Sociological Norms

After discussing the sociological norms in class I realized that my friends and I are sometimes sociologically inappropriate. Whatever the type of taboo it might be, we tend to break them all. We will tell each other if the other looks bad, discuss going to the bathroom, and even subjects more unimaginable. It's not because we are gross people, it's just because we feel very comfortable around each other. But we also all know that if there were guys around or someone we just met, we wouldn't want to scare them with our comfort level with each other. Taboos may be looked down upon and thought of as wrong, but in my opinion it really depends on who is judging you. My friends and I don't judge each other so we feel like saying or doing nearly anything is acceptable, where as if we were around our teachers and they were listening in on a discussion they would be disgusted. Sure, we follow the norms to an extent and mores as well, but the thing that sets us apart from most is our taboo-like behavior. I'm not ashamed of it and know who I can use it around now that I know some of the things I may do or say would be considered a taboo for many people.

p.s. I still don't understand how the people in India don't get in accidents...is it because they are not as crazy of drivers as Americans?

The Bronx Tale, Groups

Groups
What are all the groups that Collogero belongs to? (Think in terms of the circles exercise we did in class.) Would you put him in Sonny’s crew, or would you put him and Sonny in their own group? What is Collogero’s Master Status? Why do you think so? Do you think his master status changes throughout the movie?

Collogero belongs to several groups. At the beginning he is solely a member of his family, his friends, and Sonny's crew to an extent. When he grows older he is still a member of his family, his friends, more to Sonny's crew, a student at the high school, a gambler, and more defined as an Italian living in the Bronx of New York. I would put him in Sonny's crew because although he wasn't their age he still participated in the gambling activity and went to the bar and helped out in the fights. However after Sonny died it was as if he was completely separated from them. I would say Collogero's master status was "Italian". It defines how he was raised, where he grew up, the way he dressed, and the people he hung around with. I think he is too young to be considered a mobster and although he is always part of his family and a son, his family too is a subcategory of the master status Italian. At first he may be mainly a son but as he grows up the Italian in him seems to shine more brightly. Almost every other group that he belongs to falls under Italian too, and when Collogero finds himself in the black neighborhood all he appears as is an Italian. The groups were a large part of the movie and clearly defined throughout.

Service Project

Thinking about the service project sparked my plans for other volunteer opportunites I take part in outside of the required hours. In the past years I have participated in the Brain Tumor Walk, the Breast Cancer walk, and the Diabetes walk. All three have huge significance to me: one of my best friend's mom's died of a brain tumor, my mom had breast cancer, and my dad's best friend has diabetes alon with several of my relatives. I participate in these walks because I want to help research get that much closer to helping those people with loved ones in trouble. That is why I also attend the spirit walk at our school every year because when the whole community comes together it really makes a difference. The past two years I have also been a part of relay for life. This upcoming relay for life walk I will once again be a captain and do my best to get as many people as possible contributing to the cause. I know my friends will help because they have seen first hand how hard it is to deal with cancer in a family. Also, in June, my friends and I are planning on participating in the breast cancer 3-day because we will be 18 and are finally allowed to. I'm looking forward to that a lot not only because it is helping a cause but also because an experience like that will make me stronger as a person. These are just the plans I have now, who knows what else will come about that I want to be a part of. I really do enjoy this kind of volunteer work and will do it without having to be asked to.

Survival

The whole even with the members of the plane that crashed reminds me very much of a book we had to read of the summer for English. The book is called Life of Pi and it deals with a boy who gets stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with 4 animals: an orangutan, a zebra, a hyena, and a tiger. At first no one interacts with one another but eventually the hyena gets aggressive. He attacks the poor zebra (who just so happened to have a broken leg) and literally eats the zebra alive. I guess he picked the zebra because it was hurt, weak, and was going to die first anyway. Next the orangutan got in a fight with the hyena and in the end the hyena won and was feeling all high and mighty. Finally the tiger came out of hiding and demolished the hyena. He ended up enjoying his meal of hyena for dinner. Throughout the whole rest of the time the boy had to find food for him and tiger. They caught fish, turtles, and used the emergency food aboard the lifeboat. You could say this relates to the plane crash incident because in both cases the mode of transportation crashes and leaves the passengers stranded. Also in both cases the "survivors" are forced to eat those that were previously traveling with them. Yes, animals may not have the same morals as humans, but they still killed to survive. This was just interesting to me because it shows how humans and animals have the same intentions when it comes to life.