November 5th Homework

1. The idea of "joining a conversation" is one that explains what the goal of research and writing is. It determines that when you write, you are not trying to get the final word or make the correct argument, but instead you are participating in a discussion with other writers and thinkers to come to a better understanding of things. This seems most difficult in academic writing when students are asked to simply "forward" or reiterate and only sometime elaborate on a previous author's work. This is not really involved in a discussion so much as listening and repeating one. This relates to the Socratic Dialogue assignment because in the we were asked to take a stance on an issue and have a discourse with the apposing argument. This literally was a conversation, and an effective way to not simply forward information but to develop an opinion on it and add to it.

2. "The problem with children being so impressionable to the messages delivered through the
media is that, unfortunately, animated cartoons are a major source of gender stereotyping. They
are a staple in most children’s television and film viewing experience and their sexist depiction
of gender roles is a cause for concern. Over the years there has been tremendous focus on
animated television series, while animated films have received select scholarly attention"(Matyas, 10).

Matyas claims that the issue surrounding child development in correlation with the media is their susceptibility to influence from gender stereotypes in cartoons. While this is a widely supported assertion, there is evidence of a more specific effect from movies involving princesses. She mentions that animated films receive recognition but does not provide any other examples of media that effect adolescents.  The disney princess and female portrayal in most disney movies is absolutely sexist, but among other things. (Then I would provide examples!)

October 29th Homework

Craven, A. (2002). Beauty and the belles: Discourses of feminism and femininity in Disneyland.
The European Journal ofWomen 's Studies, 9(2), 123-142.

Do Rozario, R. C. (2004). The princess and the magic kingdom: beyond nostalgia, the function 

of the disney princess. Women's Studies in Communication, 27(1), 35-58. 

Giroux, Henry A. ―Memory and Pedagogy in the ‗Wonderful World of Disney‘: Beyond the 

Politics of Innocence‖. From Mouse to Mermaid: The Politics of Film, Gender, and 

Culture. Ed. Elizabeth Bell, Lynda Haas and Laura Sells. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 

c1995. 

October 8th Homework

"Paradise" by Coldplay

Original Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1G4isv_Fylg

Fan Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1nwdQRBCTs

The song is about a young girl experiencing difficulty somewhere in her life, but at night she is able to dream of a better life. The fan video exemplifies this as a girl whose home life is turbulent, with fighting parents and an angry father. She escapes to a fantasy world where her family was happy and it was "paradise". The song is all about her escape to this special place.

The beginning of the original music video shows a person in an elephant costume in a cage at the zoo. He then escapes and he rides his unicycle to meet up with his three other elephant friends. This visual could mean that we are all caged in some way looking for escape, and the unicycle could symbolize loneliness, and therefore the paradise is being with friends and those that love you. The setting is mostly in Africa, which is very much deserted in the video, once again signifying being alone. At the end there are a rainbow of colors as the elephants play a concert showing unity and happiness.

The colors in the fan video are very similar to this in the sense that when the girl is alone the colors are very musky and dark until the "paradise" brings in light and at the very end when she sees her once happy family it is brighter and happier.

While the original video is more abstract, and the fan video is much more relatable, they both carry the same sort of message. They begin with a sense of loneliness and end on a happier note.

October 3rd Homework

In the video, it begins with Bonnie Tyler in all white is in some sort of dream, and a quick image of a young boy with bright eyes is shown. She is mostly just singing and roaming through hallways, but through the whole video is images of teenage boys. All the boys are dancing, and one of them has wings, insinuating that it is an angel, and he hugs her. the video ends with her in a classroom talking to what seems like her students and then one grabs her and he has "bright eyes". All of these images lead me to believe that the video is some sort of tribute to a school teachers dream or fantasy about her male students.

Light:
The light is dark, yet light in some places. It reveals that the video is dream like because it is blurry and has high exposure. The spotlight on Bonnie in all white makes her look innocent, eve though the theme of the video is fantasies about teenage boys. There are shadows around the young boys in all the frames, except for the one with  bright eyes making him stand out.

People in Portraits:
Making Bonnie the main character in the video surrounded by young boys, eventually in a school is what shows us she is a school teacher at probably a private school. Her clothing is all white insinuating innocence, and the different big room settings and hallways make the audience believe this is older times when older women and younger men being together was more taboo.

September 17th Homework

In high school, peer review was usually just an organized way of saying "free time" because it mostly involved chitchat and gossip, rarely any actual constructive advice on the assignment. That being said, peer groups were not always totally useless. In my english classes from freshman to senior year, peer review was an opportunity to see how other students were structuring their papers and how to improve upon my own. Often I would realize subtle mistakes in my writing or get inspiration from other papers.

Because I went to a single sex all girls school, I believe I was more comfortable sharing in peer groups without fear of how I would look in front of a cute boy or a tormenting class clown. I felt even more secure being vocal in my groups as I got older because I knew all of the girls in my class and we were friends. This allowed me to continue to communicate with my peers via Facebook or texting if I had any questions because we became more than just classmates. While sometimes peer groups weren't necessarily beneficial, every once in a while I would get really valuable constructive criticism from a friend that would completely transform my paper.

In the beginning of my sophomore year, in English Honors, I struggled severely. My writing lacked depth and my analytical skills were sub-par at best. The first paper allowed for two peer review sessions, and like my attitude towards many things in high school, I wasn't prepared to take it seriously. Thankfully, I had the smartest girl in my class in my group, and I figured I would just copy her work. What happened instead was something that helped me pass that class with flying colors. When we all switched papers, instead of making red marks all over my page the way I assumed the genius girl would, she had a conversation with me about why I structured my paper the way I did. She then explained to me in the least patronizing way possible why her paper was more effective, while at the same time praising me for my effort. She was honest but not condescending, and it helped immensely. Soon after that we became close and she continued to help me for the rest of the year. Without her I probably wouldn't be considering English as my major right now. Peer groups always have the potential to be extremely valuable, you just have to take advantage of the opportunity.

September 5th Homework

1. The issue in this dialogue is one of a philosophical nature: What is the true meaning of beauty?
2. Atreus is considered the "expert" in this area and initially states that beauty is anything that is appealing to the eyes. Socrates refutes this with the example of beautiful music, extending the definition to include things appealing to the eyes and ears. However, this definition is also incomplete, as Socrates questions intangible beauty, like having a beautiful moral character. As the dialogue continues, Socrates poses the question of whether beauty can be found in both good and bad to which initially Atreus says no because all that is beautiful is good. Socrates makes him contradict himself when presenting the idea of a beautiful yet immoral play, allowing for an infinitely expanding definition of beauty. 
3. The author fairly summarizes each counter argument while maintaining an openness to consider the issue from all sides. The author often concedes an argument but then refutes it with a question (i.e. "But have you thought of this..."). For the most part the author is seemingly conceding but always rebutting an argument and presenting evidence to contradict it.