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Holding up the middle and index finger in Ireland is seen as disrespectful

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3 Taboos home

1. Discussing finances as parents in front of kids

2. Talking bad about other members of the family

3. Ratting out your siblings without valid reason

3 school

1.  Walking on the opposite side of the hallway against traffic

2.  Standing around and blocking the stairs so people can not get to class

3.  Sitting in your regular seat consistently when there is not a seating chart

3 world

1.  Don’t cut your grass on Sundays in Switzerland.

2.  Don’t eat while standing in Indonesia.

3. Don’t wear your shoes into a home in Japan.

2 themes one stated one original

1. “Notice that nearly all our taboos, big and small, public and intimate, involve silence- keeping one’s silence, or paying a price for not keeping it” (Stone 113).

2. The fear of taboos cause loss of growth as a society because we are scared of having difficult conversations.

# from Combining Sentences

The death penalty is the only punishment that fits the crime and offers enough hope for the deterrence of future homicides.

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Home

1. It is rude to wear shoes in the house

2. It is considered rude to yell at or disrespect your parents/elders

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1. Don’t wear shoes in the house

2. Don't eat dinner without washing hands

3. Don’t leave lights on in empty rooms

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1. Not holding doors for people

2. No running in halls

3. Not participating in group projects

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1. Don't put chopsticks upright in rice (asian countries)

2. Don’t sleep with your head or feet facing door (certain asian cultures)

3. Dont spit in the uk or germany in public

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Notice that nearly all of our taboos, big and small, public and intimate, involve silence–keeping one’s silence, or paying a price for not keeping it.

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Taboos shape how we see, think, and feel about the world.

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1. In Italy, it is very frowned upon to order a cappuccino after 11am as it is considered a breakfast drink.

2. In most east Asian countries it is considered rude to place your chopsticks vertically in your food as it represents incense sticks and could attract spirits.

3.  In Sweden, there is a high value placed on respecting the personal space of others.

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stated theme

”taboos, big or small, are always about having to respect somebody's boundaries." the theme is that taboos were "created" to make people have respect for one and other.

original theme

taboos are all about having a silent respect for each other and when the respect is broken there are consequences.

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1. Swearing

2. Doing bad in school

3. leaving lights on

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1. Using A.i.

2. Not listening to a teacher

3. Walking on the wrong side of the hall.

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1. In the U.S. its bad luck to have a 13th floor in a building.

2. Interacting with stray animals in the Philippines.

3. You cant wear red to a funeral in China because red represented happiness.

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Don't walk slowly in the hallways.

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Nowadays, only 50% of murderers in New York are crimes of passion.

The lack of risk lies at the bottom of soaring homicide rates.

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wearing your shoes in the house is disrespectful

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Before the death penalty was abolished, 80% of murders were crimes of passion from people that knew each other, by acting out in anger or strong emotion.

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DICTION

A word that stood out in “Don’t Even Think About It!” by Micheal Ventura was the term corrosive. This word has a negative connotation and is used on page 113 when Ventura states “Such silences are corrosive.”, talking about why we do not speak of taboos. Another term used that stands out is the term vigorously, which also has a negative connotation. Vigorously is used when talking about controversial art pieces, “He, like all fundamentalists, will vigorously oppose such art and all it stands for until he dies…”(Ventura 115), These words have negative connotations because the mood of this essay is serious and uncomfortable. Taboos are uncomfortable, serious things that society does not discuss so it makes sense that these words were included. (Grace)

IMAGERY

One example of figurative language is when Ventura says, “Yet keeping silent has its own price: for then silence begins to fill the heart, until silence becomes the heart- a heart swelling with restraint until it bursts in frustration, anger, even madness” (Ventura 113). When he speaks about the heart bursting he is using a hyperbole because it does not actually burst into frustration, but he feels that it accurately describes the emotion. An example of imagery in the text is when he speaks about how males in corporate and legal worlds have to wear suits with somber colors if they want to be taken seriously. This is imagery because it appeals to our sense of sight and we can imagine what the men are wearing. (Piper)

DETAILS

In the text, the author states “if we speak of them, we may endanger the relationship; but if we do not speak, if we do not violate the taboo, the relationship may become static and tense, until the silence takes on a life of its own (Ventura 113.)” This quote shows that the author thinks taboos are very uncomfortable to talk about, but sometimes in the relationship if you do not speak about them your relationship will become very tense and silent. He is saying you could have an uncomfortable conversation which may lead to people to split up or sit in silence and wait for the problem to solve itself. (Maddy)

LANGUAGE

A word that describes the whole body of text is connotative. The word choices Ventura uses sets the tone for the essay and gives the vibe of what you are going to be reading. On page 114 Ventura states, “we’d ostracized, coerced, exiled, tormented and murdered…” which are all words that have very negative connotations. This sets the tone for what the whole text will be about so I believe that connotative is an appropriate word to describe the essay as a whole. (Grace)

SYNTAX

An example of syntax in the essay is when Ventura writes, “... a black man who spoke with familiarity to a white woman might be beaten, driven out of town, or (as not uncommon) lynched” (Ventura 113). The parenthesis in this quote are an example of syntax, and they are used to add extra information that is helpful to the comprehension of the text without using an extra sentence or making the existing sentence too wordy. Also, he often uses dashes in his writing which have a similar effect of adding extra information or stressing the severity of a situation, which is another example of the syntax Ventura believed to be most efficient in his writing. (Piper)

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One word that Ventura uses that shows his tone is “insinuation.” Insinuation refers to an unpleasant hint or suggestion of something unwelcome. Ventura uses this word because it has an accusatory tone, as if someone just committed a crime. If a person claims that someone insulated something, that “thing” is always unpleasant, thus taking the aforementioned accusatory tone. Insinuation is cacophonous as no one really wants to be accused of insinuating anything which just goes to show how Ventura uses diction to make taboos sound as bad as they are. Another impactful word that Ventura utilizes is “catharsis.” Catharsis is the process of releasing strong or repressed emotions. Catharsis is generally seen as a relieving process as getting rid of bottled up emotions always feels pleasant. Most people believe Catharsis is a very concrete term as a lot of people think of simply letting out all of your feelings but catharsis, as Ventura states, can simply be watching a movie in the movie theater. Ventura uses this word to show how everyone likes to see taboos broken but nobody has the guts to actually do it.

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Ventura believes that all taboos are meant to be broken, some faster than others. It is a fact that all cultures have taboos, but Ventura believes that even one of the most powerful countries was built upon the destruction of taboos. Ventura believes that relationships end the same way that taboos do: an explosion after a long period of silence and bottling up of emotions about a person or topic.

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1. Using strong language as a child

2. Mentioning family drama

3. Not inviting family to a major event

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1. Don’t walk slowly in the hallways

2. Good hygiene

3. Saying something offensive

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1. Mentioning major international tragedies

2. Females must be fully/mostly covered (Middle-East)

3. Mentioning harmful stereotypes about certain people within their country

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stated: “You’re still in the room, maybe even still smiling, still talking, but not really– what’s really happened is that you’ll stay there until you’re sure the threat to your taboo is gone and it’s safe to come out again” (Ventura 119).

original: Everything is taboo, even silence.

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I agree with them in this because the taking of a human life is a serious matter, but at the same time, I choose to reserve my tears for the innocent victim and not the victims family.

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1.  Mowing your lawn on a Saturday is seen as a taboo in Germany.

2. Wearing shorts in Morocco, even in the hot summer heat, is considered too relaxed for men and they're expected to wear long pants.

3. In China, you never want to wear a green hat due to the superstition that it means you're being cheated on and will be viewed differently.

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1.  Bringing food into the room/leaving messes.

2.  Using your phone during family events/dinner.

3.  Being loud while your parents are trying to sleep.

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1.  Leaving to use the bathroom during an important lecture

2.  Answering questions without raising your hand

3.  Acting disruptively while others are trying to learn

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There is a current debate over capital punishment, bringing out the usual number of teeth-gnashing, breast-beating liberals, who are eager to whine about the poor little condemned criminal.

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1.  Taboos vary by person/family, depending on culture, personal beliefs, and other normalized traditions. They are normally meant to be kept private and not discussed.

2.  The appeal of taboos and our inability to escape our longing for transgression (whether or not we ourselves transgress) are why so many people who call themselves honest and law- abiding spend so much time with movies, operas, soaps, garish tri-als, novels, songs, Biblical tales, tribal myths, folk stories, and Shakespeare-virtually all of which, both the great and the trivial, are about those who dare to violate taboos. (Ventura 115)

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“Taboos, big or small, are always about having to respect someone’s (often irrational) boundary–or else.” This quote from the essay clearly depicts the reason for why the author writes the way he does. As it demonstrates how the author uses parentheses in order to add his own opinions to his writing like he does when he describes the boundaries of taboos. Moreover he also uses dashes in his writing to emphasize certain words, in this case it was the phrase “or else,” and this was done in order to show that there are consequences to not respecting someone's irrational boundaries.

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2 themes one stated one original

1. Stated- The subtle, yet powerful influence of societal messages and cultural conditioning on human behavior persists in every culture.

2. Original- As humans, taboos exist so we can stop our darkest desires from emerging.

# from Combining Sentences

For the people who are impressed by the flurry of statistics, consider the statistics offered by the  liberal camp: the murder rate increased sixty percent in New York City over the past six years.

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Kevin after cutting the line at lunch.

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Me sitting on my phone not doing anything productive.

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Me wondering why TikTok got banned in India.

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My mother's shock and utter surprise when I wear shoes inside the house