Week Six

Journal

John Glenn

American Visions and Values LA-400

October 8th, 2007

Week Six

Well the weeks keep flying along in class and the readings continue to be interesting. I am happy to say that the text has become more what I see as relative in regards to the title of it. Western Visions and American Values, should be about what has made our country the great land to live in. This week the readings fit the title well, with some of the men that we read about.

Thomas Jefferson writing about what made George Washington the exceptional leader he was for his time. I had no idea that he was as slow as he was in making decisions, but it sounds as if he was very open to suggestions from his men. As Jefferson stated, there was no judgment sounder when it came to General Washington's decisions. Jefferson also painted a picture of a man that was not real warm hearted towards his men, but would give each man a chance to prove themselves.

The other reading I really enjoyed this week, that made a difference to the country was the Letters from Birmingham Jail by Dr. Martin Luther King. These were writings that had heard of from the past, but never took the opportunity to read these. Some of the quotes that Dr. King had in these were some of the best I have heard. The one I believe I liked the best was "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere". It is incredible the passion he had for the cause of his people, he was willing to do what it took to get his point across that "all men were created equally".

I also enjoyed the short writing of Larger Than Life by Jenny Lyn Bader and I believe I will be using some of this for my final project. She was able to share the essences of what make a person a "true" hero in peoples eyes. I enjoyed her quote regarding heroes, "They lead lives that make us question our own". I do not think that it gets much better then that. Some people that hold their "heroes" up high are probably ashamed now, Brittany Spears, Lindsey Lohan and other "stars" that always seem to fall back to the ground.

In conclusion, I believe this has been one of my favorite weeks for readings and look forward to more week that are along this line of topics.