“Perfect Parenting, Part II; Or: Would a Roshanda by Any Other Name Smell as Sweet” is the sixth chapter of Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. This chapter leads off tells a story of four different people with names that are not typical. One child, named Temptress, was charged in family court. One named Loser who became a success in every sense of the word. A man, named Winner, has a criminal record longer than this paper I am writing. It asks if the names of these people determine fate or not? Is there a correlation that can be picked out? Surprisingly enough all were black. A young economist named Roland G. Fryer Jr. is one of the current scholars who are advancing the thought on how black culture works. According to
Levitt and Dubner classify Freakonomics as a book having “no such unifying theme” (14), but all the unique topics discussed throughout the text connect back together in order to show the hidden side of human nature. The argument that the wide variety of topics and their abstract descriptions all link together draws the attention of a large audience and connects to issues that society is currently facing or has recently confronted. Freakonomics, organized as an argumentative piece, asserts that “commerce without morality,” or the conducting of business without a sense of what is right or wrong, is triggered by human actions that are led by incentives, causing changes in the economy. Levitt and Dubner do not explicitly state their argument, but through the use of ethos, pathos,
When the main character, Grant, finds out that another African-American man named Jefferson will be executed, he is in shock. This shock results from the fact that the execution date, time, and location were all decided by the sheriff, and the family wasn 't consulted even once. He thinks to himself: “Twelve white men say a black man must die, and another white man sets the date and time without consulting another black person. Justice?” (129)
Freakonomics Review Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner’s Harper 2005 New York Times bestselling novel, Freakonomics, digs deep into the hidden side of economics. From comparing the safety of swimming pools and guns to discovering the truth about drug dealing, this book will have the reader questioning everyday life. Although the book uses odd examples and intriguing comparisons, the chapters themselves are tedious and lengthy. Steven D. Levitt is an economist that went to Harvard and MIT for his degree.
Shirley Jackson wrote the famous short story The Lottery in 1948, a time where people often hosted these with cash or numerous prizes. The way the story is twisted, told, foreshadowed and characterized is impressive because it keeps the reader guessing, asking the questions, “Who will win?” and “What’s the prize?” That truly is the beauty in this story and how it keeps the reader on a hook like a fish, until that final pull to being on land, and in the bucket. The Lottery is a short story about an annual event in which one person is to be randomly chosen to be stoned to death by the people in the village. By using and impressive display of symbolism Jackson uses names, objects, and the setting to conceal the true meaning and intention of the
Freakonomics is somewhat random grab bag of topics. The unifying theme of this book for me was finding ways to ask questions so that one's available statistics and data can provide an answer, time after time they used available statistics to provide some time of reasoning or answers to the question being asked. Some of these efforts were more successful than others. Some of the questions Levitt and Dubner study felt unnecessary, that no one really cares about. But there are also some good subjects.
The book Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner talks about many different things, including cheating teachers and sumo wrestlers, how abortion lowered crime rates, how a street crack gang works, and whether the way parents raise their children even matter. These topics seem to have nothing in common, but all of these topics were identified in the same way: an economist (Levitt) looked at school test scores, crime data, and all sorts of other information, looking at them in unconventional ways. Because of that, he has come to many interesting and unique conclusions that make complete sense. These findings were based on some simple ideas: the power of incentives, conventional wisdom is not always right, things may not have obvious causes, and experts often serve their own interests instead of the interests of others. Perhaps the most important idea in the book is, as Levitt and Dubner state, “Knowing what to measure and how to measure it makes a complicated world much less so” (14).
“Let’s undertake a mission, which is to make you, Greg Rosalsky, more– better off as you put it, by becoming more like homo economicus, to try and live your life a little bit more the way that economists would describe the way someone should live their lives.” Homo economicus is the figurative human being characterized by the endless capability to make rational decisions. Few economic models have conventionally depend on the belief that humans are rational and will try to take full advantage of their utility for both monetary and non-monetary advantages. In this episode, Freakonomics Radio producer Greg Rosalsky boards a long and tortuous journey to live his life like homo economicus. Is this even possible?
African-American becoming to America with the new approach of wanted more than what the old Negros wanted. I never realized that William Edward Burghardt known as “W.E.B.” Du Bois had a huge contribution on inspiring artists and social thinkers of his time. He was a leading African-American sociologist, writer and activist. Educated at Harvard University and other top schools. W.E.B. Du Bois outlined the history of African-Americans throughout time, were held in high regard by Du Bois whom felt that Pageants could be utilized best as a form of educational theatre or as an instructional tool to teach African Americans.
Breaking Traditions For a Better Society Traditions are beliefs and customs that all cultures, races, and religions have that are passed down between generations. They can connect the past, with the present, and the future. There are many traditions that are practiced as a second nature, such as toasting at a wedding. However, there are other traditions that have been passed down that aren 't practiced as widley.
This village does ‘the lottery’ which is when they pick a name from a box and the winner gets stones thrown at them until they die. This has always been a tradition and most don't like it, but no one wants it to change. The Lottery is very similar to Fahrenheit 451 because they're both being controlled by a higher power, the government. These characters cannot easily break free of the authoritative power. In this story, Tessie’s husband’s name is drawn.
Although slavery has been abolished for over 150 years—racial inequality is still apparent today. It is 2018; America is in an era of change, acceptance, and innovation— anyone can be whomever they want to be. Finally, everyone in America belongs and there is equality… except when there isn’t. A recent study done by the Pew Research Center in 2016 revealed how discrimination is present today. The study reports, “A majority of blacks (71%) say that they have experienced discrimination or been treated unfairly because of their race or ethnicity.
Freakonomics — Laid-Back Labor: The 140$ Homemade Scarf A summary: by Nada Alruwaii In " Freakonomics — Laid-Back Labor: The 140$ homemade scarf", Dubner and Levit indicate that music-making as a leisure is in decline in favor of technology; since 1920 around 30000 pianos were sold, while in 2006 sales decrease to 76,966.