Death of a Moth Analysis

What scares me the most about Death of the Moth is that the moths seem to serve as a representation for humans, just "insignificant little creature[s]" whose main struggle is for survival. This description essentially trivializes life, but Woolf explains how there is beauty in this struggle, which adds value to the seemingly futile efforts of life. In addition to the futile efforts by the moth, this piece seems to take an even darker tone when the moth perches on a windowpane - wordplay with pane and pain, and also the mention of the window could represent how all the moth can do is stand behind a window and is only able to watch the world go by as it can only imagine how extravagant life can be. In this sense, the world outside the window could also represent a person's thoughts - energetic, inspiring, and full of "possibilities of pleasure" - but at the end of the day, they are only thoughts, not reality, and when the moth eventually meets its end, its thoughts are no more and "stillness and quiet" moves in. On the more positive side, while this represents human beings, it doesn't really touch upon how human beings are not alone in this struggle, we have each other to rely on.

PC Language

I feel like politically correct language is all based on perspective. For example, Luntz describes that "the word, 'foreign' conjures up negative images in the minds of many Americans" - but what about those American minds that don't? To these minds, the two words "mean the exact same thing and yield the exactly the same result" (Luntz). All of the tension that the words bring are a result of "many reasons unrelated to [the] specific issue" (Luntz). A phrase that is "too violent" for kids may be more influential on certain kids more than others, so changing the language to cater to those who are more influenced yields some benefits, but also hurts those are aren't as influenced because no two words have the exact same meaning and ever so changes the true meaning of these phrases. He also describes that the concern with the word has increased since 9/11, like the word itself was responsible for the tragic event instead of the few specific foreigners that were. This is the major problem with politically correct language as changing the language in which an event is described may ease the conscious of certain people, the real problem is still at large - calling the underdeveloped the developing doesn't change the fact that the country is struggling. Changing the terms, in turn, changes how people perceive the event, which satisfies the goal of political correctness but brings on the problem of accuracy. It's like lying to save someone's feelings, but in the long run hurts more than telling the truth.

Waste

Waste. So much of it. We live in a world where we produce so much more waste than we know what to do with it, seeing how landfills are essentially giant plots of land to fill our million pounds of trash - we are wasting land to dispose our other waste, while wasting time overall. But for what purpose? I don't think there is one, which seems to be more worrying than if there was. At least having a purpose allows for room for correction - how can you correct something if you do not even know what to correct? Or why to correct it? "The largest farms don't produce food at all, they grow feed" (Williams). Why is so much more food grown than needed? The root lies in capitalism, where in their eyes, the more the merrier. It's to the point where the excessiveness is hurting themselves, yet they still continue to mindlessly produce. It seems like all they care about is "saving the whales, [and] screwing the fish" (Williams). There's no clear cut answer to these problems, but all we can do is be more aware of the problems at hand and avoiding the worst outcome - not doing anything at all.

Marked

Being marked or unmarked is essentially just a big stereotype, which forms in any sort of environment where patterns arise. For example, if a girl consistently wears formal/spiffy clothing, such as dresses and high heels, she is marked as a girl who wears formal clothes, but is also unmarked in the sense that she never changes her style - being unmarked is to be the "norm". If she were to suddenly change her style to a very casual one, such as jeans and a T-shirt, she becomes more marked than she was before, all because she broke her traditional style. To anyone who is observant of everyone else's style, everyone is marked in some way - "he always wears sweatpants," "she stopped wearing makeup all of a sudden," "he never has a clean shirt." But to others who are not as observant of other styles or simply just doesn't care, everyone is unmarked. Tannen states "[men's] shoes are dark, closed, comfortable, and flat. In short, unmarked." This is true to a certain extent, but what if a guy wore sandals all the time and then switched to these said shoes? He would become more marked, considering that he is already marked as "that guy who wears sandals all the time."

Gendered Space

The Sephora at Somerset Mall is a place where, typically speaking, rich white women go and buy their beauty products - makeup, skincare, perfume, etc. I have once waltzed into the beauty store, to find many prying eyes falling upon me for the duration of my visit. Was it because there was something in my teeth? Or perhaps I didn't clean my nose? Nope, it was because I am an oriental man! Granted, no one was rude about it, but the experience was a bit uncomfortable nonetheless.
Makeup is essentially a gendered situation on its own, but is starting to break barriers worldwide. For instance, male Korean pop stars embrace their makeup use in their music videos, interviews, live shows, etc. But prior to this, it was mainly women worldwide  who used makeup in this weird fashion. Society has molded makeup into this gendered topic, which can relate back to The Bluest Eye and how specifically women have to follow the beauty standards that are held by society. The standard is still held to a certain extent today - not everyone supports this standard, hopefully more people don't than do - and that can be seen through gendered beauty stores such as Sephora.

Trick or Treating Absurd

To celebrate Halloween anywhere in the US, one must go out and buy a costume. The culture of costume purchasing during this "holiday" is so ingrained in our society that the mere idea of not dressing up at all incites ridicule and shame. But what does getting a costume even do? Get you more candy than your parents already bought for the occasion anyway? Although it may seem like a fun activity that we now take part it, but it has far strayed from its original roots. Instead of honoring the dead, we now dress up in scandalous costumes - anywhere from a sexy hippo to a sexy nurse - all for some delicious sweets that are bad for your health anyways. From a young age, children are indoctrinated with a desire to collect the most candy, as the "coolest" children are the ones who haul pillowcase after pillowcase of all different assortments of sweet treats. Every business views this day as one of commercial success rather than a fun time with family, swimming in their loads of profit made from Kit-Kats, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and scandalous costumes targeted towards the consumerist culture that mindlessly makes purchases based on societal views.

Parents on American Culture

When my loving parents came to America, the land of dreams, they came looking for a better and brighter future - better jobs, better opportunities, and better standard of living. My dad began his life in America doing business for whoever offered him some. He was very energetic and ambitious towards getting the many opportunities that are available in America. His homeland, Hong Kong, didn't have these opportunities; he could work all his life to no avail. He liked American culture because of this. On the contrary, he found that workplaces at the time to be pretty racist. He didn't like this because, economically speaking, racism's opportunity costs are too high. He enjoys the diversity that American brings, but doesn't understand why people discriminate because of race. In the end, this didn't bother him too much as he focused on his dreams of being a successful businessman. My mom shares very similar opinions with my dad. They both are very accepting of the new culture, but don't understand the prejudices that exist between "races."
Both my parents enjoy American culture for the most part, partaking in "daily body ritual... [and] mouth-rite", but not in the seeking of the "holy-mouth-man" (Miner 10).