Open Relationships: Evil or Marriage Saver?

Oppenheimer, Mark. "Married With Infidelities." The New York Times. The New York Times Company, June 30, 2011. Web. 11 Nov. 2011.


<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/03/magazine/infidelity-will-keep-us-together.html?_r=1" target="article">Read this article</a>

In the article, “Married With Infidelities,” Mark Oppenheimer discusses the monogamy society we live in and how infidelities could strengthen a marriage or partnership. Mark talks about Dan Savage, a sex-advice columnist, who thinks that monogamy relationships might not work for every couple. Savage is a gay man who is married with an adopted son and feels that there is a difference from cheating and non-monogamous relationships. Mark and Dan’s point is when people feel the need to cheat, they should tell their partner and work it out amongst them before the relationship is destroyed. In society, people view monogamy very differently and sometimes people go against the social “norm” to feel happy in their relationships. Dan says that cheating is one thing and giving your partner permission to have a fling is another. People who vow to be monogamous cheat and couples who choose to have an “open relationship” are simply non-monogamous. Dan says that straight and gay men are going to be the same in their relationships; humans like variation and as he says in the article, “The mistake that straight people made,” Savage told me, “was imposing the monogamous expectation on men. Men were never expected to be monogamous. Men had concubines, mistresses and access to prostitutes, until everybody decided marriage had to be egalitar­ian and fairsey.”

Mark Oppenheimer’s reason for writing and using Dan Savage in this article was to inform society that monogamy is not as easy as it seems. Mark uses Savage’s emails in this article because he was trying to help the gay youth who are being picked on; Savage says live through the teasing and when you’re older, you can be happy with a partner and child. Mark even says that Savage saved a couple of young men’s lives by speaking out. Mark uses Arnold Schwarzenegger’s mistress and love child as a no-no for couples because he says, “But Arnold wasn’t in a nonmonogamous relationship. He was in a monogamous relationship.” Mark explains that couples shouldn’t be shy when it comes to what they want sexually because if they are, they might go out and find someone who won’t and can’t judge them for their odd fetish or weird role playing. Jealously can be a big factor when it comes to letting your partner roam about with someone else, but Mark says it can be overcome and it can strengthen a relationship that could be on the brink of failure. Communication is the key in a non-monogamous because if your partner wants to hear about an “experience” it could spice things up and keep the relationship fresh. Couples who are having problems in their relationships need to be open to the other person’s needs because that is when someone goes astray and it can be easily avoided by opening up and living a little.

Criminals or Mentally Ill?

Eagleman, David. “The Brain on Trial.” The Atlantic. The Atlantic Monthly Group, July/August 2011. Web. 7 Oct. 2011

Read this article

In David Eagleman’s article “The Brain on Trial,” he intelligently points out that some criminal acts are due to brain tumors and other mental turmoil that affects the brain. David continuously reassures the readers that he is not against the justice system, but that there are different ways to look at punishments for criminals. He explains brain tumors have immense effects on behavior and some people cannot control them. A man named Charles Whitman, who was a former marine, Eagle Scout, and studied architectural engineering, murdered his mother and wife, went on a shooting spree, and then shot himself. Charles typed a suicide note the day before the incident and confessed to having irrational and unusual thoughts, but he knew that he should be a reasonable and intelligent young man. The medical examiners found a tumor festering in his brain the diameter of a nickel. David contributes numerous other stories explaining how tumors, mental illnesses, how you were raised, and your basic genetics can affect your behavior without you having any control over it.

David Eagleman’s point of view is significant to everyone because it gives a scientific look on how criminals should be tried and punished. A lot of people see pedophiles as sick, horrible people but they do not take time to look at the person’s mental state. Criminals who have tumors, behavioral and mental problems should not go to jail, but into a rehabilitation center for actual help. Some people who do criminal acts do not even remember doing these things and therefore should get special help for society and their own future. David’s point of view is not to make criminals seem innocent, but to give a scientific outlook on why they do what they do. He explains that jails are overcrowded with people that need special help so they can better themselves and be sure to not do their act again. In some cases, pedophiles and shoplifters only do these acts because of some mental deformity. He gives us these stories, testimonies, and examples to educate an uneducated society about newly found scientific procedures. In society today, people are quick to judge someone who does a heinous act because that is all they know. David shines a light on a scientific breakthrough so society can fairly judge someone, not on their act but their mental state.

Step 3 question

In the article, "The Two-Minus-One Pregnancy," the women have had a lot of problems getting pregnant so they turn to specialists to help them. After getting pregnant, they find out that they are having twins or triplets but only want one. I came up with the question: is it morally right that woman who have had so much trouble getting pregnant get to choose to abort one baby over the other?

Is There A Thing As Too Much Love?

Gottlieb, Lori. "How to Land Your Kids in Therapy." The Atlantic. The Atlantic Monthly Group, Jul./Aug. 2011. Web. 8 Sept. 2011


Read this article




Lori Gottlieb, the author of, ‘How to Land Your Kid in Therapy” writes this article for one purpose and one purpose only: to tell parents to back off their kids. Throughout the article she interviews numerous authors, psychologists, and parents about doing too much for your children throughout their childhood. All of them agree that if you spoil or over-protect your child, they’ll be unhappy adults. Lori is a psychotherapist and seen a lot of unhappy adult patients that had an amazing upbringing. The main focus of this article is, if you keep your child from failing then they will never know the sense of accomplishment. One example she uses is a college student; if they have real-world issues, they will constantly call mommy or daddy for the solution. Then, as adults they will be faced with tough choices and will have no sense of what to do. Ann Hulbert, author of “Raising America: Experts, Parents, and a Century of Advice About Children” explains that there is a lot of tension between parenting styles because no parent wants to be wrong. There are two perfect lines that sums this article up: “don’t hug your kids too much” and “When you are tempted to pet your child, remember that mother love is a dangerous instrument.”

The author’s point of view is tremendously significant to everyone because it’s about a lifelong debate and deals with issues people have dealt with forever. There are people who think children should have their own freedoms in life and others who feel they should be on top of everything their child is doing; the debate will be there forever because of different cultures, nationalities, upbringing, and values. The author is on the too much love means unhappy adulthood side of the debate. Lori writes this article to show parents that it’s factual that if you protect your child or children too much they could be unhappy adults and no one wants that for their children. Her reasons are clear for writing this article because she gives a lot of facts, real people interviews, professional inputs and even has a video about the so called “trophy kids.” Lori also says she is a new mother and saw a lot of different ways people were raising their own kids so she did this research and found out that protecting and loving your kids too much could drive them into therapy because they do not know how to handle problems the real world throws at them.

Wendell Berry: Genius or Madman

Berry, Wendell. “Faustian Economics: Hell Hath No Limits.” Harper’s Magazine. The Harper's Magazine Foundation, May 2008. Web. 31 Dec. 2009.

Read this article

Wendell Berry’s reasoning for writing, “Faustian Economics: Hell Hath No Limits,” was to tell everyone how he felt about the way our country uses our natural resources. Wendell’s point of view was very easy to pick up on because of his use of repetition within all the sentences and paragraphs. He continuously repeats the word, ‘limitless’, ‘limitless animals’ and numerous other phrases and doing this, he gives a very strong argument and keeps the reader wanting to know more about what is going on inside his head. He supports his idea with the concepts of politics, art, science, religion and insanity. Politicians provide America with this sense of limitless by campaigning that coal will be around for another 100 years but Wendell says, “Well, what after that?” Berry says that art has its’ limits because one piece of art cannot really be compared to another, but in science, things are limitless because it is always advancing. Religion is also limitless but not everyone has the same point of view. To sum every word Wendell Berry says in this article is that Americans think our natural resources are limitless and we will deplete our earth sooner than later if we keep going at the rate we are now, hence the words ‘limitless animals.’

Berry’s point of view is very blunt one and a scary one at that. His point of view is very significant to today’s culture because it’s about our future. Berry talks about our depletion of the Earth’s natural resources and the rate at which they are depleting. He calls Americans limitless animals for a reason; that reason is because we use our natural resources like they are limitless. The Earth has its own timeline at which things grow or regrow; humans do not see it like that and continuously overuse our resources provided for us by nature. A whole forest that was cut down will take years and years to grow back, but, humans do not wait for those years; we just keep on destroying, taking what is not ours, and do not wait for things to ‘rebuild.’ Wendell Berry’s article is trying to inform parents and everyone for that matter about their future and their children’s future. Americans need a new mind set on how much to take and how much is necessary for survival. More, more, more, and the thought of everything as limitless will only hurt in the long run. His words are for informing the poor souls who think this Earth is limitless and will never run out of resources because one day, it will and he can look back and say, “I told you so!”

Small Change

Gladwell, Malcolm. "Small Change." The New Yorker. Condé Nast Digital, 4 October 2010. Web. 18 August 2011.

Read this article

Paragraph One.

Paragraph Two.

Test Article Response!

Berry, Wendell. "Faustian Economics: Hell Hath No Limits." Harper's Magazine. The Harper's Magazine Foundation, May 2008. Web. 18 Aug. 2011.

Read this article

Paragraph One starts here.

Paragraph Two starts here.

Practice Post

Blogger is a very easy and fun website to write down all your thoughts or assignments. It is awesome that you can have fun with your blog and design it however you like. I feel that being able to design your blog page makes doing assignment a lot more personal since you have some control on how it looks. Technology is taking over the learning process, for sure.