Newsflash on Gluten Intolerance (FW)

In the last few years you may have noticed that more and more people around you are switching to gluten-free diets. Grocery stores now have gluten-free sections and cookbooks boast of gluten-free recipes. So what is behind this gluten-free fad? When and why did the world suddenly decide that wheat is bad for you?
This blog post will hopefully answer some of the most common questions about gluten and gluten intolerance.
To start off with lets discuss a myth about the gluten-free diet.
Going gluten-free is not a valid diet plan:
Some people have decided that going gluten-free is a great way to lose weight. This is crazy. If you are actually gluten-intolerant it makes sense that you would lose weight on a gluten-free diet because your stomach can more easily digest gluten-free foods. It also can make you more conscious of the carbohydrates you eat because you have to stay away from regular pastries, bread and pasta etc. However, deciding to go on the "gluten-free diet" and just eat gluten-free cookies, brownies and nasty gluten-free bread will not help you lose weight. Gluten-free pastry equivalents often have more sugar and calories than their glutenous counterparts. So don't be ridiculous and eat gluten-free unless you actually have a sensitivity.
If you think you may be gluten-sensitive, take it seriously!
The National Institute of Health recently stated that between 5-10% of the world's population may be gluten sensitive. This percentage may be higher in America because there are unregulated amounts of gluten in American wheat flour. Many who cannot stomach bread in America find that European bread does not affect them. Anyways, be careful! Untreated gluten intolerance can lead to major health concerns. Untreated and undiagnosed celiac disease (a much more dangerous type of gluten intolerance) can lead to death. 97% of American estimated to have celiac disease are undiagnosed. Gluten is not something to mess around with. If you experience a lot of the symptoms of gluten intolerance or celiac disease (stomach cramps, headaches, tiredness, nausea, bloating) doe some research and consider trying out the gluten-free diet for a trial period (2 weeks) and see if it is right for you.
The growth of celiac disease:
This brings me to why gluten-intolerance and gluten-free diets have become so much more prevalent in recent years. One reason is education. There is a lot more information out about gluten-intolerance and its symptoms. Another reason is super-strand of gluten pumped into American flour. The third, and in my opinion, scariest reason is the growing amount of people with celiac disease. Celiac disease is a digestive malfunction where gluten damages the small intestine and kills the villi, the body part that helps absorb nutrients. 1 in 133 people have celiac disease. The incidence of celiac disease in men has increased 4X since 1948. Celiac is growing way more prevalent and many in the medical field consider it to be an epidemic. It needs to get a lot more attention than it is getting now. It is connected with an increase of risk of cancer and with celiac disease you are 77 times more likely to develope lymphoma.
So hide your kids, hide your wife, because celiac disease is coming to kill us all.

Be gluten-educated!

The danger that lies in comparisons (CC)

Last English class, a classmate made the claim that the village in Achebe's Things Fall Apart, was low in the spectrum of civilization. I took this to mean that the classmate was claiming that this particular African village was uncivilized compared to our wonderful western, technology-ridden advanced civilization. The classmate's claim somehow connected to his argument that Conrad's Heart of Darkness was not racist but I did not entirely understand that argument so in this blog post I will focus entirely on the claims made about civilization.
Let's start with a definition because definitions are hard to argue with.
By multiple online dictionaries, civilization is defined as a high functioning state of human social development and organization. Basically a civilization is an organized society.
So although an African village civilization may look like this

and an American village civilization may look like this




by my definition both settings are equally civilized because they both have organized social structures and are making advancements in their societies.
But you may say, "Ha. We're much more civilized because we have art movements, i-phones, and college." This brings me to the danger that lies in comparisons. Yes, if one chooses to measure degree of civilization by advancements in the arts and sciences, the western world is more "civilized" than the average African village. Yet this comparison is pointless because the two settings are so different that they cannot be compared in such a way. Advancements just show up in different ways. An African villager may come up with an ingenious way to patch roofs with palm leaves while an American technician creates a new gameboy. Both advancements are brilliant but each advancement is completely useless to the other setting. This brings me to my main point: when two places are as different as a village in Africa is to the modern western world, comparisons are absolutely useless in making an argument. Each place is civilized in their own fashion, but who are we to claim that one way is better than another?

Also before I draw this lengthy blog post to a close I must point out that referring to a place as "uncivilized" could be seen as highly offensive. Yes, you may have statistics and equations and solid reasoning for your claim, but the fact remains that "uncivilized" is seen in the eyes of many as being a synonym for "barbaric", "chaotic" and "savage". "Civilized" bring to mind intelligence, while the word "uncivilized" bring to mind stupidity. Words carry great meaning and this is no one's fault. It just means that one has to tread lightly when using certain words, so that people can fully understand the point you're trying to make without being offended by hidden word connotations.

I'm sorry for the swear word, Ms. Pyle! The image was too good not to put in!

How commercials get you to buy things (LD)

When we received this assignment to discuss a literary device in a blog post I was a little bit less that ecstatic. Let's be honest, I love to analyze texts with the best of them but I couldn't imagine how I was going to fill a whole post about my great love for anastrophes and alliteration.
I began to consider other places that literary devices could be used that were not texts or poems written by dead, white guys. Then it struck me. We see literary devices all the time when we're watching TV. Commercials are full of imagery, and alliterations. Literary devices are used to persuade us to buy certain products. Let's look at a few examples.
Allegory: a story or picture that holds a greater meaning within itself

At first glance this super-posh kitchen just represents a super-posh kitchen. However, the reason people would go out and buy components of this kitchen if it was shown in a commercial would be because it is an allegory for wealth and sophistication. The commercial promises (inaccurately) that if you own this kitchen you will become a wealthy, sophisticated person. This is all implied in the glossy counter tops and the cool hanging lights. Allegories are necessary for persuasion. If the commercial said this outright it would seem unreasonable, but when our subconscious's recognize the allegory, we often believe it.

Amplification: adding detail to a description in order to increase its worth







                                                                                                                                                                        Although most car-buyers don't understand what all these uber-fancy descriptions mean, they know they sound important and that what really matters. What sounds better: "I'm buying a red car" or "I'm buying a shiny new crimson Ford with large horsepower, deluxe air-conditioning and a great radio". It doesn't matter if the "deluxe air-conditioning" is the cool air you feel when you roll-down the windows; What matters is the description. If a product sounds good, it is going to sell.

Analogy: a device that helps to establish a relationship based on similarities between two concepts or ideas.


Analogies are used all the time in commercials. Have you ever seen  a mop commercial where they show a comparison of your current mop leaving mud behind and the mop they're trying to sell you leaving everything sparkly white? That's an analogy. It works to show a certain product as being above it's competition. The audience understands that whatever vacuum or shampoo they used to like is now considered sub-par and must now go to the nearest meijers to buy the new, better product. 
The commercial industry has a lot of ways of convincing people to spend money. This is why DVR is a good investment.                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Thoughts on "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" (PR)

When I learned that one of our blog posts this month would be a poetry response I immediately thought of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot. In our AP Lit poetry unit and in my Hope College poetry class, Eliot's poem has always stood out as my favorite. I actually skyped my sister who was living in India and read it to her. It's that good. So I really like the poem but what do I, as an amateur literary student, have to say about it? It's been analyzed by scholars for decades and already has been examined in every possible angle. Since I like lists (they add an illusion of order in a chaotic world) I decided to list everything that I adore about The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.

Link to the Poem:  http://people.virginia.edu/~sfr/enam312/prufrock.html

1.) It's dramatic without losing its wittiness:
 The poem tells the tale of a man who is struggling with untold love, self-consciousness and mortality. Eliot could easily have explored these themes in very obvious and sentimental ways but he doesn't. The love life problems are never talked about outright but only hinted at with mentions of "perfume from a dress" (65) and forcing "the moment to its crisis" (80). The reader can understand that Prufrock is self-conscious to his mentions of his thin legs and bald spot. His issues with mortality are brought up with characters like Lazarus and Hamlet along with morbid symbols like yellow fog and seductive, murderous mermaids. Without these features Eliot's themes would belong more in People Magazine than the greatest poem of all time.

2.) The literary references make me feel intelligent:
 There is no greater feeling than to learn about something or someone in class and then be able to connect what you've learned to other aspects of your life. Wow, I just sounded really nerdy. However, it is true that understanding references or difficult words makes one feel good about oneself. I like that Eliot added in such references as Lazarus, Michaelangelo and Hamlet because I can connect what these outside references add to the entire meaning of the poem. Lazarus and Hamlet are characters involving resurrection and death, both of which Prufrock is contemplating. Michaelangelo was a talented artist and the fact that women were discussing them shows that the women are educated and classy. This intimidates Prufrock. It's cool that I can understand all of this just with a little outside help from the Bible, Art History and English class.

3.) Eliot understands flow:
Perhaps what puts The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock above some of my other favorite poems is its smoothness and unique ability to flow. Flow is a bad descriptor, but I can't think of a better word. Flow is what makes the rhythm of the poem feel like crashing waves and flow is what makes you keep reading the poem even after you realize it's ridiculously long and you kind of want to take a break and get a snack. You can't stop mid-poem because that would break the incredible flow. Flow is also what makes reading the poem soothing and calm even as the narrator deals with some pretty big issues. Eliot made the poem sound so beautiful that he was able to entice an audience to read a difficult poem that dealt with difficult subject matter.

This blog post did not even begin to cover the loveliness of this poem so be sure to look it up so you're able to enjoy it as much as I  have. Eliot is great.  He also has three heads which is pretty cool.

Really Sherlock, really? (IR)

For my independent reading assignment my group decided to read two of Arthur Conan Doyle's first Sherlock Holmes books: A Study in Scarlett and The Sign of the Four. I was psyched about this assignment for a lot of reasons. I love mysteries, I've had Sherlock Holmes books sitting on my bookshelf for years and I figured that it would be a nice enjoyable read. Everything was all well and good until I actually started reading. The writing was fine, but what frustrated me was the author's racism, and the portrayal of women. Yes, the Sherlock Holmes series was written a time where there was a lot of racism and sexism and general misunderstanding of everything but I don't think that is an excuse for some of the portrayals in these mystery novels.

Portrayal of different races:
 
The Sign of the Four is a mystery about stolen treasure taken from India. The Indian characters in the book include two Sikh men and a native from the Andaman Islands named Tonga. The Sikhs are portrayed as greedy and evil as they put together a plot to steal treasure and kill a white man (*gasp) in the pursuit of stealing it. Meanwhile the main white villain is shown as merely a pawn in their plan who was too scared to cross them. The native, Tonga is shown as ugly, unintelligent and blood-thirsty. Although there are many deaths in The Sign of the Four they are never committed by a white man. It is little three-foot Tonga with his his blowgun that does the dirty work. When the white villain returned from India with Tonga, he made money by parading Tonga around as the devil and getting paid for "beating up the devil". Super racist? Oh, yes.

Portrayal of women:

A sexist portrayal of women can be seen in both A Study in Scarlett and in The Sign of the Four. In A Study in Scarlett  a man avenges the death of his fiance and her father. His fiance, Lucy had worn away in depression and sorrow after being married off to a bad man while her true love had been unable to save her. I found myself thinking, why couldn't have Lucy saved herself? If she was such a catch, supposedly she'd have some brains right? But no, Lucy died of sorrow because she was too weak to stand up for herself and a good strong man needs to go and avenge her death.
In The Sign of the Four we finally are introduced to a strong female character. Her name Miss Mary Morstan and her father was one of the ones who died in pursuit of a large treasure. Mary holds up well throughout the mystery and information on various killings, never crying or showing weakness.Watson thinks strength is hot and decides he wants to marry her. He goes on about how strength is almost that of a mans. Sherlock on the other hands says that no woman is to be trusted. Ever.
Really Sherlock, really?

Understanding the draw of horror movies (horror blog post)

Ever since I was a kid, I've hated anything to do with horror. I'd purposefully fall asleep whenever my friends were watching Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Jaws or whatever at a sleepover and until I was about 15 I refused to read anything more frightening than Harry Potter. Last year when we read "In Cold Blood" in AP Lang I had to space out the horror so that I'd have a week or so to recover between chapters. So I've been stuck with the question why it is that I detest horror and so many other people like it. I did some internet research and found a few answers from Dr. Glenn Sparks from Purdue University.
Sparks argues that people enjoy or dislike horror movies because they are wired differently. Some people enjoy adrenaline rushes (also the people who like roller coasters) and some people do not. For example I was driving in white-out conditions this morning and sliding all over the place and I was scared to death. I did not enjoy driving. However, my sister and a few of my friends would have gotten a kick out of living on the edge and seeing just how much my poor little Prius could take.
Me this morning:





People who like horror movies:


Sparks argued that the other group of people who enjoy horror movies are the people who crave danger and adventure in their lives. These people are able to live out escapes and machete-fights without ever having to leave their homes and also without ever facing real danger.

So basically there the world is classified into types of people and finding out whether someone likes horror movies can tell a lot about the person. Besides telling whether or not they secretly crave danger or are an adrenaline junkie, willingness to watch horror movies and to put oneself in scary situations can show whether or not someone is able to meet their fears. Or that their fears may not be found in horror movies. Horror movies often play off the universal fear of death and those who go out of their way to watch horror movies may be more okay with death than the rest of us, have twisted suppressed minds or perhaps they just like to be scared. I've researched a lot and I still can't fully understand why people choose to spend time being scared and watching people get chopped up into bits. I guess everyone's different and that makes life interesting. Until it gets a little too interesting...
 
Yeah, a raccoon is about as scary as I can take.