Reading Response #2

"Yes/No/Okay, But"

Exercise #1:

I believe that Jean Anyon shows a mixture of both agreeing and disagreeing with those she summarizes.

Examples of agree/disagree-
1) "...have argued that knowledge and skills leading to social power and regard are made available to the advantaged social groups but are withheld from the working classes, to whom a more 'practical' curriculum is offered."

2) "While there has been considerable argumentation..."

3) "...there has been little or no attempt to investigate these ideas empirically in elementary and secondary schools and classrooms in this country."

4) "...by providing illustrative examples of differences in student work in classrooms in contrasting social-class communities..."

In my opinion, I think Jean Anyon both agrees and disagrees with the articles she summarizes. However, it is difficult to identify her position based on the minute amount of information given. I believe she has a combined standpoint with the articles because she states the positive and negative points of each article. She sounds like she is agreeing with the article when she says "while there has been considerable argumentation of these points regarding education." However, she shows a disagreeing stand point when she says "there has been little or no attempt to investigate these ideas..." Altogether, I believe Jean Anyon displays a combination of disagreeing and agreeing with the articles she summarizes.

Exercise #2:

In David Zinczenko's "Don't Blame the Eater," Zinczenko gives a solid explanation about his opinion on child obesity by expressing his personal experiences and overall view points on the subject. "They've crossed under the golden arches to a likely fate of lifetime obesity and the problem isn't just theirs-it's all of ours." I agree with this idea because I do believe that it is impossible to blame just one person for a child's obesity problem. In order to be able to defeat the issue of obesity, it is important that people accept the fact that this issue is no one person's problem. "Complicating the lack of alternatives is the lack of infomation about what, exactly, we're consuming." I agree with this statement also because there definitely is a lack of information given to those who decide to eat fast food. "Advertisements don't carry warning labels the way tobacco ads do." In refrence to the last quotation, my opinion on this one is likewise. Although it is their decision to consume these potentially harmful food products, they are also left with the mystery of what those products may contain. "Without such warnings, we'll see more sick, obese children and more angry, litigious, parents." Zinczenko is surely right about what will be seen in the future because the ratings of obesity will sky-rocket within the next few years if the industry and the government, together do not inform the population of the harmful affects of fast food in the long run. Altogether I do agree with Zinczenko's ideas and arguments, and I believe that his effort to express his overall viewpoints are very informative and true.