Opinion Piece Precis #2- "Celebrity Chefs Show How to Lose Weight," by Joel Stein

Joel Stein's 2009 essay, "Celebrity Chefs Show How to Lose Weight," explains the efforts many chefs are making to lose weight and care more about their physical image. Alton Brown, a Food Network host and the author of a best selling cookbook, noticed how "heavy" he was when he watched himself on television, it was then he wondered if he looked like this how did his audience, fans, and consumers look. Stein believes putting chefs on television could be a way for ending the obesity epidemic. After chefs starting debuting on television they began cutting back on unnecessary foods and they started to lose a substantial amount of weight. These chiefs started sharing healthier recipes with their fans allowing the fans to take part in living a healthy lifestyle along with them.

Application Question: Would you be a fan of a slim chef even though chefs are known for being in love with food therefore being overweight? Why would/wouldn't it matter?

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1945362,00.html

Opinion Piece Precis #1- "Who Will Inherit Joel Stein's Kid," by Joel Stein

Joel Stein's 2009 essay, Who Will Inherit Joel Stein's Kid?, explains that people tend to have more in common with their friends or who they associate themselves with than their fanily. Stein just had a son and was contenmplating on who he should label with guradianship over his son if anything was to unexpectedly happen to him or his wife, whether it should be his parents, parent-n-laws, a brother-n-law, or an old college roomate. In the end Stein and his wife chose Stein's old college roommate to be the God-Parents of their son because they had the same views on education, money, discipline, family, etc. Although it didn't seem like it initially, Stein's purpose was to inform his audience that people will most likely have more in common with their friends than their family, and this is not saying that people will necessarily love their friends or associates more than their parents but to point out, people chose who they will befriend or who they will hang out with based on their similarities with each other (for the most part).
http://time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1940678,00.html

Application Question: Why would you pick someone that shares the same views of the world as you as a supppose to someone who was the COMPLETE opposite of you to raise your child in case something was to unexpectadly happen to you and your spouse?

Chunk #1 Precis: Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm Gladwell's non-fiction text, "Outliers," examines the reasons behind success in different aspects of life. Gladwell explains why some hockey players tend to do better than others and how one's age has alot to do with achievments, whether it's physically or mentally. Gladwell is able to do this with statistics and research that has been gone over and over by psycologists. Students that are older and more mature tend to do better in school than their peers, even if they are only months older. Being physically and mentally mature are key aspects that determine whether someone will be gifted, education wise, and talented in extracurricular activities like hockey for example. If a child, for instance, was born in February and another child was born in September, that "February baby" has a 7 month maturation head start, which means he would most likely play sports better that his peer because he will have sarted training first, and he would comprehend things better because his brain is more mature. Gladwell isn't necessarily saying that one's birthday will determine their success but it does contribute to it in a way. And that age difference plus practice is a recipe for success.

Application Question: If your child was born at the end of the year (say late December) would u hold him/her back one year so that he/she can excell in school with peers that are one year younger than him/her?

Clarification Question: Why is it that the hockey players that tend to be the best in their age group leagues and play professionally are mostly born in January, February, and March?

"The Narrative of Frederick Douglass"

On a scale from 1-10 I would have to say my level of interest for this book would have to be a 7. For the most part I enjoyed reading the narrative and learning the abuse, trials, and tribulations that Frederick and other slaves had to under go and why they became accustomed to it as if it was ideally "normal". While reading this narrative I was able to point out the privileges that I now have and view as a necessity but Frederick didn't have and was able to live without, for instance a bed. On the other hand I did not really like the depth of Frederick's syntax. I had to reread sentences and think about why he wrote some sentences telegraphic (straight forward) and others cumulative. Sometimes I didn't even have a clue of what Frederick was talking about until I asked Tierra or until Ms. Guy went over it in class.
My favorite scene from Frederick Douglass's slave narative was when Frederick tried to escape from Master Covey's plantation and go back to MAster Thomas Auld's plantation. This was funny because in the beginning Frederick did not like being Master Thomas's slave but after he was abused numerous times by Master Covey he wanted his previous master back. Frederick left Master Covey's plantation in hopes of freedom from him and an easier lifestyle as a slave with Master Thomas. Frederick walked about 5 miles to get to Mastser Thomas's plantation all to be sent back because he was under contract to work for Master Covey for a year. Even though this scene was kind of harsh and Frederick was suppose to get a beating for his escape, it was rather hillarious because Frederick actually thought he was going to be finally free from the abusive hands of Master Covey that he dealt with for 6 months.