The Naked Citadel Summary

In all three texts, “Project Classroom Makeover,” “Biographies of Hegemony,” and “An Army of One: Me,” the authors, Cathy Davidson, Karen Ho, Jean Twenge, respectively, explore different ideas of “the Self.” They defined and expanded what it meant to be an individual through curiosity. How was the “Self” developed? What were the main factors of a more “self-celebrated” society? Why are aspects of narcissism seen more and more today? These answers were discovered when the idea of “self-focus” was introduced into society. As self-focus became prevalent in everyday normalities the individual expanded into something more than the simple dichotomy of “you” and “I,” it became a purpose for life. The evolution of humanity created a world where

Through this loss of confidence, Kasey demonstrates how an institution can enable a person's ability to make decisions upon themselves. Overtime they believe this type of authority is needed to survive, as Dale Harding explains to a new patient, "We need a good strong wolf like the nurse to teach us our place"(55). This speculates that a necessary requirement of their being is soley based on one powerful individual providing them with a list of rules. By not believing in your individuality prevents someone from discovering their own true masculanity.

In the United States Army we are taught to live by the Seven Army Values. They are broken down to us in the acronym ‘LDRSHIP’ which is short for Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity and Personal Courage. We are all taught these 7 Army values repeatedly from day one in the United States Army. First we memorize these values. Then we are trained to live by them. All of these 7 values coincide with each other, and play an important roll in our Army lives. These 7 Army Values also play well into life outside the Army in our personal life. People sometimes do not realize the importance these values have on the way we are viewed by the people who look up to the men and woman who are privileged enough to represent the

One typical example in Davidson’s essay “Project Classroom Makeover” is the iPod experiment, and we can see how creative and brilliant the generation me can be under the stimulus of the “immediate context” in this experiment. Similarly, Malcolm Gladwell discusses the “immediate context” in his essay “The Power of Context”. He describes immediate context as people receive small signals from the environment and make response due to the small signals, which helps us to understand the high self-esteem’s behavior. By using the idea of “slow thinking” from Nelson, we can better understand why the generation me have some problems dealing with their high self-esteem, and then with the help of Gladwell’s “immediate context theory”, we can think about the role of small signals in the context that works on the generation me. Finally, Davidson’s iPod experiment inspires us to find a better way to raise self-esteem, and rethink whether high self-esteem is such a severe problem or

This was a vicious and ongoing cycle that reverberated between the cadets throughout the years. Their attitudes and personalities towards one another altered and changed their own. As Faludi said, they stripped them from their identities, and not in a good way. Instead of positivity resonance being present between the cadets, negativity spewed from every which way. This resulted in hindering their abilities to learn how to love. Those sufferings as mentioned prior, came from the underclassman cadets (mostly the freshman athletes) that were being hazed so violently that they told their stories to Sports Illustrated. However, the Citadel turned a blind eye to the fact that this was occurring. Excuses would be made from the seniors saying that it was “no different from the “motivational” treatment he had received as a knob at the hands of a senior who came into his room (Faludi81)” and that they “needed some extra motivation (Faludi81).” Instead of this making the men stronger and more “motivated”, it affected a lot of them to the point where it made them weaker. “They just tortured us… it taught me the exact kind of man I didn’t want to be (Faludi83).” A lot of them got injured so badly that they needed to be hospitalized because of the

The mind is shaped by those with which one surrounds him or herself. This is a result of the human desire to see oneself in others as a tactic to relate and discover commonalities. The inclination to build relationships and connect to other humans is so strong that people become dependent on external gratification, even in environments where acquaintances do not necessarily reflect a person on the most basic level: sex. Due to overpowering masculinity, women oftentimes submit to the ideals of their male counterparts and the societal expectations pushed onto them as women in a patriarchal society. Jesmyn Ward’s Salvage the Bones displays that the feminine inferiority complex is not innate, but rather is informed by external forces.

The parents played a major role in the deliquency of these young men, however they were not alone. The other students acceptance and adoration of the “jocks” behavior is as much to blame as anything else that led up to this behavior exhibited by the “jocks”. The “little mothers”( as they were referred as) were treated with disrespect and as sexual objects. They would repeatedly engage in acts of voyeurism. They would also willingly fellate any member of this group, and some would even go so far as “making a train” or other acts of group sex with “our guys”. Many of these girls were referred to as “trained seals” and were proud of their titles.(p. 147) There was never any complaints made and as the boys got older the more deviant they became.

At the Academy, they seem model cadets, but are too close together, drawing attention from the Academy’s instructors who are adamantly against them being together. As one cadet puts it,“The instructors don’t like it when

“The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex” (US Constitution 19th Amendment). These were the few words that thousands of women fought for. From the beginning of mankind women have been treated unequally from men. Women have had to fight to win the same rights as the men who were born with them. As women progressed gaining equal rights as men, society also became more advanced changing its guidelines of how women should act. Leslie Bell in her story, “Selections from Hard to Get: Twenty-Something Women and the Paradox of Sexual Freedom,” discusses how women nowadays have to adhere and alter their personalities to meet society’s new norms. Often women who try to change themselves experience “splitting”. Bell gives examples of women, her patients, who have dealt with “splitting” and talks about how they changed themselves to fit into society. Some ideas from Bell’s story can be related to Susan Faludi’s story, “The Naked Citadel.” The Citadel is an all boys military school, but this all changes when Shannon Faulkner, a girl, is allowed to attend it. Since no other girl has attended The Citadel, Shannon does not know how to adjust and act in the new atmosphere. Women, like Bell’s patients and Shannon, have tried to changed themselves to fit into the new society. These women did not want to be outcasts, so they had to adjust to the new world. Men have had it easier

In the same vein, narcissism is another trait that characterizes Connie’s attitude. She obviously has the sophisticated mind-set of a young lady that she pretends to be although she is only an adolescent. It is easy to detect through the story that the protagonist Connie spends all her time acting and protecting her ego. So many passages illustrate that point of view. Connie is a two faced adolescent. She presents to the exterior world the image of a modest and well behaved girl whereas she has in her the hidden quality of sexual flirtation. To describe Connie, Oates mentions, ‘’Connie had long dark hair that drew anyone’s eye to it, and she wore part of it pulled up on her head and puffed out and the rest of it she left fall down her back. She wore a pull-over jersey blouse that looked one way when she was at home and another way when she was away from home’’

The Corps of the Noncommissioned Officer (NCO) has been around since the formation of the Continental Army in 1775. The basic responsibility of the NCO was to fill gaps in the lines and keep soldiers quiet on mission while leading (Perkioniemi, 2009). Currently, the responsibilities of the NCO focus on soldier welfare and accomplishing the mission (NCO Creed). Toxic leadership is a serious concern for the military, and it is undermining the reputation of the NCO Corps. What is toxic leadership, how can it be addressed, and what will happen to the Corps if it is allowed to continue?

Literary Analysis Essay Avery Severson Self-esteem, a defining trait that encompasses both what we value within ourselves and how we perceive certain aspects of ourselves, internally and externally. Negative self-esteem can influence our decision-making processes and significantly impact our emotional health and overall well-being. Understanding the importance of healthy self-esteem and its outcomes in developing greater self-awareness not only strengthens our internal perspectives but can also improve our relationships with others. Furthermore, self-esteem allows us to be more open to growth opportunities. In Sara Farizan’s short story, “Why I Learned to Cook,” and Nikki Grimes’ character excerpts of “Janelle,” self-esteem is found within

There is a fine distinction in the fabric of DNA that separates men and women- one has the opportunity to give life and one does not. Although beneath skin and flesh is the foundation of a body, the bones. What every human being also shares with each other is the ability to cast emotions. However throughout history, men have been brought up to be seen as if they have little to no feelings at all and women are to be too emotional. Everyone has the potential to feel pain at some point in their lives. Objectification is the central concept dear to feminist thinkers. Many think that objectification is something that remains in history, but it continues to be a problem in modern society. F. Scott Fitzgerald applies this to the characters in his book: The Great Gatsby. The underlying theme of the podcast: Relationship Radio dealt with the objectification of human beings. Aidan Buckner, Olivia Lujan, and Penelope Tucker’s three podcasts: You Can Buy Me Love, Daisy, Money and Usage, and Puppy Love tie the notion of objectification through the relationships: Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan, Tom and Daisy Buchanan, George and Myrtle Wilson, and Tom and Myrtle Wilson through the book The Great Gatsby.

In addition to revealing to people what the true "self" of others was, Jean Twenge explains in "An Army of One: Me" that the "self" is changing with generation after another specifically in the twentieth century. Twenge argues that over the second half of the twentieth century, American's have become more about individual celebration rather than the being worried about other. This new change in individualism had a direct correlation how the "self" is now viewed, "[f]or the Boomers, who grew up in the 1950s and 1960s, self-focus was a new concept, individualism an uncharted territory... which is why many Boomers talk about the "self" using language full of abstraction,

Writer Joan Didion in her essay “On Self-Respect” describes the value of self-respect in regards to her own perspective of what it means. Didion’s purpose for this explanatory essay is to explain what self-respect means and its purposes to the intended audience, women. Women are the intended audience because when this essay was written in the 1960’s, expectations of women were developing in a way that was no longer related to their roles in society, but their actual character, specifically physical characteristics and abilities. Didion chooses to write about self-respect toward women because of a personal anecdote mentioned in the text, in which she receives a sudden realization of what self-respect truly means and decides to share it with other struggling women in the 60’s. Didion uses the rhetorical devices of personal anecdotes, allusions, and repetition in her essay often, which makes her essay overall strong by punctuating many different meanings of self-respect. These rhetorical devices also give her audience an easier understanding of self-respect by providing multiple perspectives and situations of self-respect, allowing the audience to make personal connections with the text.