Welcome to Gaia! ::

General Purpose: To persuade
Specific Purpose: To persuade the audience to self-regulate Internet usage
Thesis Statement: Although the Bertelsmann Foundation’s Memorandum proposes a good solution for universal Internet regulation, there are still major flaws and ambiguities, still making self-regulation the best defense against Internet dangers.
Title: Analysis of Esther Dyson’s Speech



During The Summit to Discuss Global System for Rating Internet Content at Munich, Germany on September 10, 1999, Esther Dyson, an Electronic Frontier Foundation board member, was asked to present a speech on the Bertelsmann Foundation’s Memorandum. As a an Electronic Frontier Foundation board member, Dyson’s credibility is already verified, which makes her an excellent candidate to speak before this audience. Esther Dyson’s audience is comprised of corporate executives and experts in the fields of technology, law and government. Dyson’s preview statement intimates her speech’s intent, “This response is my personal reaction to the Bertelsmann Foundation Memorandum on ‘Self-Regulation on the Internet’.” In summary, Dyson approves of the foundation getting involved because it makes people think critically about the issue of having an Internet rating system. Such a system would potentially allow parents to more effectively protect children from objectionable material online. However she disagrees with their specific details in the paper because they are very vague in many areas and sometimes do not allow for other opinions. Also, they never specifically outline who will govern, by what standards will we be governed, and how it will be governed and/or its policies enforced in the vastness that is the Internet.

From the beginning of her speech Dyson captures the audience’s attention and maintains it through her well-structured oration. Dyson uses syntax as an attention getter, “Overall, the document leaves me feeling distinctly queasy.” No testimonies were used in this speech, however the whole speech however may be considered a personal testimony because Esther Dyson has used her own expertise to convey her points on this subject and the Bertelsmann Foundation’s Memorandum. Dyson also does not use internal summaries or final summaries to recapitulate or enhance her delivery; her topical pattern of the speech makes it easy to follow. Thus said, her main points can be easily found as Illegal Content, The proposed rating system, Child pornography vs. child viewing pornography, Privacy Issues, and Constructive criticism. She explicates each of these main headings with examples from the document and supporting materials from her own experience

Dyson quotes the document in several places to further elucidate her own opinions on a universal Internet rating system. Some of these quotes are, “… refer to ‘illegal content such as child pornography’”, “…broader reference: ‘…racist and discriminatory web sites, child pornography material exchanged in certain newsgroups and chatrooms and ‘how to’-guides on terrorist activity are too disturbing to ignore. Mechanisms have to be developed to deal with illegal content, to protect children online as well as free speech’”, “…an international group of experts of high integrity: ‘In addition to experts on civil liberties and Internet policy, the board should include social scientists who can advise about what kinds of content are more and less harmful to children’”, and “…Internet industry (broadly defined) should ‘tak[e] all commercially reasonable steps to verify the identity of subscribers, while protecting subscribers’ privacy.’” Dyson, as an effective speaker, ties all her points together with transitional sentences. Examples of found sentences are, “Now let me consider some detail”, “In some spheres there is need for coordination and collaboration, but it does not necessarily need to be governed globally”, “Surely they belong only in the second layer”, “These services, like many services designed to ‘solve problems,’ are a huge business opportunity”, and “Just as consumer look for price, nutritional information, fabric content, care instructions, warranties and other information on products, so should they be encourage to look for similar meta-information on websites.” Her speech is further augmented with the use of transition words, signposts, figurative language, and enumerations.

The finer details of Dyson’s speech including language devices can be analyzed critically. Some such language devices are metaphors, similes, alliteration, parallel structure, repetition, and antithesis. Even though Dyson’s oration did not include any similes, alliterations, repetitions, or antitheses, her speech was nonetheless rich with metaphors and parallel structures. The metaphors found are “...let the worldwide content-rating system take the heat”, “...keeping the Net a place they want to live in”, and “But the nature of the world is that it is a collection of sometimes interacting communities…” Parallel structures used are “But in the world of the Internet, with mirror sites, anonymous e-mail and the like, this may not be feasible – fortunately”, “Bertelsmann should encourage private groups and companies to develop and promote rating services, not just for porn or violence, but for quality, advertising disclosure, data-collection-and-use practices, and the like”, and “Just as consumers look for price, nutritional information, fabric content, care instructions, warranties and other information on products, so should they be encouraged to look for similar meta-information on websites.” Another detail, some prevalent signposts are used, “Who will do it”, “...who decides what is illegal”, “So, what are alternative, positive approaches”, “What is illegal content”, “The proposed rating system, with its three layers, is nicely designed”, “The report seems to gloss over the distinction between child pornography, a legal term that connotes the use of children in pornography, which is (almost) universally illegal”, and “I also have some concerns over the report’s attitude to privacy protection – and implicitly, to anonymity.” An even finer detail could be picking out the transitional words such as “However”, “Now”, “Later”, “Moreover”, “Also”, “In short”, “First of all”, “In addition”, “Otherwise”, “But”, and “Finally.” More transitional words such as “First” and “Second” are also enumerations found in this speech. All of these in depth details of modern public speaking have converged in Dyson’s speech to make the delivery more lucid.

With her expertise and well-supported arguments Dyson has delivered an oration that is continuous bringing her main points and ideals to light. Her chosen pattern of speech augmented these ideals and gave her a captive and critical listening audience. In this manner Dyson’s audience assessed the strengths and weaknesses of the reasoning and supporting materials presented. Due to the composition of Dyson’s speech, enhanced with language devices, her audience was now able to remain open to new ideas. Dyson concluded with an acute statement encompassing her hopes for her audience and people everywhere to be impacted by, “In short, let’s look at the role that informed, empowered citizens can play in keeping the Net a place they want to live in.”

Human Nature


The assertion explains that it is human nature to want to impose patterns, standards, and a structure of behavior, or a proper way of behaving and living, on the self, because it gives a sense of security. This statement is true because humans always have and always will need to classify and categorize all areas of their lives in order to avert feeling empty and lost in the world. Some humans clean and organize their homes and offices often to avoid feeling lost in seas of papers, clothes, and so forth. While in other instances, not being able to classify or categorize something, possibly a recent discovery, causes fear which then causes people to strive to find a nice box to fit it into. Classification and categorization is evident everywhere, in all our lives, in language, in math and science, and in other humans.

In all languages humans have specific words to classify other things and even words that classify these words. All languages consist of nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and many others that may not be listed here. These words classify other words as to what a thing is, what a thing does, what a thing looks like, and so on. Words in any language also describe different types of things like books, plays, and movies. Books, plays, and movies have constantly been categorized into neat little packages called genres which describes what kind of book, play, or movie it is depending upon its content. Such labels would be horror, comedy, and drama, to name a few.

Also, although it is understandable that people must conform to a certain language in order to communicate, for humans, it seems that they must always give a name to the language, pidgin, and dialect, that they speak. There has been a recent debate as to whether or not English should be politically correct and give females, in certain professions, a title that is not so male oriented. It is not entirely necessary to have doctors and “doctoresses” in hospitals confusing everyone. In language humans have even found a way to classify emotions. Emotions are supposed to be felt, not classified, studied, and then categorized as to the quality of the emotion. Humans classify the various types of love, stages of healing after heartbreak, or analyze any other emotion in order to feel the security they forever strive to attain in life.

Though it is very necessary for the studies of math and science, in these studies there are several instances of a need to classify and categorize. In math, its studies are classified into such types as algebra, geometry, calculus, and trigonometry. During the study of algebra one learns how to categorize the numbers into imaginary, real, integer, rational, and others, which are enforced with the continued study of geometry and the other areas of math. A student also learns that there are specific types of formulas and properties to know in order to compute certain equations or other sets of given numbers. However, the majority of classifying and categorizing belongs to the study of science in which everything must be exact and precise. In biology, students learn taxonomy, or the biological classification of living organisms, in which organisms are classified according to their Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species. Then, those who study chemistry ascertain the knowledge of the elements and how they fit into the periodic table. Each column of the periodic table is a set, a family, of elements classified by their oxidation numbers and the rows pertain to the element’s number of orbits, or rings of electrons, that surround a nucleus of protons and neutrons. By categorizing the elements into the periodic table we make it easier to extract the information a scientist needs to complete, balance, or perform some other function to an equation or reaction of elements. The periodic table also describes whether an element is a gas, metal, nonmetal, or other type by its placement on the periodic table. On the whole, in science, which is an area of study founded upon investigation, if something cannot be classified, studied, and categorized, many people will have a propensity to fear this unknown. Examples would be the unanswered question of what exactly lives far below the ocean where humans could not reach or whether there is other life in the universe.

Classification and categorization are such a big concern to humans that we must even put ourselves into different sections of humanity. Humans can be neatly categorized by the way we look, act, and talk. In psychology and psychiatry “professionals” classify their patients as to whether they are sane or have disorders, and these professionals have the authority to place them in society as they see fit. These professionals are able to appropriate a good citizen, a patient, deeming him/her insane, and place him/her into an asylum because human nature dictates that these types of people are safer when separated from the rest of humanity. Other ways of classifying humans are by their race. The Europeans, Africans, Hispanics, and Asians, are the general categories of the races which are then broken down into the specific countries and then the geographic locations in these countries so that humans may classify themselves more definitely. An excellent example of classifying humans by the way they speak is found in the variances of the Chinese language. In Northern China people speak the dialect Mandarin, but in Southern China and Hong Kong S.A.R. people speak another dialect, Cantonese, and knowing the difference can classify a person as originating from either North or South China. An even more prominent example of human classification is observed in the governmental ranking systems as well as the ranking systems of a country’s citizens. In the American government there is a president, vice-president, secretaries of certain divisions of the government, and on down to the mayors of cities, and all of which are regarded as respected authorities and are placed into the higher levels of society above the “normal” citizens. Among these “normal” citizens there are more categories of people like upper class, middle class, and lower class. The way these classes are classified is solely dependent upon the person’s and the person’s immediate family’s income. Giving evidence that people can also classify each other by the depths of one’s pockets. The upper class would feel gypped of their title if there were no rankings of people but in general most people would fear not knowing where they belonged in society. The instance in history when the Europeans traveled to America and found Indians can illustrate how it is human nature to fear what one does not know or cannot define.

Human nature dictates that humans will have a propensity towards curiosity, a desire to belong, and a desire to classify anything and everything into categories. That which drives human desire to classify objects is curiosity and fear. If humans’ curiosity is not satisfied in order to classify, then humans will fear what they do not know which will incite them to become more curious and determined to classify. Another factor to humans’ desire to classify and categorize is their never-ending desire to belong. If humans could find no definitive place in society, in the world, to belong they would feel lost and seemingly alone. However, in humans’ search for how the world works they forget to piece their information to sum up why the world works.

Novelist’s View


In society a person has three general areas of his/her life: work/beliefs, friends/lovers, and friends/acquaintances. So it is with Meursault, the main character in the novel The Stranger. This is also the order in which Meursault appears to prioritize his involvement in each area of his life. Meursault is mostly indifferent to his society but does have the basic human needs, which is all he appears to desire. Though he may seem like a snob or a very depressed person, he just does not care about anything. He lacks conviction in what he does or says. Another noticeable characteristic of this unusual character is that he rarely speaks or interacts with those around him unless he must or when someone else initiates it. So, the life of Meursault is the same careless indifference. His job is fine, his family and love life are fine, his friends are his friends, and Meursault never demonstrates a desire for something more in his life until he is about to lose it. He is like a shadow. Everyone knows he is there but does not give him too much notice, and he blends in with everything, not being noticed nor wanting to be noticed. The unusual pattern of the story leads a reader to believe that perhaps the novelist is trying to speak to his readers through a secret code about how he views Meursault’s indifference to his society.

In Part One, Chapter Five Meursault is offered a promotion to live and work in Paris, France. Meursault responds that he does not care where he works and that where he is now is fine or if he is needed to go to Paris then it did not matter. He is very indifferent to his employer about the job offer and to his job in general. Meursault is not deliberately being disrespectful to his boss but just does not care one way or another. He is cordial with his boss and coworkers and is not rude but much too lackadaisical about his source of income. The second part to this area is what he believes. In Part Two, Chapter One the magistrate asks Meursault whether he believes in God, and Meursault states angrily to the crazed magistrate that he does not believe in God and does not care if there is a God. Also, though hope is a natural human characteristic, once in jail, Meursault rarely thought of any hope for him, and when he did, quickly got the idea out of his head. Meursault appears to have no ambition, and his beliefs are not characteristic of humans.

In his relationship with his family and fiancée, Marie, Meursault is equally indifferent and characteristically inhuman. Meursault does not seem to be emotionally attached to Maman in any way, even at her funeral. He does not know who her friends had been or her age. A normal human characteristic would be that the males of a family feel very depressed once they have lost their remaining parent, the mother in particular, because they feel very attached to her being that she was the one who had given birth to them. But Meursault does not wish to see his mother, and he does not express any emotion for her. The only indication of any feelings he had for her is that he thinks about her often throughout the rest of the novel. He might have had unrealized love for Maman, much like Salamano when he lost his dog. In reference to Marie, Meursault thinks and feels only lust when he is not indifferent to her. In the novel Marie asks him to marry her, he says, “Okay.” However, later Meursault states that he would also have agreed to any other woman who asked him to marry her. It can then be concluded that Meursault does not think marriage is a major event in life and that he does not love Marie like she loves him, but later does admit to. This lack of desire to love or be loved is very peculiar to a human because even humans’ pets desire love from their owners, yet Meursault does not desire this at all.

Meursault appears to care more for his friends and acquaintances than for any of the above because of the attention he gives to them over his work/beliefs and family/lover. But as always Meursault carries with him his indifference to those around him. When Raymond and he meet Meursault helps Raymond by writing a letter for him and later testifies on Raymond’s behalf when he is put on trial for beating his ex-girlfriend. Meursault even tries to assist Salamano when he loses his dog but without much success. Also, on that fateful day at the beach when the Arabs attack Raymond, Masson, and Meursault, he helps his friends but does not seem to care whether they win the brawl or not. He even attempts to keep Raymond safe from harm and confiscates Raymond’s gun but later returns to the beach and uses it on the Arab. Meursault’s actions towards his friends would make one think he cares more for them than anything else in his life when he actually never gave them a second thought. It is quite deceiving but when Meursault thinks to himself he usually thinks of Marie, Maman, and her “sayings”.

Meursault’s character in this novel appears to lack emotion but may have some under his layer of indifference. Meursault’s character is so peculiar and unlike any other human that he might be compared with the strange little woman from page 43. No one really knows Meursault, and yet he sits at the table of life to eat or drink whatever he pleases from it. He gets what he orders but is much too engrossed in something else and he is indifferent to his “plate of life” in front of him, waiting to be taken full advantage of. Towards the end of the meal, his life, he tallies it up and pays a high price for a life not enjoyed and must leave. This is the ongoing
tragedy throughout the story involving Meursault and how he did not take advantage of the privilege to live his life. Through Meursault’s story the novelist is trying to communicate to the reader that life is too good to live it sitting at your windowsill watching everyone else pass you by.

The Joy Luck Club

The book The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, is a fiction book about eight Chinese-American women living in San Francisco, California. This book tells of the older four women's childhood in communist China during wartime and also of these women's lives in America where they had their four daughters of which this book also tells about. In this book you lookintimately into each woman's life and observe their personal feelings and thoughts. The Joy Luck Club seems like it was meant to show the generation gap between the "old fashioned" mothers and their young, modern American daughters and how this gap made the daughters superficial and regretful of what they had not learned from their mothers. This book is an inspiring novel. It is wonderfully written and can be related to.

Though there are many other characters to this novel, there are eight key characters which The Joy Luck Club tells about. The Chinese-American women this book tells of are: Suyuan Woo, who was born in China, a mother of twin daughters other than Jing-Mei, but is dead before the start of the book's story; Jing-Mei Woo, Suyuan's daughter and is raised in the United States; An-mei Hsu, who was born in China and lives with her aunt, uncle, and grandmother as a young child; Rose Hsu Jordan, who is raised in America; Lindo Jong, who was born in China and very cunning; Waverly Jong, who was raised in America and becomes a chess champion as a child; Ying-Ying St. Clair, who was born in China and appears to be crazy at times; and Lena St. Clair, who is raised in the United States with a Caucasian father and a Chinese mother.

Two major events of this book could be when Jing-Mei, or June, her American name, takes her mom's place at the mah jong table in the Joy Luck club which her mother had organized and brought over the idea from China. The other event could be the part at the end of the novel where June finally meets her twin sisters that were lost when her mother was so sick while leaving China that she could not carry the two babies any further.

The ideas Amy Tan reveals in The Joy Luck Club encourage her readers to look within themselves to find their true self and to use their inner strength to their full advantage. A quotation which could show how one of the daughters had not understood her mother is, "A friend once told me that my mother and I were alike, that we had the same wispy hand gestures, the same girlish laugh and sideways look. When I shyly told my mother this, she seemed insulted and said, "You don't even know little percent of me! How can you be me?" And she's right. How can I be my mother at Joy Luck (15)?" Besides this, The Joy Luck Club teaches family values and that one should listen to their mother or one day she will be gone and that person will feel regret for all the misunderstandings between them. I would place this novel on a school recommended book list because it teaches values that can be used for a lifetime. The tone of this book is mostly of misunderstandings and confusion among mothers and daughters. The Joy Luck Club isdivided into four sections each containing four chapters, dedicating two chapters to each main character and has bits of Chinese, in various places in the book, in the Mandarin dialect. This novel is so excellent that there seems to be no weaknesses about it except that it skips around in telling about each character which can be quite confusing.

The Joy Luck Club is a sensational book telling a superior story of four mothers' and four daughters' lives and their relationships. I would rate this book a strong eight. Some examples as to why I rate this as such are when each of the daughters tell their stories and in each of their stories they say they never have and think they never will understand their mothers. When the mothers tell their stories they each say they wanted their daughters to have all the American good fortune while keeping Chinese values and not as superficial as they turned out be. But by the end of the novel June, the key character, finally understands her mother which can be shown after June and her twin sisters have been taken a picture of by a Polaroid camera in the quotation, "The gray-green surface changes to the bright colors of our three images, sharpening and deepening all at once. And although we don't speak, I know we all see it: Together we look like our mother. Her same eyes, her same mouth, open in surprise to see, at last, her long cherished wish."