Rodriguez 1
September, 2011 Interpretation of River’s Views: Comprehending What I Am Becoming After reading the article, “What Kind of Person am I Becoming? What kind of People are We Becoming together?” by Dennis Rivers, I know have a better understanding of personhood and have gained more motivation to obtain new communication skills other then taking the course only because it was required to obtain my degree. In his article, River’s list seven arguments in which he helps you understand that conversation is vital part of human development. He then identifies the challenges which many of us face in attempting to obtain personhood. When I related my life to the arguments and challenges proposed I could not help but conclude that Rivers is right when he states “Our lives are, among other things, a series of conversations”. Rivers list three meanings of personhood law, religion, and family. He makes clear that we can never be finished as a person for we are always advancing, expanding, and educating ourselves as persons. Thus, life is a method of evolving into a “completely maturing” person. So it seems we are confronted to act and communicate with each other more ethically, mindfully, accurately, adeptly, and significantly, the list is endless with no closure. The more of these actions we conduct into our behavior the more we have feelings of consistency, honesty, association, and comfort.
Rodriguez 2
Of the seven arguments Rivers describes in his essay. The one that I feel I can relate to the most is the first one. He says “Our actions and society’s reaction to them become a significant part of our personhood. (Rob a bank and you’ve just transformed yourself into a “bank robber.”)”. I feel this is true because of the unsatisfying situation of not being able to get into the collage of my choice. In recent years, I did not listen to the conversations of the people who used to tell me high school is no joke. Now I must attend and pay money for classes...