Hw 37

Introduction

“We real cool. We Left school. We Lurk late. We Strike straight. We Sing sin. We Thin gin. We Jazz June. We Die soon.” (Gwendolyn) Cool, such a simple word yet so many meanings and secrets hidden deep within it. What is so cool about being cool? Nobody has the answer to this but attempt to achieve the same thing, yet so many people get hurt in the process. What are we trying to prove here? Why are so many people taking so many risks to earn this small, or big for many title? What good will it cause them in the future. To be cool, many people say that you need to be unique and different; yet so many individuals out there follow others to gain insights on what cool really is. Nobody is cool because they are unique or their own person, that’s an excuse we all use. The society or some other form of influence causes everything we do. We are all stealing ideas from each other and adjusting them to our own needs; this will make others think that we were the ones that came up with the idea at first. The real deal here is that we are afraid to let others know that we took these ideas from them. If all these individuals figure this out then we are done, our whole attempt to be considered cool is down the drain. While being the observer at first we are observed in the process while we are taking looks and ideas from others that surround us. We adapt them and make them our own and try to hide this fact, if someone figures this out then we are forced to take a fall from the “cool” ladder and try to get back on the top again.

First Impressions

We all make a “first impression” based on what we wear, how we speak, etc… we become the one being observed and it depends on what the observer wants to steal away from us. When a new kid comes to school or if someone walks in to an interview, the first thing the viewer looks at is the outside of the individual. How he or she presents themselves. One way some people like to represent them self is with permanent markings on the skin. Tattoos have become increasingly popular in many societies, in some cases it’s considered weird if you don’t have one; for example basketball players are usually covered with tattoos, without them it would be considered as if they are not following all the norms to be on such a team; to be honest that is the way I feel when I see Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns playing with his team mates. He seems to stand out physically, when playing with all the other players on his team because he doesn’t have his body covered with pricey art. Tattoos can tell many experiences and be considered as “armor” for some. Mr. Fanning, the high school principal at School of the Future has his arms covered with tattoos. As a principal it may raise some eyebrows (even mine, if I hadn’t known much about him) when they find out what field he is associated in, but he says he doesn’t regret having these tattoos. Each tattoo on his arm symbolizes something that he loves or a memory that he wants to keep with him forever. Tattoos are a way to represent who you are from the inside.

Another way to have a “cool” approach is by following the “latest” trend out there. Taking a risk to be considered higher on the cool hierarchy is by starting a trend yourself, but is this possible? “It would be impossible to start a trend because chances are, some body has started that trend already. So technically we are following them even if we don’t know about them at all.”(Hunter, Charles) Many of us have a hard time to create a new trend because we have no where to start, we usually roam around and pick up on what the others are doing. Most individuals have a strong desire to be known as or be associated with something cool. A good example for this would be young individuals like teenagers; playing the cool role in school is what many of these kids want to be a part of these days. Many students are in the search for something that is “cool”, this caused the website WikiHow to have a page titled “How to be cool at school”. This article compiles rules you should follow to be considered “cool” in school. Standing out by being independent and treating others the way you would want to be treated is what the people at WikiHow think will help one be “cool” in school. You want to be smooth with everything to be considered “cool” you don’t want to hurt other people’s feelings in the process. These twelve steps will help you become “cooler” in school because you want yourself to at least fit in with the other students but stand out amongst others in some way. You don’t want to be obvious; you want to make others to look at you as if you are a natural pro at this. If you make it obvious then you are being what they call desperate; that is definitely not considered “cool”. “Be who you really are DO NOT TRY SO HARD people notice.”("WikiHow”)

So many people have an obsession to be considered cool because they want others to look up to them. They want all the eyes on themselves, so that they can be the star, but this isn’t easily possible when so many others out there are trying to do the same thing. Celebrities are a big part on what is considered cool and what isn’t. They are the ones that are used to promote new products and make something ordinary be considered cool just because a certain person is wearing it. This is an example of how so many of us seem to steal these ideas from others and make others look at us as if we were the ones who came up with it first. For example the “my touch” phone commercial from T mobile, they show certain celebrities using these phones and making them their own by adding their “unique” touches. This causes the viewers to go out and buy the same product to make it seem as if they have their own customized phone. We create our “own” looks by taking away bits and pieces from other peoples ideas and creating them to match our own needs.

Cool and Emptiness

We try to ignore what we truly are and try to replace it by the pressure caused by others surrounding us. Now a days we take everything we have for granted. There is always something wrong with what we already have and we need to change it. For example, adding “ornaments” to ourselves or customizing ourselves shows that we do not appreciate what we have with us already. We always want to make certain aspects of ourselves better because the society wants us to do so. For example in latest celebrity news, reality TV star Heidi Pratt had 10 plastic surgery procedures done on her at the same time. This shows how much she hated the way she appeared to be before. She wanted to make herself seem more attractive and got pressured by what others had to say about her: “I was made fun of when I was younger, and so I had insecurities, especially after I moved to L.A. People said I had a "Jay Leno chin"; they'd circle it on blogs and say nasty things. It bothered me. And when I watched myself on The Hills, my ears would be sticking out like Dumbo! I just wanted to feel more confident and look in the mirror and be like, "Whoa! That's me!" I was an ugly duckling before.” ("Huffington Post") Because other people said she looked a certain way, she went out and had surgery done just because of what they had to say about her exterior features. There are so many young girls out there that look up to celebrities like Heidi Pratt. What they don’t know is that they are looking up to someone that is having other people make decisions for her.

Once we are able to “fit in” we want to be in charge. There are many levels to obtain the cool you want, because everybody has different interpretations of cool. The path to being cool is filled with many risks; for example in the movie Rebel Without a Cause, James Dean plays the new student at a school which is tough for him to fit in at first. He has no idea where to start off to be cool; on a school trip he decides to act the same way the cool crowd does. By doing so he risks himself into getting hurt because this so called cool crowd does not like him following them around. Later on the head bully and James Dean have a one on one face-off with each other; they hold knives and try to get each other hurt. After the “cool” group learns that this new kid (James Dean) is pretty tough, they have no problems as for him to be an addition to the group. The leader of the group invites him to a gathering they have outside of school. They play a game of “Chickie Run” where they have to race cars near a cliff; towards the end of the scene the bully gets killed because his sleeve gets caught on the car door. We assume that James Dean is able to replace the cool leader spot because he has shown the others that he is one tough kid. Even though he had to take many risks to fit into this role, he was able to survive at the end.

We usually do not like to admit being “cool” or trying to fit in with others because that’s not considered cool; yet we all do the same thing. We all have a sense of meaninglessness within ourselves and have no way to express it. What we do to fill this space up is try to distract this feeling by making our self-feel important and for others to care about us. This is where the “cool” aspect comes in; we try to be something that we naturally aren’t just so this tingling feeling can go away. We will do anything it takes for it to go away; even if puts our life in jeopardy.

Masking Our self

“No one is truly original because everything around us influences us in some way or another. We are always trying to set up the situations we are in so that we make ourselves look good or cool. Cool gives us the attention we crave. We try to get people to recognize us. Which makes us feel special in return. We become obsessed with presenting ourselves to our audience, whether it be real or fake.” (Grant, Larche) We are all trying to create an identity to cover up our real self; by being fake, some people are able to pass through this aspect of being cool. We are all literally covering ourselves up with artificial materials that are not necessary to obtain a normal life. I will walk into the bathroom being greeted by girls hovered around the mirror just so they can get a glimpse of what they look like, and if they are not satisfied they will pull out their make up kits. Guys always want to smell good so that others (girls in particular) won’t think they are dirty. We always want to hide these things that we do not like about ourselves. Each society has norms that each individual needs to follow, if they don’t then they are automatically out of the “cool” game everybody is trying to take a part of. These days, societies have made custom boxes for each gender to fit into to take place of a cool role. For the girls it’s usually being skinny, having long hair, piercing on the ears, and applying makeup. For the guys it’s having a muscular body, short hair, tattoos, and smelling good. We all try to hide who we are, and accessorize our self to make us standout. We want to get the most attention we can, yet when there are so many others out there trying to do the same thing, it’s hard to have all the attention. It is possible for someone to get more attention then another individual but no one can get all the attention. And even if someone is able to get a fraction of all the attention, then it puts more pressure on them. When most of the eyes are on them, everyone is watching all their moves, if something goes wrong then they are out of the game.

Celebrities are exactly like this, but they ask for it; why else would they have such a career? They are the ones everybody knows about and are in the “latest news”. They are the ones that guide us into what’s in and what’s out, for example before the society usually wanted the females to have a petite figure; now a days it’s different. Many young women are trying to get a curvier body because that’s what the society asks for. Many will do anything to reach this goal, even if it means to have surgery. If these young women do not follow what the society asks of them, then the others in the society (men) will not pay them much attention.

In the Merchants of cool, People from different companies go out in a search for a meaning of cool, so that they can come out with products that everyone (teenagers) would want to buy. Many companies out there are running their businesses off of “cool”. If they come out with something that everyone likes then they will be creating a profit. If they don’t well they will have to try again or they would be in lose. We are all spread out into a hierarchy, all-striving to be the one on the top. When so many of us are competing to be the best at one thing where there is no elimination like on those TV shows, there can be more than one person on the top. There are sets of rules we all have to follow and it all depends on you and how you follow those rules to see where you will end up.

Conclusion

While being the observer at first we are observed in the process while we are taking looks and ideas from others that surround us. We adapt them and make them our own and try to hide this fact, if someone figures this out then we are forced to take a fall from the “cool” ladder and try to get back on the top again. Stealing ideas from others to create our meaning of cool shows that we use each other to create this look of cool. Without everyone helping us out, there would be no cool. We all dress ourselves up from the inside out to be someone that we are naturally aren’t. We do this so we can “fit in” and at least have a chance of being considered cool. It’s the human code in many societies; there are many different ways to decode it. How hard are you willing to figure it all out? This all depends on you.

MLA Citations
Websites:
"Heidi Montag's 10 Plastic Surgery Procedures: Before & After PHOTOS." Huffington Post (2010): n. pag. Web. 24 Jan 2010. .

Gwendolyn , Brooks . "We Real Cool ." Harpers n. pag. Web. 24 Jan 2010. .

"How to Be Cool at School." WikiHow. 24/1/1010. Web. 24 Jan 2010. .
Media:
James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause
Merchants of Cool
Mytouch Phone
Personal Interviews:
Mr. Fanning
Larche Grant
Charles Hunter

Hwk 36

Larche,
“The society pressures us into molding ourselves into a different creature, we are all moths that are thinking that this lightbulb is the moon...”

Cool is changing in the speed of light, we can’t be able to keep up with it, yet we force ourselves to do so. There are so many different types of cool as well, each individual has a different definition of cool. None of us know this real meaning of cool yet, but we try so hard to figure it out. We are all masking ourselves into something that we aren’t, we all try so hard to be so artificial. This is what the society teaches all of us to do. When we feel this sense of meaninglessness we have nowhere else to turn to. We just start to follow what everyone else is doing, or do what we are told by society. Getting tattoos, piercings, becoming buff, wearing make up; these are all things we do because we are told to do so.
Personally, I think this is a very strong start for your paper. You have many great things to say but there are a couple more things that you need to tweak or add to make this paper better, since there is always room for improvement...

- Try using a quote from a real person that YOU did an interview with in person, or when Mr. Fanning came into Andy’s class.
- You should use the merchants of cool, or the research we did on cool to show how we are all trying to change ourselves for the “better”.
- Try to expand by adding more paragraphs with more evidence to back up your thesis
- I see you are missing a conclusion, or last paragraph of the essay; restate your thesis and end off with a strong last paragraph to keep the reader wanting more.
- Proof read a couple of times to make sure grammar is correct and you are making sense.

Hopefully this will help :)


Charles,
“We are all trying to “fit” ourselves into a certain box that shows off how cool we are, without doing so we would not be accepted by society.”

Each individual living on this planet makes at least one attempt to be cool throughout their life time. It’s something that we naturally adapt to do, we all want to be cool, but aren’t able to grasp the full aspect of it because there is no real definition of cool since it is changing ever so fast. People use their exterior self to show who they are because that’s the only thing people actually get to look at before they know you. They already start to judge you before a word comes out your mouth; I guess that’s why they created the saying “dress to impress.” Showing the society who you are by wearing name brand clothing can send them many messages. They are going to assume you have high amounts of money, you may be snobby or that you have a great sense of style. These are all assumptions being made by individuals you don’t even know exist.

Honestly, I think that you have a good rough draft. You have lots of thoughts about this topic of trying to fit in and be cool. You only seem to talk about the exterior part of being cool, how about the interior part? Here is a to-do list I have created for you, you should complete all these tasks before you post your final draft up....

- Mention James Dean in the movie Rebel without a cause, and talk about his character and how hard he tries to fit in with the “cool” crowd.
- Use the discussions we had in class, use your notebook as a reference. Remember that chart we made with the Behavior, Body and Name? Use some of the ideas we came up with for each section and elaborate on how it makes us feel “cool”.
- Try to connect this cool aspect with the sense of meaninglessness. What is the true reason that all humans have a need to be cool in some way? What causes this?
- Use an interview you did with a friend or a random person on the street and talk more about that one individual in specific.
- Have all your paragraphs with subtitles on your final draft, and proof read your final work before posting it up.

Hope this to-do list is useful when revising your paper :)

Hw 35

“We real cool. We Left school. We Lurk late. We Strike straight. We Sing sin. We Thin gin. We Jazz June. We Die soon.” (Gwendolyn Brooks) Cool, such a simple word yet so many meanings and secrets hidden deep within it. What is so cool about being cool? Nobody has the answer to this but attempt to achieve the same thing, yet so many people get hurt in the process. What are we trying to prove here? Why are so many people taking so many risks to earn this title? What good will it cause them in the future. To be cool, many people say that you need to be unique and different; yet so many individuals out there follow others to gain insights on what cool really is. Nobody is cool because they are unique or their own person, that’s an excuse we all use. The society or some other form of influence causes everything they do. We are all stealing ideas from each other and adjust them to our own needs; this will make others think that we were the ones that came up with the idea at first. The real deal here is that we are afraid to let others know that we took these ideas from them. If all these individuals figure this out then we are done, our whole attempt to be considered cool is down the drain. While being the observer at first, we are all later on observed when we have taken the looks and ideas from others that surround us flaunting their own “coolness”. We adapt them and make them our own and try to hide this fact, when someone finds this out then we are automatically considered a follower.

We all make a “first impression” based on what we wear, how we speak, etc… we become the one being observed and it depends on what the observer wants to steal away from us. When a new kid comes to school or if someone walks in to an interview, the first thing the viewer looks at is the outside of the individual. How he or she presents themselves. One way some people like to represent them self is with permanent markings on the skin. Tattoos have become really popular in many societies, in some cases it’s considered weird if you don’t have one; for example basketball players are usually covered with tattoos, without them it would be considered “different”? Tattoos can tell many experiences and be considered as” armor” for some. Mr. Fanning, the high school principal at School of the Future has his arms covered with tattoos. As a principal it may raise some eyebrows of others at certain meetings but he says he doesn’t regret having these tattoos. Each tattoo on his arm symbolizes something that he loves or a memory that he wants to have with him forever. Tattoos are a way to represent who you are from the inside. Another way to have a “cool” approach is by following the “latest” trend out there. Some people out there have a great desire to be known as “cool” or start something cool. Many students are in the search for something that is “cool”, this caused the website Wikipedia to have a page titled “how to be cool at school”. This article compiles rules you should follow to be considered “cool” in school. Standing out by being independent and treating others the way you would want to be treated is what these people think will help one be “cool” in school. You want to be smooth with everything to be considered “cool” you don’t want to hurt other people’s feelings in the process. These twelve steps will help you become “cooler” in school because you want yourself to at least fit in with the other students but stand out amongst others in some way. You don’t want to be obvious; you want to make others look at you as if you are a natural pro at this. If you make it obvious then you are being what they call desperate; that is definitely not considered “cool”. “Be who you really are DO NOT TRY SO HARD people notice.”(wiki) So many people have an obsession to be at least something close to cool because they want others to look up to them. They want all the eyes on themselves, so that they can be the star, but this isn’t easily possible when so many others out there are trying to do the same thing. Celebrities are a big part on what is considered cool and what isn’t. They are the ones that are used to promote new products and make something ordinary be considered cool just because a certain person is wearing it. This is an example of how so many of us seem to steal these ideas from others and make others look at us as if we were the ones who came up with it. For example the “my touch” phone commercial from T mobile, they show certain celebrities using these phones and making them their own by adding their “unique” touches. This causes the viewers to go out and buy the same product to make it like they have their own customized phone. We create our “own” looks by taking away bits and pieces from other peoples ideas and creating them to match our own needs.

We try to ignore what we truly are and try to replace it by the pressure caused by others surrounding us. Now a days we take everything we have for granted. There is always something wrong with what we already have and we need to change it. For example, adding ornaments to ourselves or customizing ourselves shows that we do not appreciate what we have with us already. We always want to make certain aspects of ourselves better because the society wants us to do so. For example in latest celebrity news, reality TV star Heidi Pratt had 10 plastic surgery procedures done on her at the same time. This shows how much she hated the way she appeared to be before. She wanted to make herself seem more attractive and got pressured by what others had to say about her: “I was made fun of when I was younger, and so I had insecurities, especially after I moved to L.A. People said I had a "Jay Leno chin"; they'd circle it on blogs and say nasty things. It bothered me. And when I watched myself on The Hills, my ears would be sticking out like Dumbo! I just wanted to feel more confident and look in the mirror and be like, "Whoa! That's me!" I was an ugly duckling before.” (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/14/heidi-montags-10-plastic_n_423855.html) Because other people said she looked a certain way, she went out and had surgery done just because of what they had to say about her features. There are so many young girls out there that look up to celebrities like Heidi Pratt. What they don’t know is that they are looking up to someone that is having other people make decisions for her. Once we are able to “fit in” we want to be in charge. There are many levels to obtain the cool you want, because everybody has different interpretations of cool. The path to being cool is filled with many risks, for example in the movie we saw earlier this unit with James Dean being as the new student at a school, it’s tough fro him to fit in at first. He has no idea where to start off to be cool; on a school trip he decides to act the same way the cool crowd does. By doing so he risks himself into getting hurt because this so called cool crowd does not like him following them around. Later on the main cool guy and James Dean have a one on one face-off with each other; they hold knives and try to get each other hurt. After the “cool” group learns that this new kid is pretty tough, they have no problems as for him to be an addition to the group. The leader of the group invites him to a gathering they have outside of school. They play a game where they have to racecars near a cliff; towards the end of the scene the cool leader gets killed because he was not able to escape his car fast enough. We assume that James Dean is able to replace the cool leader spot because he has shown the others that he is a pretty tough kid. Even though he had to take many risks to fit into this role, he was able to survive at the end. We usually do not like to admit being “cool” or trying to fit in with others because that’s not considered cool; yet we all do the same thing. We all have a sense of meaninglessness within ourselves and have no way to express it. What we do to fill this space up is try to distract this feeling by making our self-feel important and for others to care about us. This is where the “cool” aspect comes in; we try to be something that we naturally aren’t just so this tingling feeling can go away. We will do anything it takes for it to go away; even if puts our life in jeopardy.

We are all trying to create an identity to cover up our real self; by being fake, some people are able to pass through this aspect of being cool. We are all literally covering ourselves up with artificial materials that are not necessary to obtain a normal life. You walk into the bathroom and see girls hovered around the mirror just so they can get a glimpse of what they look like, and if they are not satisfied they will pull out their make up kits. Guys always want to smell good so that others (girls) won’t think they are dirty. We always want to hide the things that we do not like about ourselves. Each society has norms that each individual needs to follow, if they don’t then they are automatically out of the “cool” game everybody is trying to be a part of. These days society has custom made boxes for each gender to fit into to be cool. For the girls it’s usually being skinny, having long hair, piercing on the ears, and applying makeup. For the guys it’s having a muscular body, short hair, tattoos, and smelling good. We all try to hide who we are, and accessorize our self to make us standout. We want to get the most attention we can, yet when there are so many others out there trying to do the same thing it’s hard to have all the attention. It is possible for someone to get more attention then another individual but no one can get all the attention. And even if someone is able to get the attention, then it puts more pressure on them. When most of the eyes are on them, everyone is watching all their moves, if something goes wrong then they are out of the game. Celebrities are exactly like this, but they ask for it; why else would they have such a career? They are the ones everybody knows about and are in the “latest news”. They are the ones that guide us into what’s in and what isn’t in, for example before the society usually wanted the females to have a petite figure; now a days it’s different. Many young women are trying to get a curvier body because that’s what the society asks for. Many will do anything to reach this goal, even if it means to have surgery. If these young women do not follow what the society asks of them, then not many will pay them much attention. In the Merchants of cool, People from different companies went out to search for a meaning of cool so that they can come out with products that everyone (teenagers) would want to buy. Many companies out there are running their businesses off of “cool”. If they come out with something that everyone likes then they will be creating a profit. If they don’t well they will have to try again or they would be in lose. We are all spread out into a hierarchy, all-striving to be the one on the top. When so many of us are competing to be the best at one thing where there is no elimination like on those TV shows, there can be more than one person on the top. There are sets of rules we all have to follow and it all depends on you and how you follow those rules to see where you will end up.

While being the observer at first, we are all later on observed when we have taken the looks and ideas from others that surround us flaunting their own “coolness”. We adapt them and make them our own and try to hide this fact, when someone finds this out then we are automatically considered a follower. Stealing ideas from others to create our meaning of cool shows that we use each other to create this look of cool. Without everyone helping us out, there would be no cool. We all dress ourselves up from the inside out to be someone that we are naturally aren’t. We do this so we can “fit in” and at least have a chance of being considered cool. It’s the human code in many societies; there are many different ways to decode it. How hard are you willing to figure it all out? This all depends on you.

Hw 34

Cool has been around for a while now, this is why there are so many definitions of cool. There are different types of cool created in each society; for some a certain thing may be cool for others it may not be considered cool at all. Just like there are different ethnicities, there are different ways to be cool. Some are considered to be cooler than others while others are striving to be just like them. Many of us have maps drawn out for us, we have certain spaces for what matters the most and what doesn’t matter so much to us. For example a typical young black boy living in the projects may have some space for his family, and school but most of this space will be filled with his interest in friends and the media. This all impacts how the child will become when they mature. Most of the kids that this young black boy is friends with may not be doing so well in school; they will be slacking and taking on the roles of what they see in society. They will not be getting very far in life; most of them will be high school dropouts or not go to college. This is what research shows, and this is what most of us think in our minds as well. Society has already created this “cool” role for them and in order to be considered “cool” they have to do what ever the others in their ethnic group are doing. If they don’t then they would be considered the opposite of “cool” and be known as a “wimp”.

Playing the role of “cool” is a big responsibility; there are many that may think that you are cool, but there are always those other individuals that look through another set of eyes. People create different maps of themselves which show what they pay attention to the most. Usually for us teenagers the maps consist of four main components, family and school which are only the small parts and there are friends and school. This all impacts how this individual grows up and how he/she will end up later on in life. For example, research shows that young black kids are more likely not to care about their education and end up doing drugs and dropout of school. Why is this? This is because it all depends on how all these 4 components of this so called map impact the individual; since the role of friends and the media are much more overpowering than the role of family and school the young individual starts to do what the others want them to do. For a white kid this may not be very common, society has already made their “cool” role to have a good education and succeed in life. Is it possible to reverse these roles and put ourselves in another box?

There are many stereotypical things that are said about individuals in different races, and many times they are true. It seems to me that many of these different ethnic groups do not want to be grouped in to these stereotypes. They want to prove that they aren’t what everyone thinks they are; the Asian girl isn’t the one that goes home right after school to read her comic book filled with Chinese characters speaking in Chinese. We all want to break out of this shell and go as far as we can from what people have already labeled us as. Yet, all these ethnicities will be looked under a label that is very hard to change. The white kid will usually be the one that turns out successful, the Asian kid will usually try to find some way to be cool but be brought back down to do what his parents want him to do, and the black kid will be the one out on the streets having trouble with his life. Now these things can be turned around; it all depends on the impact of the society and people they are surrounded with. If the black kid has friends that are aiming to be successful in life then there are higher chances that he will be a part of that as well.

Race has a lot to do with what is considered “cool” and how it has impacted the individual. What’s “cool” for one race may not be that cool for the other yet they still want to fit in and make the “cool” aspect their own. Usually back in the day (and in the present) you see the Black and Hispanic boys with their jeans coming down, underwear showing, and wearing baseball hats. Now, you will be on a subway and see the same idea on a white guy, I’m not saying that it doesn’t work on him but this idea was not really formed by him; he stole it and made it his own. He is fit into the “box” of that certain type of dress ware.

Cool can be a contributive factor to individuals getting worse job opportunities, earlier death, and higher suffering. It all depends on the society and what “everyone” else is doing. For example in an area in Flatbush, Brooklyn the most popular restaurant is the Fried Chicken place. “You will see obese black people feeding themselves this unhealthy food, and their kids as well.” (Andy S.) There is a stereotype saying that a black individual’s favorite food is fried chicken. This is true in some cases, it may not be every single black individual’s favorite type of food but many black people do love their fried chicken. Even simple things like food can become “cool” like. Just because of someone’s skin color they are automatically assumed to like a certain type of food? Since this is true for the Black population, coolness can contribute to earlier death. Same goes for all these other factors that contribute to “cool”. There are other reasons for why coolness can cause higher suffering for different types of people. It’s all about their status and how they are placed through other peoples eyes. For example people can just take a glance at someone’s name on a resume and consider on giving them the job or not. For instance, after the9/11 attacks, many Muslim people had a hard time finding jobs just because of their names. Coolness between ethnicities is pretty hard because it can change through everyday events. Just because some people from a certain group caused something; all of the sudden everyone in the group is being targeted. This causes the higher suffering a certain group gets because their coolness is based on events that don’t have much to do with being cool at all.

Cool is only a 4 letter word, yet it has so many meanings and impacts on different societies. There are so many different types of cools out there and so many people trying to fit into a certain box to be a certain type of cool. We draw our cultural maps based on cool, and this is what takes us to where we end up in life. What will look achievable in our cultural maps is always based on the society the individual lives in because it all depends on what everyone else is doing. There are so many prizes that are given out to be cool: a better status, having people looking at you for an example of cool; yet there are so many things that have a negative impact as well. It’s all about taking risks and what YOU want to do about it. How willing are you to be “cool” because it doesn’t come easy if you don’t have it naturally.

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Thesis: While being the observer at first, we are all later on observed when we have taken the looks and ideas from others that surround us flaunting their own “coolness”. We adapt them and make them our own and try to hide this fact, when someone finds this out then we are automatically considered a follower.

Paragraph 1: We all make a “first impression” based on what we wear, how we speak, etc… we become the one being observed and it depends on what the observer wants to steal away from us
Point 1: Mr. Fanning’s interview: how people are judged with tattoos (while being a principal at a school.)
Point 2: Setting a trend, make something seem cooler (research on how to be cool.)
Point 3: Stealing ideas from looking at famous people and how they have dressed themselves, making it work on you. Celebrities are used for ads to make a product look “cooler”.

Paragraph 2: We try to ignore what we truly are and try to replace it by the pressure caused by others surrounding us.
Point 1: Having someone to look up to, for example celebrities and doing whatever they are doing (having a role model.)
Point 2: Once we are able to “fit in”, we want to take control of things based off of what is cool or what isn’t (the part of a movie we saw in class earlier this unit.) Being cool is associated with taking risks.
Point 3: We are all unique in our very own ways, yet we seem to “fit in” with the crowd and blend ourselves in. (Emptiness and how we try to cover it up, yet in my opinion it is a permanent part of us.)

Paragraph 3: We are all trying to create an identity to cover up our “real” self; by being fake, some people are able to pass through this aspect of being cool.
Point 1: Girls applying make up, or covering our self with tattoos; what image are we setting for our self? (Mr. Fanning interview/personal friend interview)
Point 2: What is considered “cool” changes like the seasons change throughout the year. We have to keep up with it or else we will fade away, and no one will consider us to be cool. (Fashion magazines, Celeb gossip, Merchants of cool.)
Point 3: We are all in a hierarchy, and this calculates whose on top (considered cool) and how everyone else is spread out. When we go out, people do not care about or names yet they care much more about “what we do.” Or for younger individuals “what school or college” they go to.

Conclusion: While being the observer at first, we are all later on observed when we have taken the looks and ideas from others that surround us flaunting their own “coolness”. We adapt them and make them our own and try to hide this fact, when someone finds this out then we are automatically considered a follower. We all dress ourselves up from the inside out to be someone that we are naturally aren’t. We do this so we can “fit in” and at least have a chance of being considered cool. It’s the human code in many societies; there are many different ways to decode it. How hard are you willing to figure it all out? Well, this all depends on you.

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They are very common in many societies; for some individuals it shows toughness, a way to say “back off.” For others it’s a way to show off a body part, for example young women having something inked on their lower backs. Tattoos are considered as something normal in our society. People look at it and walk away, yet so many people still are getting themselves under the needle; why are all these individuals: young and old getting branded. “I did it because it represents me” is not a good enough answer. For some it tells a story about their life, for some it’s their way to show passionate love for somebody (i.e. having a loved ones name permanently inked).

I personally do not plan on getting any tattoo in the future. I feel like tattoos are like company logos that are “punctured into the flesh”. Whether it is something written in a different language or a favorite childhood cartoon character, these people are adding a price to their body. I have many mixed feelings on the topic of tattoos itself, for the individuals who have had their flesh punctured I respect their thoughts and reasons for why they got under the needle. Everybody has their own story to tell, it’s their own body and they can do whatever they want to do with it.

Why is it that for a man to get a tattoo, it’s usually considered as if they are creating a “tough” look and make them appear superior? While for a female it’s usually considered in some way sexual or her wanting to flaunt her body? Even though my thoughts are a bit affected by what the society says, I feel like the main point of having a tattoo is to show off something, or gain some attention. I asked a friend of mine why she got her tattoo, and what caused her to get it; she stated: “My father has tattoos and I gave them a lot of attention. I only like the ones with color. I got mine after having my son to show love. People out there get it done for different reasons.” (Reyes, Sasha) She has her tattoo on her upper part of the right arm. To be honest I feel that she went for the punk, and tough kind of look, I was right after confirming it. She has a heart with a butterfly on it, with the name and birth date of her son. She said she got the heart with the name and birth date for her son, and she got the butterfly sitting on top of the heart to show that she has grown and matured and started a new life.

Personally I think that we should resist this trend because I feel like getting tattoos is like “ohhh, look at me…I am “different” with this tattoo”. Even though I respect the people who do have tattoos out there, I think that our bodies should not be covered with artwork you would pay for, while our natural body is a form of art itself. People say that our bodies are priceless, but by paying to cover them with other forms of art is just adding unnecessary value to the body. To me, people that have tattoos, usually with a name or date just want to get themselves out there and let everyone else know their business. I think that all these parts of life should stay personal and private. They should not be exhibited in front of the eyes of strangers.

To me tattoos can signify a variety of things; love, religion, toughness, etc…; but I do not feel that all these things should be signified by using our body as a material that should be drawn on. I feel that tattoos represent “a sheep pushing forward for branding to pledge permanent allegiance to her particular herd.” We should accept the way that our body is and not add things to the mixture. I may be a hypocrite saying this, but I would not do anything to my body that would leave a permanent mark on it.

It’s funny how so many people create “excuses” for why they got their tattoo yet they are all attempting the same action. They all want to get the most attention; even though the tattoo may be a different image and mean something different, but at the end of the day it all falls into the category of receiving attention and becoming “cool”. I would say for all the people out there that do not have tattoos is not an attempt to be special at all. That’s the way they were naturally born and they are proud of it. They do not need to “decorate” themselves with unnecessary items. It’s all about how you are personality wise, not by what your body is covered with, at least that’s the case in my opinion.

I stated before that I was being a bit hypocritical with what I said earlier, but hey, I am being honest with you. As an individual from the areas in the Middle East/The Greater Middle East, in my culture henna tattoos are very common. Since I was a young child growing up, I had henna put on my hands on specials holidays and wedding ceremonies; I still do to this day. But to me henna is a different story; henna is like a natural tattoo to meand naturally fades away on its own. “Henna or Hina (Lawsonia inermis, syn. L. alba) is a flowering plant, the sole species in the genus Lawsonia in the family Lythraceae. The word "henna" (حــنــا) comes from the Arabic name for the plant.” ("Wikipedia") Henna is a natural concoction of henna leaves and they leave an orange/reddish/brownish color on the skin when in contact. Henna will fade away in a week or two depending on how good it is. I am personally a fan of henna and know how to do it myself after learning from my cousins and living in such a culture. I would say tattoos and henna are on completely different levels in my honest opinion…

Works Cited:

Personal Friend/ Co-worker Sasha Reyes

"Henna." Wikipedia. 31 December 2009 at 05:29. Web. 7 Jan 2010. .

Extra Credit: f.

I feel like many of us in this world can connect to Ivan in some way or another. Even though we don’t want to follow a set of rules set by our societies, we are forced to do so without even knowing it. Instead of learning what the true meaning of life is by making his own decisions, Ivan lets the society represent what the true meaning of life is. By living his life as an aristocrat, Ivan made decisions based off of “rules” set for aristocrats. For example, he gets married because an individual in his standing should get married; he buys a house located in the city and decorates it with highbrow trappings because of his aristocratic status. Ivan is definitely “lost” because he is not making decisions for himself; he lets his set of “rules” make it for him.

All of us adapt our self to this sense of “lostness” as we are growing up in certain societies. This feeling has been with us for many generations. It has been interpreted in different ways, yet it still comes back to the same feeling. The source can alternate, for different individuals: for some it maybe caused by the lack of care and nurturing received from parents, for others like Ivan it may be caused by the amount of pressure caused by society. The sources of “lostness” go up the hierarchy; when you are down below then the source of this feeling is usually caused by the people that are close to you like family and friends, when an individual is in a higher level, then most of this “lostness” has to do more with the society.

'Maybe I did not live as I ought to have done,' it suddenly occurred to him. 'But how could that be, when I did everything properly?' he replied, and immediately dismissed from his mind this, the sole solution of all the riddles of life and death, as something quite impossible.When Ivan learns about an illness it’s like a slap on the face for him, he comes back into life. Since he knows that death is near, he looks at life from a different set of eyes. This causes him to learn what really matters in life. It doesn’t have to do with his status in society, yet what counts most like love and compassion. He doesn’t really live through this sense of “lostness” anymore; instead he lives his life by looking through the amazing aspects of life. He is not controlled by his society and doesn’t care about this fact either; he only does what he desires to do so.

I think that all of us that have experienced life in this world go through a stage where we feel lost. Whether we are rich or poor, young or old we will live through the sense of “lostness” in at least one part of our life. Even though we may not want to face this feeling, we are forced to do so. Most of this has to do with our society and how it treats its members. There are always a set of rules that are put out for all of us; it’s out decision to follow it or not to. We all want to be accepted by others to lose this feeling, but what we don’t realize is that we will have this sense of “lostness” within us no matter what we do. We may want to ignore it by filling it up with other materials, but it will still be there. It’s a permanent part of us, no matter what we do it will always be there forever.