Tyler's Junior Year Blog

     I find the wording of passages especially challenging in Song of Solomon. In lots of instances Toni Morrison will use words that I am completely unfamiliar with, and I'll have to either look it up, or try and use context to figure it out. In the page above I didn't know what the word merriment meant so I had to look it up. Other times, the order and usage of perfectly definable words can completely throw me off. For example on page 126, for what ever reason I could not understand this one sentence because I kept reading "circle" as noun instead of a verb: "He held it there, letting its chill circle his head." I also find reading dialogue to be challenging. Often times like in the page above, when Guitar explains to Milkman that he doesn't like sweets, she won't the name of the character speaking next to what they say, so I have to read it a few times to understand who is talking to whom. One last thing that has been hard to keep track of is ...

     As I was dialing my grandpa, I realized I had no clue about my ancestry line whatsoever. I'm super lucky to be able to grow up with four grandparents alive, and it sounds very self centered, but I never really considered the life that my grandparents lived before me. So, as my grandpa picks up the phone I became a little anxious because I didn't even know where he was born. Luckily, I'm consoled by the fact that when I asked him about his ancestors he couldn't recall where his grandpa was born. He did know it was somewhere in Germany though, and that's also where the name Ackerman comes from as well. He explained to me that our name was originally Akkerman, which, from Dutch, Akker translates to field. Therefore, his best guess is that we were farmers in Germany, and then immigrated to the United States some time around the late 1890s.      I then asked him if being German, or having Ackerman as a last name has effected his life in any particular way...

     As of today the police take many liberties at it is. While we are are fortunate enough to live in a country that provides each individual with, in our eyes, fundamental rights in some cases it seems that the police or other agencies can contradict or undermine these rights. For example sobriety checkpoints are when the police will set up a station where people have to pull over so they can be checked if they're driving under the influence. But some may argue that these checkpoints are unconstitutional breaching our fourth amendment rights. However, one must take into account the state's interests to determine if it is just. I think its pretty interesting how our government is rooted in the words of the constitution but every so often can make a slight deviation from it to provide for its own interests, and in lots of these cases people are getting riled up over it. According to an article by the Chicago Tribune, these DUI checkpoints are very profitable for the pol...

         Even though the repeal of net neutrality has come and gone, the effects of it are still heavily discussed and debated about. But, backing up, what is net neutrality and why is it such a big deal? Net neutrality is an act that was instituted in 2015 which forces internet service providers or ISPs to provide consistent internet speeds regardless of the website. In my opinion its easier to understand in a case where net neutrality is not instated. When not in effect, ISPs can vary internet speeds and potentially slow the internet all-together, then make companies pay extra if they want their site to load faster. This all sounds somewhat reasonable, the ISPs are allowed to change their business model and potentially pocket some more dough. But, this greatly effects the market for small and large companies. Larger companies might be able to spare the extra money to stay updated with the best internet, but smaller up and coming businesses will suffer dra...

     Now with technology always at our disposal we practically have infinite ways to communicate online. As a society our face to face interactions are quickly diminishing and be replaced by communication via screens. Some ways we use technology are very beneficial, like how we can meet people, and make friends. But social media also allows for bullying. Everyone can picture the classic hallway scene, the one Hollywood drilled into our brains, small skinny kid being pushed up against the lockers while a buff football player towers over him. I, personally, have never seen anything even close to this in my high school experience. Instead, 90% of the bullying I see takes place online. Why though? The simple answer is that it's easy. But, there are many more factors at play that explain why people cyberbully.     Unlike the Hollywood portrayal, size doesn't matter. Whether you're six foot four, or four foot six, when you're online you are only as big as you're...