almost a mirror image of how the events and people whom we are surrounded by shape our perceptions and opinions of others.

Sedaris perception on how he sees the world is based almost as if it were a dictatorship in which one's goal s to have complete and total control over a certain group with the goal of attaining absolute dominance. In doing so, one will do so by by what ever means necessary whether it is by murder, torturing, or by placing fear amongst those seen fit to be inferior or below those of superior power. Sedaris definitely references the communist period for which Adolf Hitler was around and compares it to today's current presidency in which Barack Obama was elected to be the Presidency. Essentially, the US economy was successful and flourishing and just by the power of President's words a once prosperous car manufacturer, G.M., was forced to close down which meant the loss of jobs and also the fear of possibly losing the jobs being held now. This fear of possibly losing the only source or lifeline to get by each day definitely puts a strain on the group as a whole. This will eventually cause tension amongst our group and sometimes even bad feelings or disrespect that may not be entirely intentionally done. The way in which Sedaris perceives the world is that our perception of how we look at other people and places is essentially based on outward influences.

The way in which Sedaris imagines his readers in today's world are viewed as judgemental, critical, and sometimes even stereotyping. This occurs without even noticing that one may be even doing so and and acknowledging that one is fault may be difficult for some to admit. There may also be instances where one finds themselves engaged in a conversation with people surrounding  them and all of a sudden has something in common to talk about. This can be either positive or negative. The point that Sedaris is trying to make to his readers is that each one of us solely base our opinions and how we see other people, places, and different cultures based on what has been told to us or what is being heard whether it is from the media, other people, or the sources themselves. Sometimes people may decide to use that as a base for what we see and form our opinions of others without knowing them. The goal that Sedaris wants his readers to take away from "Standing By" is that we all are very critical and judgemental human beings that are easily influenced and persuaded by the opinions to other and are quick to pass judgement on people that we do not know.

Sedaris' wants his readers to see that they are judgemental and analytical which may be happening as a result  of fear and anxiousness that what has gotten them by each day can one day be taken away just by the words of the leader of our country. With this in mind, people are becoming more frantic and start to develop some sort of hostility towards people unintentionally because of the changes occurring in our world causing many to live with fear in the back of their minds. It is a scary idea to think about but knowing that problems as such are developing and there is nothing we can do about it we essentially have to be prepared for what may be to come. Sedaris' idea to compose his text in a magazine article rather than some other form of media was consciously done with the idea in mind that people generally read magazines to hear the latest gossip on celebrities. By writing the text in a magazine article, Sedaris is criticizing not only other people but himself as well with the idea that he wants his readers to see that how one conducts there opinions and judgements on others is a direct affect on the events occurring around them and how it is affecting the way that they carry and present themselves to others.

Sedaris, David. "Standing By." First Year Composition Reader. Boston: Pearsin, 2011. 275-277. Print