This week was extremely busy. So to end two weeks of midterms I have come up with this blog posting for the ASTU 100 class. And it is indeed connected to the theme of law and society.

To start this off I would like to talk specifically about the article written by Willie Van Peer. This was more appropriate to talk about since we used it to write our summary.  I would like to say that the article is very well written and just like the Nussbaum article it talks about the usefulness of the arts in influence a change in human rights for the greater good. And in a way I have to agree with him for he does make a very good point and expands clearly on this particular point. I feel that literature in general contribute to the progress of human rights because it connects us to the characters of literature. It makes us empathize with them and feel the pain they are feeling as we follow their own journey and the hardships in which they begin to experience. Most authors of novels supporting the progression of human rights often showcase the character’s emotions during a tragic or discriminating event so as to get readers to see how human they are and imagine what it would be like if they, the readers, were in their situation. Van Peer also successfully persuades us to believe him by using examples of famous works such as the book ‘Hard Times’ by Charles Dickens. This is effective as it shows how truthful this article is.

So to further elaborate and clarify my point let’s take for example ‘Obasan’, a book by Joy Kogawa in which we have to read for our next assignment. ‘Obasan’ focuses on a major issue in human rights, the fact that Japanese-Canadians have to evacuate and that most of them are just not treated well by the locals within the area. For example the scene where Stephen, a member of Obasan and Naomi’s family, is bullied and arrives home injured. The fact that Naomi’s grandmother and grandfather have to be admitted to the ‘sick bay’ is also rather disturbing especially the details surrounding it. As a result seeing all of this makes one wonder whether these people actually deserve such a treatment and then will question the morals of this world. So the readers will begin to feel sympathy and begin to connect with the central characters of this novel. Therefore these people like Van Peer said will most likely contribute to the progression of human rights because after hearing about what had happened during Obasan’s time they would want to propose an act to stop it from happening ever again. It contributes to an act of change due to the feelings of compassion. This though is backed up by the way the Nakane family is presented within the book. They are viewed as innocent as well as almost comparable to our own families thus showing that we as human beings are no different than they are.

So what do you think? Do you think that ‘Obasan’ and Willie Van Peer’s article are two fine pieces of work that showcase the true importance of how literature is a factor that heavily contributes to the progression of an improvement in the rights of human being? Because as stated above, in my point of view both Joy Kogawa and Willie Van Peer have conveyed this effectively through the use of emotion in her characters in the former and the use of persuasion via immense elaboration as well as by providing examples in the latter.

Well guys this is my second blog post so to be honest I’m going to have to talk about two other works within the course booklet. I thought it might be a great opportunity to share my personal opinion and ideas about the content of these documents as well as to gain some insight from anyone who is willing to comment on this posting.

The next thing I want to talk about? Well it is none other than the book ‘Academic Writing: An Introduction’ by Janet Giltrow et al. So far in class I have been learning about how to summarize using a variety of different and unique methods found in the book. Gist noting so far has been an aid to my position as an adult pursing his Bachelor of Arts degree. I mean it would most certainly be easier if I had to read sentence or two short sentences worth of note taking rather than waste time reading five to six sentences. It is a very helpful method. However one needs to be careful when taking these notes. Make sure you understand the material you have read and ensure that the most essential details of that passage are within your gist notes. In terms of this law and society stream I guess that gist notes would be most important for interpreting some of the readings we have to do for History 104, ASTU 100 and even Political science 101.

After reading ‘Democratic Citizenship and the Narrative Imagination’ written by Martha C. Nussbaum, I feel the need to raise an issue about arts in general. This article includes a lot of information and facts as to why the arts and literature are of immense importance to the development of people’s emotions and feelings and my opinion is that the author has proposed a supportive point right there. Many people often undermine the value of the arts and literature these days as many more are embracing the sciences. I feel that I have to agree with the author that the arts and storytelling are essential in enabling one to express his compassion and to improve their emotions as well as to develop sympathy for the other members of society especially those who are being discriminated. The examples the writer uses of written works by other authors such as ‘Invisible Man’ by Ralph Ellison which will succeed in helping authors understand about the amount of discrimination that has been brought about on to the main character. The main protagonist of this story is designed in a way that would help the readers to feel empathy for him which would later translate on to real life if an individual like that were to ever communicate with them. This is true as by reading a masterful piece of literature can enable readers to connect with the characters and their journey as well as be introduced to the events that occur to them along the way. By reading Nussbaum’s writing, I have developed a greater respect for the arts and I will have to thank her for this. I feel that other people should read her writing and understand that the arts is just as important as the sciences as it helps to make the individual a better and more compassionate person.

Another work that I want to talk about is ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail’ by Martin Luther King Jr. I am merely proposing to talk about it in my second blog post as it just dawned upon me to do so and I did not have the opportunity to post about it in my first posting. As we have already seen, this article is written from the prospective of an individual who seems to want to address the horrid lives of the African-American population and the atrocities imposed on them by the Whites. In my opinion I find King’s writing to be rather effective in displaying the amounts of discrimination the African-American population have to endure to the general public. The reason for this is as we have already explained in class, the use of pathos so as to convey emotion. This should therefore and most likely enable the general public to feel an incredible urge of sympathy for these victims of discrimination and it comes across as more of an effective way in promoting the Civil Rights Movement. The example he used of the little girl being rejected from amusement parks due to her racial heritage, the fact that as an African-American they would not be able to find a hotel room to stay in or even that these people are being lynched and killed in public without a sense of remorse from the authority and to make matters worse some of the individuals taking part in this dreadful act of brutality are policemen. I have discovered that I learnt more about the truth from Martin Luther King’s letter and the more I read it the more I begin to understand about the high morals this compassionate man held. It made me fully respect him and gather a great deal of knowledge as to why he is further pushing his civil rights movement forwards.