Learning from Video Games

  In the concept paper “Learning and Experiencing from Gaming” (2013) written by Martin Hoag, implies that people can learn and experience about the reality of environment by playing video games. Hoag proved his theses by giving different examples of video games that are actually played in the world. The purpose of Hoag is to highlight video games in order to inform people that video games are not a waste of time, but it is the way people can learn to be abstracted and concrete. The intended audience of this concept paper is for all the people who want to learn the advantage of video game.

     I agree with Martin Hoag concept paper. I have learned a lot of things by playing a video game that related to the actual human day to day life. For example, if I lost a video game, I will try again and I will look different ways to win. This teach me how I can be successful in my real life too by solving different lifestyle problem. So video games can teach people in different assorts.

     Most people believes video games are created just only for fun or relaxations. However, Martin Hoag disprove those people thinking by “Video games does not merely serve as light entertainment: they also teach us valuable lessons and experiences” (173). Video games are used as a training purpose for army and police officers.  Hoag asserts that “The Chinese military and police services, the People’s Liberation Army- PLA- and the People Armed Police –PAP- use a local area network first-person shooting game for training purposes titled Counter Strike (Wee)” (175-176). This training gives advantage for the player to gain the skill how to protect his/ her enemies. Besides, the societies are safe from terrorist and other enemies if the military are strong.

Video games also teach the players how to survive or regain something in their life after they loss or it’s on the way to losing. Hoag states that, “The player is put in a state of tension while playing, forbidding himself to allow any of his unit to die, or else he would restart the game from the begging, and that once the player complete the game, he gains a feeling of satisfaction…” (179). As a result, people can learn video games gives us a lot of environmental experiences.     

     In article “This Is Your Brain in Meltdown” (2012), written by Arnsten, Amy, Carolyn M. Mazure, and Rajita Sinha implies that stress could disorder the functions of brain, and they explain how regains the brain function after affected by stress. Arnsten, Mazure, and Sinha supports the theses by giving different research results on the circuit of the brain. The purpose of this article is to persuade the readers in order to know the functions of the brain, keep up the brain function well, and control the stress. The audience of the article is all the people who struggling with stress and medical students.

     I agree the length of the exam reduce the ability of students to get a better score. Exam is temporarily blank, fold, or choke human brain because our prefrontal cortex is sensitive. This article is really helpful to know the structures of the brain and its functions. Not only the structures and functions of the brain but also helpful to know which behaviors disturb its functions and how the little stress disorder the functions of the brain. This article also shows the way to reduce stress.

     Arsten, Amy, Carolyn M. Mazure, and Rajita Sinha describes the human brain structures, functions, and stress. The prefrontal cortex is the control center of the brain and mediates the circuit of the brain. The prefrontal cortex structure is hierarchy and sensitive to stress. The functions of the brain influenced by stress.  According to Arsten, Carolyn, and Sinha “uncontrollable stress sets off a series of chemical events that weaken the influence of prefrontal cortex” (161). They also describe how regain the brain functions as “success in managing challenging situations can build resilience” (165).  

It Wasn't Me

     In the Josh Green's personal essay " How it Feels to be Falsely Accused" (2014) ,  which was a case defended by the Georgia Innocence Project, Green implies that Clarence Harrison had been a victim of the justice system. Green shows this by giving details about the case that convicted Mr. Harrison of rape, robbery, and kidnapping and how it changed Harrison's life forever. Green does this in order to show how a person's life was taken away because of flaws made in the justice system. The intended audience is for people who were or are incarcerated and how your life is changed due to lack of representation and evidence.
     Just from reading this article, it bought back memories about a man in my hometown that was also falsely accused and spent years in prison for a murder charge. It took the F.B.I. to come in and acquit this man and give him back his freedom. When it all boiled down, it was a relative of the girl who had committed the crime. You see a lot of people being exonerated now and are offered large sums of money for being falsely accused and having decades of their lives taken away from them. In my opinion no sum of money can replace life as a whole.
     Harrison was hurt when he learned the amount of time that he had just received and realized that it tore his mom to pieces. "She felt the hurt before I did, because I didn't accept it (194). He did what he could to help with his case but it was too stressful."I started getting too many migraine headaches, stressing myself out (194). He had lost all hope in becoming free again. The day they told me they lost the evidence and when my mother passed-those would be the worst two days. Once he got help from the outside things began to look better for him in one way but bad in another. He didn't know how he would make it in a new society since all he knew was what prison had taught him." When I left, [Interstate] 20 wasn't but two lanes on each side (195). It was a blessing for him to be freed but the people and time he lost changed his life forever.

Environmental Difference 

      In the personal essay “Talking in Color: Collision of Culture” (2013), written by Tiffany Hendrickson, implies that the power of the voice, and voice is different based on the environment. Hendrickson describes the power of voice by telling her experience and her struggle to communicate with the College students who have the same skin color with her. Hendrickson’s essay aided on the power of voice in order to inform the reader that the difference of voice and color are the culture of the society. The audience of this essay is all the people who struggle with being different from others.

     I feel Hendrickson's essay will change a lot of readers  who judged someone depending on their  voice and color.  Voice and color are a natural gifts and may differ depending on the society where he/she grew up. No one knows each persons history, therefore their accent should not be judged.             Hendrickson clearly support her thesis by giving details of  her experience at home,  while visiting her neighbor, and at the university she attended. She indicates the power of voice at the beginning of the first paragraph “growing up with a completely deaf mother, voices and massages are assorted in our household” (paragraph 1, line 4, Hendrickson). Hendrickson also reveals to the reader, voice is an accent which adapted from the surrounding society, “When I walk outside, in what most people would call impoverished African American neighborhood, I see faces not similar to mine, but I hear voices that sound familiar” (paragraph 1). She is also describe most people matched voice and color as “He had this look of disappointment on his face and said “well, then talk white. Stop talking like a nigger!”” (Paragraph 6).   

Your Land, My Land

  In the narrative essay "Your English, My English" (2014), written by Cantice Greene and Gaiza Lawson, Greene and Lawson suggest that we should try to communicate with people of other cultures and speak different languages. Greene and Lawson give several examples of the personal experiences in which they encountered while learning a new language and exploring a new environment. Their purpose was to inform us that in order to  understand others and their cultures, we must expand our minds instead of limiting it to one set way of living. The intended audience is for anyone thinking of learning a new language.
  I enjoyed reading the article and it reminded me of when I took Spanish in junior high school. I was a member of the Spanish Club and we would go to conventions  and compete in contest that only allowed you to speak Spanish. Afterwards, we would go to the Mexican restaurant and eat the different foods. It was a wonderful experience and someday I would like to take another Spanish class to refresh what I had previously  learned in order to communicate more with people now, since it seems that Spanish is the next most popular language spoken.
  Greene acknowledges that she was introduced to different languages as she was growing up and had some experience with the Mexican culture. She felt as though it was easier to relate to Spanish because she didn't think she would make it to other countries,"so Spanish just made sense" (127). Even though she was inexperienced with the Mexican culture, "the negative experiences didn't water down my enthusiasm for the Spanish language" (128). Greene also went into details about a story from the bible where God thought more than one language should be used. "Let Us go down and confuse their language that they may not understand one another's speech"(Gen 11:7) (129). "The Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth" (Gen 11:9) (129). She also adds that "it takes most of us great effort to attempt to communicate with people who speak other languages and live by different customs" (129). Lawson goes on to support his example by comparing the American culture and the way American's get their divorce to that of the African culture. "In American culture I learned you have to one person and divorce according to the law if you feel like the marriage is falling apart" (133). "In Africa, if the marriage is not working, the man sends the woman back to her family with her luggage and that means their union is over or he can take a second, or third wife to add to the first according to tradition" (133). I agree with both Greene and Lawson that learning a new language is beneficial and even though it may be a challenge, overall it can open up a new way you look at different cultures and understand their way of living easier.

A Visit to the Library by Richard Wright

A Visit to the Library

     The personal essay “A Visit to the Library” (1945), written by Richard Wright suggests that reading can change the way racism is interpreted and its connection to the personal life of the Negros in the south. Wright supports his theses by explaining and giving details about his experience with co-workers, a librarian, and other white men. Wright purpose was to let people know that reading was important in order to be able to help understand racism and why it is so frowned on in the south.
The general audience of this essay is for anyone that has experienced racism in the south.

     I am touched by Richard Wright's essay and surprised at  his potential to read books despite the  risks he was taking to get books from the library. Being that blacks did not have equal rights to read, Wright was careful in hiding material from racist men that he works with. I believe from his essay, not all people were racist in those days because it ended up being a white man that made it possible for him to get books for him. In addition, the librarian helped Wright to get the right book even though she was somewhat suspicious of him. I'm really thankful for those people who assisted him to explore his interest in reading books by Mencken.

     Wright explains his experience about racism and how difficult it was to read books for black boys in the south by saying, “There was a huge library near the riverfront, but I knew that Negroes were not allowed to patronize its shelves any more than they were the parks and playgrounds of the city” (118). Wright continues to acknowledge his experience of racism by the way the librarian questioned him by asking him if the books were for him that he was getting and he replies by saying, "Oh, no, ma'am. I can't read "(121). He also described how he would wrap the books in newspaper in order to cover up what he was reading but the men he worked with would still pry into his packages and then in turn question him.  He clearly expressed how reading could change someones life. For example,  “It was not a matter of believing or disbelieving what I read, but of feeling something new, of being affected by something that made the look the world different” (122). Wright learned a lot through reading those books but was careful not to show it. He knew life could be better for him and his family in the north versus the south but he knew he stuck and had no way out.

Context Essay

  In the personal essay "Context"(2014), Dorothy Allison explains that context matter and can influence a person's reception of your family. Allison supports her thesis by giving examples of her personal experiences with her lover as well as her family. Allison also uses contexts of her life in order to express her fear of  what others thought of her sexual preference. Her intended audience was for anyone in fear of introducing their bisexual relationship to their families.
  It is indeed a crazy world that we live in and fear plays a major part in. Since the time she wrote this essay that the nation has had several opinions about the legalization of same sex marriage and I personally feel that it is wrong but my opinion is supported by the was I was raised and taught from the bible. I still however respect everyone and their choice and make no difference to them as being a person just like me.
 Allison uses flashbacks of her life as a child to show context to the dialect of her family's living conditions. "We had never owned an air conditioner, never stayed in a motel, never eaten in a restaurant where my mother did not work".(116) She then goes on to add an incident when her family had gone on a vacation and her stepfather made a racial statement reflecting as the man in the store being a Jew and said that the "Jew bastard will charge me if you break anything."(116) She didn't want to be profiled as being like her stepfather so she said "I gritted my teeth and kept my head up, looked that man in the face and mouthed, I'm sorry."(117). Overall Allison considers "Context is so little to share, and so vital."(117) However, her greatest fear was that no matter how others judge the people she was with, it would still have an effect on what people thought she would be like as well.