Christian Kalweit - The ecstasy of influence

Jonathan Lethem's main point of the article is that a society which communicates with one another, sharing individual thoughts and information, will only result in benefiting the group as a whole. By providing information to the public by any form, it can serve to help an unlimited amount of people. The argument of the article is that copy writing has gone to the extreme, to the point where people can not take full advantage of what is being provided to them. Lethem's motive for writing the article is the disgust and annoyance that has developed inside of him directed towards copy writing and the intense focus on plagiarism in today's society.

Dan Hopkins - The Ecstasy of Influence

In this article I feel that Jonathan Lethem's main argument is that overall the act of sharing your knowledge and art with the world will in the future benefit everyone. I think the motivation for writing this came from the great extent of exposure he has of plagiarized works, he has seen how parameters and restrictions of one's copywrited work has stunted the growth of a reader's or viewer's creative thought. I liked this quote "Don't pirate my editions; do plunder my visions" (Lethem) I think it sums up how he feels pretty well.

John Brown-The Ecstasy of Influence: Learning Letter

I believe that Jonathan Lethems argument in this article is that plagiarism is something that is abundant in our society today and has helped shaped American culture throughout history. I feel that his motive for writing this stems from his own experiences with plagiarism and his time of being a writer where plagiarism is a major topic discussed amongst writers.

The Lottery - Shartrand

I've grown up in the Protestant church. I feel like, presently, I understand a majority of the rituals and practices in my faith. Though when I was younger, the church I went to participated in various Old Testament practices. We would not eat leavened bread (bread with yeast) for a week, which was appropriately called The Days of Unleavened Bread. When I was younger, I did this because I was told to, not because I understood the point. Right now, I am part of a different denomination, and I participate in New Testament practices. These rituals and practices have meaning to me, and to my faith.

All of my younger experiences allow me to see how and why the townspeople in Jackson's story participate in these yearly stoning sessions. They feel like they'll get something out of it, even if that idea is not based in facts, even if they've never really seen the benefits, they just believe eventually they'll understand.

The Lottery - Dan H

I had read this story in middle school and hadn't thought much of it. Back then it left me confused and disturbed. And not much has changed the second time I read it. What is the purpose of stoning a randomly chosen citizen? Is it because the town is too populated for it's resources? Religious purposes? Those are the only reasons I can think of. Otherwise it seems inhumane. I wanna know why??

Rituals

Generally, I do not mindlessly find myself entangled in rituals. Being Jewish I do try my best to fast on Yom Kippur and such, however, I have been taught the meaning behind those actions. I can only think of one instance where I almost religiously find myself trapped within a punishment of repetition. I was no older than nine years old and had been forced to take a trip with my mom, brother, and two of his friends. Now, this trip seemed like an eternity as did most car excursions of my childhood, although I am sure it lasted no longer than ten minutes. I can't remember exactly where it was we were headed, but along the way we passed a grave yard. With the sight of that first headstone, "Jack Rabbit" had been screamed from the backseat. I then turned around; puzzled by this new expression. My brother’s friend then began explaining that every time I see a grave yard I must repeat those two words to ensure the safety of myself and family. Since that day I cannot drive past a grave yard without saying “Jack Rabbit” in my head. Throughout my childhood, I was convinced that every time I avoided death, which seemed to happen rather frequently, it was due to that marvelous phrase I had been taught. Now, I am not a superstitious person, I mean I have a black cat so how could I be, but this habit has never left my side.

The Lottery-Brown

I'd say that i make a lot of sacrifices in hopes of finding good luck on a pretty regular basis. It's hard for me to think about why I may do this, because I don't see myself as a person with an external locus of control, but maybe I am. For example, when I'm snowboarding and I land a trick, I sacrifice trying a new trick because I feel like sticking to that same newly learned trick in hopes of it keeping me from falling for the rest of the day. But it's not only when i am snowboarding, if i go to the mac lab here at school, and find a computer that works good for me one time; I'll try my best to go and use that same computer every time I'm down there. I'm aware that most likely that computer isn't the best, in fact it may even be the farthest away from the printer, but since it worked good for me once, i sacrifice being close to the printer in order to use that computer. I think that even if you don't believe in external forces having control over your actions, you still are willing to make sacrifices in hopes of finding good luck.