The power of words cannot be understated. Those who use the power of rhetoric know that word choice matters, and this has affected persuasive speech from Gorgias to Adolf Hitler to Barack Obama. I am reminded of the discussion we are currently having today about the tone and use of words in our contemporary political climate. Our politicians and pundits often use violent rhetoric to describe the other side, from “death panels” to “hit lists” to “Nazis.” All of these words are quite deliberate and are meant to drum up support in the era of two second sound bites. One has to wonder what effect these labels have on society, and whether or not these words hurt our ability to make sound reasonable choices. If we keep demonizing the other side with hateful language, we start to view them maliciously, making political compromise impossible. We have to overcome these labels in order to understand those that are different than us, just like our friend in prison. I do not think that labels will ever be able to leave our society. It is how we are able to identify people without actually knowing them. It gives us a sense of security and relieves us of our fears that we have with other people. It makes us feel less apprehensive approaching or working with others and it makes us confident that we are socializing with the right people. However there are many instances that labels have been proven false on many people. But why do they still exist? What does it take for us to get away from labels like “girl” or “slut” or “goody-goody”? Or rather to this particular writer, “convict” or “murderer”? We could try to do everything to disassociate with those labels that we have put on ourselves from the invisible strings, but like Sam has said many times in class, there are many factors and forces coming from everywhere that we have no idea how to even scratch the surface. The best thing that one can do is to embrace who they actually are and let people make their own judgements. I am sure as the class moves more along throughout the semester the students will realize that you are really human beings after all.

It may have taken this man the amount of time it did to realize this, the number of hours sitting in his jail cell thinking about this topic, because he needed something to make him look at his life/our society’s mentality, from a different perspective. Instead of living in the relationship, he is now thinking more forward, thinking about how to maintain a long-lasting relationship. He is also realizing that he does not know what he has until it is gone. He writes that he will use this insight the next time he finds himself in a relationship; whether this means he regrets not doing this before, or just that the time has come to be more serious with relationships, it took him until he was able to fully look in from the outside, on to what are the truest values that people (women) hold (in men). What I do think the media does, furthering his argument about it, is that until a man proves differently, he “is the typical guy”, and finds a commonplace with friends when it comes to having more girls, finding the hottest girls, etc. I think eventually, most people come to realize this and truly understand that there is more to a relationship than what the media dictates. Even though the majority of people will say they know all of this, it takes a certain amount of time to actually live in this mindset and 100% move past the media’s perceptions of relationships.Regarding that statement about women wanting sex and money, I do not blame the lifer for believing then. The media contributes to this just as it contributes to the way men treat women. Sure there are many women out there that look solely for sex and money, but I think men can agree that most women are more sensitive than, otherwise they would not need to do everything stated in this post. There needs to be respect both ways. I think it would be interesting to see what this lifer would say defining a woman. In the end, however, it comes to wanting to do these things for the other person, not doing them because you think you should. Otherwise, nobody is happy.

I still find it hard to believe that inmates, let alone lifers, write all of these letters. Usually, after reading these letters, I feel more motivated but I also feel bad about myself. The reason that I feel motivated is that the letters are upbeat and positive. The reason that I feel bad about myself is that I realize I too often get frustrated or upset at myself or another person. Although, in the end, these letters have made me realize the world isn’t all that bad. How can one spend several decades in the prison without getting mad or desperate? I could even not imagine that such things happen on me. I mean, it is really tough. Maybe your relatives and friends will keep communicate with you during the beginning years, but anyway it is the truth that everyone has his/her busy and stressful life. As the lifer says in the article,” Over time I went from getting 5-8 pieces of mail a week to 5-8 pieces a month. As time goes by and people get older, their responsibilities increase. So the time they once had to sit down and write you a 3-5 page letter turned into a thinking of you card whenever they do just that; think of you.” They eventually have to face the darkness on their own during most of their lives, which is really a pity. However the lucky thing is that they may be able to build up another family relationship with those who were strangers before, as the lifer in this article. I also could tell that this guy was a genuine person because of how he interacts with his inmates. Becoming a family with people who don’t have one shows empathy and compassion. I don’t know what this guy did to end up in prison, but he just doesn’t seem like the type of person I would be afraid of being a part of society. We could all take away from this reading. Most of us take our loved ones for granted. When our parents tell us they are proud of us, that they love and support us, do we truly listen? Do we understand how important those words are? This “prisoner” values has seen that those family ties are the most important thing in the world, how will we ever succeed without love and support? If he can understand this concept, why can’t we? We need to act more like this writer; valuing what we have and treating those around us like our own family, making more and more connections in more places, for we never know when we will need their support the most.

Anyone could accidentally run a red light and possibly run into a bicyclist or a pedestrian. After that we would be sentenced to life in prison for murder and thinking about what we used to dream about when we were kids. When we were young we had the whole word laid out for us to do whatever we want. But now here is a man who is stuck in one cell for the rest of his life. Thinking about what could have been. Could I have gotten married, had a family, and made something of myself. M.'s Story is a very touching insight into the life of a man who has been sentenced to life in prison. He talks about how when he was a boy he was so innocent and that no one knew that he would be the type of man to be thrown in jail. It is very interesting to me that ordinary, regular people can at any time be mixed up in a situation out of their control and be blamed or at least partially blamed for something like this. He was caught up in something not his fault and is still punished. It helps reiterrate a point that people dont know what they have until it is gone. We have so many great things in our lives that are taken for granted but we dont realize how easily these same things can be taken away. The main thing that i have taken away from some of these stories is that i need to live in the moment and enjoy the things i have because other ordinary happy people get them taken away everyday.

Clearly through this man’s letter and the other inmates’ letters they truly regret their actions and have spent years coping with the collateral damage of their respective murders. I wonder how or if these men could function in society after spending so many years in prison, or if they would be so far removed from basic daily interactions that they could not function amongst society. What was most powerful about this reading was the juxtaposition of the loss of his happy memories with the continual presence of his nightmares. The broad memories of his past life are fading yet he can so clearly pinpoint the name and age of the boy he killed, someone he never met. All of the emotions felt by himself and the victim’s family are still fresh in his mind. It is a scary thought that so many inmates in prisons are going through the same exact thing, day after day, year after year. We can argue that the prison system is working and this is exactly what we want to happen to prisoners but I still feel sad. It raises questions like “why should I feel bad for them?” or “do they not deserve this pain and suffering?” I do not want to feel bad for this man but I do. To me is it sad to think that he is suffering a fate that is equivalent to prisoners who committed murder in cold blood. These people may be locked up in a prison, but that doesn't mean that they don't have feelings and experiences and regrets. And the experiences like all the people you thought cared about you simply forgetting about you, except for your mom, or your wife pretty much crossing you out ofher life all sound really terrible, but this man seems to say that they weren't as terrible as what he did to the boy he killed, the families he ruined. He can remember all the details of that night and the events that followed, but after he was put in prison everything else just doesn't seem as important.

This article made me attempt to think like an inmate would when asked the question “what is freedom” and even in the short amount of time that has passed since I read the article I have already begun to think of freedom on a smaller scale. I think the aspect of his freedoms that hit closest to home are all the things pertaining to family issues. “To be there at birthdays, graduations, weddings, child-births, holidays, promotions, anniversaries and funerals”. This list of events contains the very fundamental aspects of belonging to a family and ones that are often overlooked by people on the outside who regularly attend these events. At the age of 18 it is hard to comprehend spending the entirety of my adult life in prison until the age of 31. This young man exudes such an aura of acquired wisdom well beyond his years. He has embraced the fact that he still possess the most important type of freedom, his mind. If you still have freedom of mind you can control exactly how bad your situation actually is. A passage that really interested me was when he talked about the fact that we think of prison as being filled with the scum of humanity but even the simplest formes of kindness exist in these places. They are all suffering whether with themselves or their actions but they try and alleviate it the best they can. A lot of these articles provide evidence about how the system actually turns people who committed cold blooded crimes into thoughtful people who understand their actions and are truely sorry. They try and comfort each other in order to conquer their demons and become remorseful and thoughtful people which is really what is trying to be taught with confinement for long periods of time. While the crime is not necessarily forgiven with remorse, it is sort of annulled with sincere sorrow for the action.

The concept of freedom is something that has been shaped through our experiences. I know freedom as a white, american affluent male, and not through someone else's perceptions. I can drive my car whenever i want, eat whatever I want, and i can attend any church that i want. We do not realize what we have until its gone. One of the most important aspect of freedom to me is the freedom of speech and the use of censorship. "Those in favor of censorship would also like to keep acts of torture, murder, and executions off T.V., where children might see them. So far, television has been quite responsible in censoring itself and not broadcasting too many of these kinds of scenes. Usually they tell the viewer ahead of time what they are about to show "may be disturbing to some people." Many death penalty opponents argue executions should be televised, hoping that when people see it they will want to outlaw the practice. But as humans we make choices". Most people do not realize the freedoms that they have until they are snatched from them. I believe that people take for granted and almost feel entitled to the freedoms and liberties in their lives, they do not however understand how vast and important but also fragile they are at the same time. One of the most important points that he makes in the letter is the fact that at the end of the day of all the choices he can make the one he pays attention to most is the person he wants to be. Which is what really matters right? It is very interesting that he says that he lives vicariously through other people. If i were ever in captivity I would want as many visits and as many letters as possible in order to keep myself sane and atoned to what is going on in the outside world. It would be very different to experience the free life through other people but if it was one of the only ways to associate with the outside world it is completely necessary. The idea that we possess freedom is very important to the individual.

At the age of 18 it is hard to comprehend spending the entirety of my adult life in prison until the age of 31. This young man exudes such an aura of acquired wisdom well beyond his years. He has embraced the fact that he still possess the most important type of freedom, his mind. If you still have freedom of mind you can control exactly how bad your situation actually is. One of the most alarming and insightful points that he presents in the letter is the fact that he uses his freedom of mind to control his actions in order to one day be released from prison and enjoy the simple freedoms that are listed. Most people do not realize the freedoms that they have until they are snatched from them. I believe that people take for granted and almost feel entitled to the freedoms and liberties in their lives, they do not however understand how vast and important but also fragile they are at the same time. He also states that he tries to participate int these freedoms vicariously through other people, this is interesting that just being able to reminisce about these things help him retain hope of once again attaining these freedoms. One of the most important points that he makes in the letter is the fact that at the end of the day of all the choices he can make the one he pays attention to most is the person he wants to be. Which is what really matters right? On one of the first days of class we talked about the most intimate and personal things an individual can do. We talked about suicide but prison also applies well to the question. Individuals being locked away with nothing but their own thoughts to entertain themselves is about as personal as it gets. The individual in this letter realizes this and strives to make amends with himself in order to attain freedom.

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