Literacy History Blog - Destiny Portillo

  Is Higher Education Worth the Price? By: Destiny Portillo         This week as a group we reflected upon the higher education pricing crisis.  Within the following three resources, "Are Colleges Worth the Price '' by Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus, "The New Liberal Arts' ' by Sanford Ungar, and the Kenyon Commencement Speech; a unique perspective is shared by all authors.  Although a majority of graduating students aspire to earn a degree by furthering their education by attending college, the skyrocketing prices make it harder on undergraduates.       In Hacker's and Dreifus' article "Are Colleges Worth the Price" the idea of paying for something and receiving less in return is brought to readers attention.  This article presents the fact that college students are gaining a significant amount of debt simply to gain access to higher education.  Although both authors believe that the price individuals ar...

  Is Fast Food the New Tobacco? By: Destiny Portillo       This week within our course module we touched upon the subject of whether or not fast food is the new tobacco and or "addiction".  My group focused on breaking apart the article "What You Eat Is Your Business" by Radley Balko.  In this particular article readers were displayed the idea of taking self responsibility for the consumption of food they decide for their "own" bodies.  Instead of having the idea that individuals will have the government to rely and depend on when it comes to making choices.      As a group we decided as whole that in fact fast food is truly the new tobacco.  This being due to the fact that our "backbone" the government has in fact been the downfall of society.  They have deemed obesity as a renowned issue; when in fact they have limited the healiter opportunities for plenty within society.  In the text it states, " And if t...

  Is Pop Culture Good for You? By: Destiny Portillo Pop culture is the arrangement of beliefs, preferences, and items that exemplify the most comprehensively shared implications of society.  After having read the articles "Watching TV Makes You Smarter" by Steven Johnson and "Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted" by Malcolm Gladwell; I agree with Gladwell that pop culture is not quite the best for us in some ways.  Although Johnson depicts in his article that the effects of pop culture allow individuals to become more intelligent, we don’t seem to use it to our proper and fullest advantage. As a group, we understood and agreed more in line with Gladwell’s perspective on pop culture; being that it may have its advantages, but it does have its flaws.  Pop culture is viewed as a mass systems administration web-based entertainment stage that permits thousands to join together and support each other.  While allowing thousands to unite it does allow fo...

       Hello, my name is Destiny Portillo! I am currently a sophomore majoring in Criminal Justice B.S. here at NJCU. Similar to my major I am a big fan of criminal television shows and books which gave me the inspiration to have steered in the direction I have taken. Also since I grew up around family members who were part of the law enforcement field; my passion to help and protect others is never-ending. Although I am majoring in Criminal Justice, I love to write! I have always found joy in attending English classes and I owe it all to the teachers whom I encountered growing up and my parents as well! This is why upon scheduling classes I decided to take on Contemporary Literacies to explore the values and genres of literacy.        During my early years of life, I grew up in a household where both English and Spanish were spoken. My parents encouraged me to practice my native tongue (English) and their native tongue (Spanish). So when it came ...