Author Archives: Victoria Valentin

POST 2.1

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Daggest explains that “Petro-masculinity approaches masculinity as a socially constructed identity that emerges ‘within a gender order that defines masculinity in opposition to femininity, and in so doing, sustains a power relation between men and women as groups”. In other words, Daggett prefers to keep her criticisms out of the Third World and explains that petromasculinity “defend[s] the endangered status quo, entrenching the petrocultures that have historically propped up Anglo-European fossil-burning men. The West has become the driving force of this new field of toxic masculinity. Daggett tries to identify how new forms of gender bias or toxic masculinity with terms like harpo-masculinity, carbo-masculinity, turbo-masculinity and so on. 

SHOW & TELL – Let’s take a quick trip to Mexico!

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For my show and tell I’m going to bring the class overseas to Cozumel, Mexico. Before all this madness, I was lucky enough to enjoy a trip to Mexico.  As you could assume yes, yes it was absolutely breath taking! So much so that I started to think … well let me begin with the start of the trip. Here I have posted a beautiful picture of Cozumel before landing. I think about it more in detail the abstract of colors that make the sky, the calmness of the perfectly shaped clouds, the blend of blues that dive deep into the sea and the light forest green land.

It’s crazy how here in New York you can hardly see your feet through the water but in a different part of the world the water is stunning. The water here is sacred. It is of peace and sanctuary. The waves call you in to swim deeper and deeper. It is the home to many animals. We saw lizards all over the area just resting still. The resort was cleverly built to stand tall in the wild. This resort had wild life because it was built at the center of the forest. We saw monkeys swinging across branches, fostering baby monkeys on their backs, scared to walk up to us unless we waived a banana. We saw young deer crossing by. I thought little Bambi was so cute. I enjoyed petting her despite knowing that this baby deer is a wild animal. Did you know that once you pet a baby deer, that deer gets abandoned because of the scent. The scent of our touch is strange to the other deer. I admit the resort created an ambiance and set a certain mood of tranquility and peace. But then it started to sink in. This resort was built regardless of the homes it would destroy. This adds to the growing problem of deforestation and exploiting natural resources. I guess everything is not what it seems. The atmosphere was infectious, I did not want to leave. This trip will always hold a special place because of the true grace and beauty of nature despite the facade. Hope you all enjoy the photos! Thank You !

   

My questions for the class are:

  1. How does a luxury chain of hotels impact  the deforestation rate?
  2. How can deforestation be mitigated?
  3. How can we promote plastic waste management so that we can preserve what’s left of our beautiful oceans?

POST 3.1

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The essay topic that interests me the most is the first option to define a specific, local environmental problem. One major environmental problem is littering. Almost every block has some form of litter whether its a receipt, gloves, leftovers flying around, there is some form of garbage on the ground. Living in New York this is nothing new but the reality is that this is beyond insane! I have not done any research yet but I can definitely come up with a few ways to help eliminate this problem. Littering has destroyed our oceans which not only harms but alters the environment which is a home to many sea animals. I don’t know about you but who doesn’t adore dolphins and sting rays? All this mass littering has already destroyed their homes and killed other fishes by getting stuck or caught by the garbage. I believe we should have at least two trash cans located at the corner of each block to help eliminate littering. The more people are prone to seeing trash can they can quickly associate with recycling or proper trash disposal. I think we should create a whole industry solely based on environmental jobs. The environmental jobs would specialize in hourly public area sanitation, cleaning the streets daily by disinfecting public areas, picking up garbage through out the day, collecting recyclables and so on.  This would make a huge difference in our society! Who wouldn’t want much cleaner cities? We need to put environmental jobs on a platform to help promote and maintain a healthier habitat not just for ourselves but for our planet. To start my research paper I would look to see what articles would back my idea on creating an environmental work force. I would also research other ways we can further clean our environment or fight against the air pollution that is drastically altering our seasons.  I would research on how much our environment has changed over time being that I know so little. I have only scratched the surface on what really goes on in our environment and just how rapid it’s destroying it.  I think about everything that has been going on with the COVID-19 hysteria. Now I notice the amount of gloves and masks thrown out all over the streets. To a certain extent everything that has happened this far is necessary in order to “flatten the curve”. We should all be washing our hands constantly through out the day, everyday. We should all give people at least 6 feet of space in large public areas. We should have the option to wear masks in order to avoid bacteria and germs if used correctly. I think one of the key benefits of creating a lock down has impacted the air quality. On the other hand this created a supply demand craze that was unnecessary, This brings awareness to over population under a crisis. The virus spread like wildfire because of the population of people who daily interact with one another at a close proximity. The population devoured the supermarkets and cleared out all supply stores under crisis.  Just image how much worse it will get when crops start to fail due to weather conditions and famine rises because there is not enough food to go around. The possibilities are endless and I cannot wait to dive into this research paper.

POST 1.2 – ZADIE SMITH SUMMARY

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The Encyclopedia of Trouble and Spaciousness by Rebecca Solnit is a collection of essays exploring a variety of contents such as history, art, social and political issues. Solnit uses both wisdom and compelling arguments to explore the topic of the change in climate, war fare, migration and so on. The context is the cultural, economic, social and national affect global warming has from our contributions to it. By using rhetorical strategies, Solnit invites readers to broaden their minds and focus on the real violence caused by climate change in a global perspective. Solnit persuades her audience with the intentions to impact their focus, to alter their emotions on the topic of climate change.

 

POST 2.2

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DRAFT

It’s foggy
Abandoned
Dark and cold
Not a single soul outside
Not a single creek or murmur
A mist of fear and absence
But the lights , the bright lights that led the way
The lamp posts were like stars in the night sky
The cart hangs alone
Still and quiet
The star of this dark show

REVISION

What was once so natural is now depleting right before my eyes. We used to play around with the carts while my parents shopped for sales and antiques. The lot was large, noisy, lively. The lot doay, is now a dark place. The crisp, raw air wreaked of petrochemicals. The fogg was intense and powerful, covering the area around. A mist of fear and absence. The lamp posts glistened with their bright lights. A torch through the fog. The cart stood alone. This was an abandoned lot, a cursed lot. What was once so lively was now so grave.

At first I wrote out what I saw in a poetry format, it helped me list details and describe the visuals. The challenge was incorporating concrete descriptions and to expand on the ideas. I choose to change the writing style to elevate the story and to bring out the descriptions.

Milk and Honey by Rupi Kair

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The piece I choose to discuss is an expert from the book Milk and Honey by Rupi Kair.

” Did you think I was a city
big enough for a weekend get away
I am the town surrounding it
the one you’ve never heard of but always pass through
there are no neon lights here, no skyscrapers or statues
but there is thunder here for I make bridges tremble …”

There is a lot of literary devices used within these sentences. The author uses imagery and personification to develop strong visuals. The author describes herself not as a city where it can be busy, large, fast paced but more over as the town nearby, safe and sacred, quite even. This allows readers to have a different perspective of the kind of person she can be characterized as. The symbolism of the town creates a visual representation. She also uses Juxtaposition to contrast the two elements of the town versus the city in order to emphasize the play of words.

POST 0 – RIP TO THE BLACK MAMBA

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R.I.P Black Mamba

I was working a party when everything froze. Hearing it was not enough, but reading it a loud gave me deep emotions. The televisions throughout the restaurant echoed “Kobe Bryant NBA Superstar and future hall of famer, is dead at 41”.  The entire country froze that day. It did not make sense to anyone. Kobe Bryant was a hero and these things should never happen to our heroes. Kobe Bryant was an incredible professional basketball player. He was drafted straight out of high school and dedicated 20 seasons to the L.A. Lakers. Bryant was a gifted athlete, a virtuoso in defense, most importantly a father, a friend, a legend.

I felt so much grief and sadness for many reasons.  I was not a close friend or relative but I was a fan. I could never imagine being taken right out from this Earth at 41 years. At 41 you are supposed to be the grandparent or retiring or living out your days from here on out. I could never endure the feeling of loosing not only your partner but one of your own children as well. How do you come back from such a tragedy? How do you make those lasts moments feel  safe for your child as the helicopter spirals  out of control?

My mind felt scrambled all over the place. The information was overwhelming and grim. From this day, because of this unfortunate event I realized that tomorrow is not promised to anyone. Love and appreciate the people in your life, the ones that you take for granted when you see them everyday or forget to show them just how much they mean to you. Live everyday like it is your last for life is finite and fragile.