The Freedom of Speech

    

The pressure to be politically correct in our country has gone too far. As Americans, we should not be restricted of certain words due to political views or oversensitive cultural or racial expectations. The American language is uniquely colorful and passionate. Censoring our language only reduces it to a bland, colorless discourse.        

Chavez uses the word "bellicose" to describe the metaphors used in political conversation. In politics, common words such as "campaign" and "rounds" actually derive from military vocabulary. “Bellicose" means hostile, which accurately describes warfare. The usages of these terms are not literal of course, but rather to fully express the battle like scenarios in the political game.

            The Freedom of Speech is privilege protected by our constitution. We should not be corrected on what to say due to political agenda. Censorship is subjective.  It protects those who are narrow minded. Due to such restrictions our language becomes homogenized.  Chavez incorporates evidence that support her intent. In which she mentions the white staffer who used the word “niggardly”. The word actually means stingy or frugal. The word has nothing to do with race. Yet because of the connotation with the “n” word, he was fired from his job. This sadly reveals our society’s level oversensitivity. I agree whole-heartily with Chavez. America is the land of the free and I should have the right to expression. I should not be told what words I can or cannot say. I embrace our rich tradition of colorful speech.

The Ultimate "Going Green"

The sentence that revealed Semrau’s point was this “My registration documents are in the mail an acceptance is almost assured.” Knowing that acceptance to Harvard, let alone its medical school is extremely difficult. Also allowing a man of old age seemed unlikely, thus I inferred the only way he would “go to medical school” is by way of shipping. Semrau does an excellent job keeping the reader ignorant of his intent till the end. He leads them through a journey of his life interests, goals, dreams and accomplishments.  This helps the intents because it draws you in and you want to complete his journey .This writing technique was ideal for his subject. Offering your body for science is a controversial topic. People have strong opinions when it comes to the proper burial of the dead. Semrau eases the reader into this idea by stressing the importance of reuse which appeals to people. Also he keeps a humorous tone throughout his article because his subject is gruesome, “and it’s the cheapest way to go to med school.” The concept of reuse is that the goal is maximum function.  But in his life journey that leads him to this decision is intriguing. I believe his intent is that even in your feeble years, when you feel powerless and excluded from the new generation, you can still be a productive member of society. Like Semrau said, at this age it’s too late to conserve, but the medical school can make use of his body. His cadaver could someday be a part of life saving research, now that’s the ultimate “going green.”