Blog 15: Reflection

Imagine that we have the technology to put side by side two versions of yourself, one in early September and one today. Putting aside any physical differences (from hair to weight to clothes etc), what would the compare and contrast yield in terms of intellectual and emotional differences? You can discuss what happened in this class in terms of ideas you encountered, writing you did, people you got to know but you certainly do not have to limit the analysis to the classes you had with me only (or even just to college). Develop your response with a 400-word minimum

Compared to what my thoughts and expectations were in September, I guess I could say my original way of thinking has changed a lot. I was so accustomed to writing critical lens essays in high school where I would have to provide sufficient evidence and research that I never really bothered to include my own personal opinion in my writing. Despite the fact that the class has helped me express my opinions more through writing, I also have to say that working with other students has really opened my eyes. Interaction with them has really allowed me to look at different perspectives of a situation and not look at something as straight forward just because I feel that it is the right answer. Being able to work with them in terms of class work (commenting on blogs, critiquing), was also very comforting because of the weekly use of the blogs (I eventually got over the fact that my classmates were reading my assignments since it was a weekly thing). It became a fun task to look forward to, which was especially strange for me since I was not very sociable in high school. Because of the comfort, I made a lot of new friends that will hopefully be there for me in the long run. I also can’t forget to give credit to my professors, which really made a difference. It’s all about the deadlines, deadlines, and more deadlines now and despite it being annoying, or rather very annoying, I’d have to say that it’s really given me a lot of responsibility; especially since they aren’t always reminding you of the assignments that are due. It’s a real big change from what I’ve been brought out of, and I hope that it’ll only keep on changing with the rest of the courses and classes I’ll be taking here at LaGuardia.

ENG 103 Research Paper

Yumarlin Rodriguez

Professor Luke Vasileou

ENG103

2 December 2010

“A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, A Mirror Image of New York in the 1900’s”

           Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn follows the life of 11 year old  Francie Nolan,  a young girl aspiring to become more than the life she's been born into as she grows up in poverty stricken Brooklyn, New York. Francie's story tells us about the simplicity of living and dying, of surviving, and of her family. Although Betty Smith's film and novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn revolve around Francie Nolan and the Nolan family's struggles, little do we know that Francie's tale portrays the realistic life of the early twentieth-century itself and the intricacies of living in Brooklyn. It is about childhood, about growing up, about suffering and managing and sticking together during the entire time period; ranging from the broader subjects of War World 1, immigration, and politics to a family's meals and their struggles with work. All in all, it is a commentary on life in the early 1900s.

            Being poor meant that the characters in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn were constantly thinking of being poor; how they would buy their next loaf of bread, or how one's status and place of living looked like compared to another. Smith not only implies that poverty affected material things like the absence of food, heat, or comfort, but also how poverty resulted in psychological and figurative aspects of the characters in her story. Poverty ultimately results in the death and worthlessness of Francie's father, causes her Uncle Flittman to run away, and meant that Francie could not attend high school and instead had to obtain a job in order to work and support her family. Every activity, game, or action in Francie's family and life were planned around a limited source of income or resources (The small jar filled with pennies Francie's mother keeps for emergencies or how the family would store even the smallest portions of food) (Elia). In addition to the Nolan's life, Smith presents an entirely poor community, and shows the close connection between poverty and exploitation in the neighborhood; store proprietors taking advantage of children's innocence to lure money out of them (overpricing candy that is either stale or no longer edible and selling it to naive children) and piano teachers begging for tea from their students (Elia). Smith's sympathetic treatment of her characters show that poverty itself at the time was the true evil, not the people; and that people were just putting their own families and children first at any expense.

         Although Betty Smith's story is fiction based, it is not to be said that A Tree Grows in Brooklyn cannot be told from a realist point of view. Nearly every scene, actor, and set in the film represents or addresses the problem of poverty in early twentieth-century New York. While the story is set at the turn of the century (1902-1919) and contains many historical elements that may feel out of the ordinary to the modern reader, the message that is subtly portrayed in the story is one that we can all identify; poverty resulting from post war immigration. After the depression of the 1890s immigrants hoping to escape religious, racial, and political persecution or seeking relief from lack of economic opportunity or famine were driven to the United States. Immigration jumped from a low percentage of 3.5 million to a high standard of 9 million in the first decade of the new century (Eye Witness to History). The newcomers who arrived came with promises of work, and even though most lacked the ability to communicate in the English language they were able to find solace in the ethnic neighborhoods populated by the fellow countrymen who had arrived previously (Today known as places like: Little Italy, China Town, The Lower East Side, etc). Here they could converse in their native languages, practice their religion, and take part in cultural celebrations that helped ease the hardships of leaving their homelands. Although the United States was perceived as a land of prosperity to the incoming foreigners, they were completely unaware of the social, economic, and political reality of the city at the time.

           In fact, working conditions didn’t get any better with immigrants doing the low wage jobs and leaving American’s with the more prestigious jobs like many would have expected; in actuality, it did the total opposite, making life extremely difficult for those who already resided in New York.  Most industries offered hazardous conditions and very low wages, and because of the desperate need of a job, immigrants were willing to settle for any opportunity that was thrown at them—this further lowered the standards of job occupations for the less educated and poor Americans so that they were incapable of ever branching out from their poverty drought lives. Urban housing was also overcrowded and unsanitary because of the surplus of people, and many died from causes of illness and bacteria. An old Italian saying summed up the disillusionment felt by many: "I came to America because I heard the streets were paved with gold. When I got here, found out three things: First, the streets weren't paved with gold; second, they weren't paved at all: and third, I was expected to pave them" (Eye Witness to History). In spite of the difficulties, few gave up and returned home. These migrant increases in employment had a drastic surplus in the 1990’s and are predicted to continue increasing over the years in the table below:

         Aside from the fact that immigration levels were increasing, the chances of getting a good education were only growing slimmer. During the 1900s, most American children attended schools for no more than a few years, and from their limited education they and their parents were often content if they acquired only the basic math and reading skills; what was sufficient enough to earn an average job. It wasn’t often that parents would bother enrolling their children into schools at all with such little possibility of having them attend: 27% of children were enrolled in school and 73% weren’t enrolled (“Census 1990”). During this time public education suffered from the fact that more than two-thirds of the nation's schools were overpopulated, and if not overpopulated were prejudice of those with low income. No education meant no good paying job in the 1900’s, and with the price of a simple pleasure as small as what would be considered today’s five cent candy bar costing nine cents back in those days when every cent was worth dying for. (Olver)

           Prejudice beliefs against the Irish, which Francie and her family’s origin resided from, were most especially notable among the immigrants who moved to the United States. Many Americans considered the Irish as a dirty, stupid, and lazy race, who were always too drunk to amount to anything. It wasn’t too often that cartoonist in newspapers would contribute to images and drawings of Irish men, or the derogatory term for the Irish: “Paddys”, with resemblances of monkeys or Neanderthals; as depicted by Professor Mary Baba: “Irishmen [were drawn] as looking like apes with a jutting jaw and sloping forehead.” Irish immigrants were also blamed for causing economic problems, were Americans felt that the great numbers of Irish adding to the immigrants­ that were already here—the Irish consisted of one fifth of all foreign born in the originally homogenous region (“Think Quest”), were taking the most percentages of available work. Consequently, it became acceptable to discriminate against the Irish. Many job posters and newspaper ads bore the words “No Irish Need Apply.”, and hotels and restaurants had signs stating “No Irish Permitted in this Establishment.” The hatred towards the Irish extended as far as 50 years in advance, in the 1850s. Railroad contractors in New York advertised for workers and promised good pay, but when mostly Irish applied, the pay was lowered to fifty-five cents a day. When the workers protested, the militia was called in to force the men to accept. (Baba)

         By the first decade of the twentieth century immigrants took up about sixty-six percent of the total of people living in New York, giving America its official reputation as the melting pot of the world. Consequently this rise in immigration resulted in the rise of Nativism; the already existing hate of Americans towards immigrants amplified by the thousands. Nativism was in fact so powerful that it was used as the stepping stone even before the 1990s of Nativist laws like the Chinese Exclusion of 1882 (Nativist law that banned Chinese immigration after the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad.)  As a result of acts like these, tales of spying and sabotage were spread and made Nativism so strong that little things such as diarrhea epidemics were blamed on the immigrants. (McNab)

           It is no wonder that the fictional character Francie Nolan spends the vast majority of the film being beaten down and depressed by her unfortunate circumstances. From a young age Francie spends her years struggling with poverty, and because of the pressure of not being able to support his family from unavailability of jobs due to the surplus of immigrants who occupy them, her father, Johnny Nolan results to alcohol and ultimately dies of alcohol abuse. Her mother and grandmother stress the fact that education is the only way to beat poverty and make Francie and her brother Neeley read a page from Shakesphere and from the Bible every night. With thoughts of progressing through education, Francie’s parents then send her to school, where she is the object of ridicule and is treated badly because she is poor. She has her Dad lie and tell the principal that she is moving in order to get her into a better school which isn’t as judgmental as her last. Here she strives for good grades and becomes the class’s best writer, but just when Francie feels at home, things have a turn for the worst; A few months before Neeley and Francie's graduation, their father dies. Francie is heartbroken and her writing begins to reflect her depression. Her teacher speaks to her about it, but Francie decides not to complete the English work for the remainder of the year, barely passing and disappointing her mother. Because of her below average grades, her mother decides to attend her brother's graduation instead of Francie's. Short after, Francie's little sister Laurie is born and her mother Katie tell the children they cannot afford to keep both Francie and Neeley in school. Katie decides that Neeley must go back to school because he would not go unless forced. Assuring Francie she will find a way to return to school eventually, Katie has Francie work for the conclusion of the film.

             Elia Kazan's 1945 film A Tree Grows in Brooklyn suggests and displays all of the hardships the lower class living in the 1900's had to withstand through Francie Nolan's life; her struggles to provide for her family and make her dreams of an education come true. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn's theme of perseverance through hardship relates to the lifestyle of the 1900s and the symbol of the tree, which blossomed out of the pavements; "it grew in boarded-up lots out of neglected rubbish heaps and it was the only tree that grew out of cement." (Smith) The symbolism of the tree growing out of cement and continuing to grow despite its bad living conditions in the ghetto of Brooklyn describes just how the people living at the time had to cope with the struggles of poverty, nativism, and loss of jobs. This motif can also be thought about in the terms of comparing old world ways to life in New York City during the time period it was made to represent.

Works Cited

Baba, Mary. "Irish Immigrant Families in Mid-Late 19th Century America." Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute (2010): n. pag. Web. 1 Dec 2010.

Elia, Kazan, Dir. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Dir. Elia Kazan." Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation: 1945, Film.

""Immigration in the early 1900s,"." EyeWitness to History. Ibis Communications, Inc., (2000). Web. 1 Dec 2010.

Immigration: The Irish." Think Quest . Think Quest Org, 2010. Web. 1 Dec 2010.

Olver, Lynne. "Food Timeline." The Food Timeline--historic food prices. N.p., 2/10/2010. Web. 1 Dec 2010.

McNab, Jamie. "The Supreme Court’s Response to Nativism in the 1920’s." Davidson.edu. Davidson, 2003. Web. 1 Dec 2010.

"School Enrollment For The Population 3 Years And Over." Census 1990 n. pag. Social Explorer; U.S. Census Bureau . Web. 1 Dec 2010.

Smith, Betty. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. First Perrenial Edition. NY: Harper Perrenial Publishers, 1968. Print.

Blog 14: Draft of ENG 103 Research Paper

Yumarlin Rodriguez

Professor Luke Vasileou

ENG103

23 November 2010

“A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, A Mirror Image of New York in the 1900’s”

Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn follows the life of 11 year old  Francie Nolan,  a young girl aspiring to become more than the life she's been born into as she grows up in poverty stricken Brooklyn, New York. Francie's story tells us about the simplicity of living and dying, of surviving, and of her family. Although Betty Smith's film and novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn revolve around Francie Nolan and the Nolan family's struggles, little do we know that Francie's tale portrays the realistic life of the early twentieth-century itself and the intricacies of living in Brooklyn. It is about childhood, about growing up, about suffering and managing and sticking together during the entire time period; ranging from the broader subjects of War World 1, immigration, and politics to a family's meals and their struggles with work. All in all, it is a commentary on life in the early 1900s.

            Being poor meant that the characters in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn were constantly thinking of being poor; how they would buy their next loaf of bread, or how one's status and place of living looked like compared to another. Smith not only implies that poverty affected material things like the absence of food, heat, or comfort, but also how poverty resulted in psychological and figurative aspects of the characters in her story. Poverty ultimately results in the death and worthlessness of Francie's father, causes her Uncle Flittman to run away, and meant that Francie could not attend high school and instead had to obtain a job in order to work and support her family. Every activity, game, or action in Francie's family and life were planned around a limited source of income or resources (The small jar filled with pennies Francie's mother keeps for emergencies or how the family would store even the smallest portions of food) (Elia). In addition to the Nolan's life, Smith presents an entirely poor community, and shows the close connection between poverty and exploitation in the neighborhood; store proprietors taking advantage of children's innocence to lure money out of them (overpricing candy that is either stale or no longer edible and selling it to naive children) and piano teachers begging for tea from their students (Elia). Smith's sympathetic treatment of her characters show that poverty itself at the time was the true evil, not the people; and that people were just putting their own families and children first at any expense.

            Although Betty Smith's story is fiction based, it is not to be said that A Tree Grows in Brooklyn cannot be told from a realist point of view. Nearly every scene, actor, and set in the film represents or addresses the problem of poverty in early twentieth-century New York. While the story is set at the turn of the century (1902-1919) and contains many historical elements that may feel out of the ordinary to the modern reader, the message that is subtly portrayed in the story is one that we can all identify; poverty resulting from post war immigration. After the depression of the 1890s immigrants hoping to escape religious, racial, and political persecution or seeking relief from lack of economic opportunity or famine were driven to the United States. Immigration jumped from a low percentage of 3.5 million to a high standard of 9 million in the first decade of the new century (source). The newcomers who arrived came with promises of work, and even though most lacked the ability to communicate in the English language they were able to find solace in the ethnic neighborhoods populated by the fellow countrymen who had arrived previously (Today known as places like: Little Italy, China Town, The Lower East Side, etc). Here they could converse in their native languages, practice their religion, and take part in cultural celebrations that helped ease the hardships of leaving their homelands. Although the United States was perceived as a land of prosperity to the incoming foreigners, they were completely unaware of the social, economic, and political reality of the city at the time.

In fact, working conditions didn’t get any better with immigrants doing the low wage jobs and leaving American’s with the more prestigious jobs like many would have expected; in actuality, it did the total opposite, making life extremely difficult for those who already resided in New York.  Most industries offered hazardous conditions and very low wages, and because of the desperate need of a job, immigrants were willing to settle for any opportunity that was thrown at them—this further lowered the standards of job occupations for the less educated and poor Americans so that they were incapable of ever branching out from their poverty drought lives. Urban housing was also overcrowded and unsanitary because of the surplus of people, and many died from causes of illness and bacteria. An old Italian saying summed up the disillusionment felt by many: "I came to America because I heard the streets were paved with gold. When I got here, found out three things: First, the streets weren't paved with gold; second, they weren't paved at all: and third, I was expected to pave them." (source) In spite of the difficulties, few gave up and returned home. These migrant increases in employment had a drastic surplus in the 1990’s and are predicted to continue increasing over the years in the table below:

           

Aside from the fact that immigration levels were increasing, the chances of getting a good education were only growing slimmer. During the 1900s, most American children attended schools for no more than a few years, and from their limited education they and their parents were often content if they acquired only the basic math and reading skills; what was sufficient enough to earn an average job. It wasn’t often that parents would bother enrolling their children into schools at all with such little possibility of having them attend: 27% of children were enrolled in school and 73% weren’t enrolled (source). During this time public education suffered from the fact that more than two-thirds of the nation's schools were overpopulated, and if not overpopulated were prejudice of those with low income. No education meant no good paying job in the 1900’s, and with the price of a simple pleasure as small as what would be considered today’s five cent candy bar costing nine cents back in those days when every cent was worth dying for (source).

It is no wonder that the fictional character Francie Nolan spends the vast majority of the film being beaten down and depressed by her unfortunate circumstances. From a young age Francie spends her years struggling with poverty, and because of the pressure of not being able to support his family from unavailability of jobs due to the surplus of immigrants who occupy them, her father, Johnny Nolan results to alcohol and ultimately dies of alcohol abuse. Her mother and grandmother stress the fact that education is the only way to beat poverty and make Francie and her brother Neeley read a page from Shakesphere and from the Bible every night. With thoughts of progressing through education, Francie’s parents then send her to school, where she is the object of ridicule and is treated badly because she is poor. She has her Dad lie and tells the principal that she was moving in order to get her into a better school which isn’t as judgmental as her last. Here she strives for good grades and becomes the class’s best writer, but just when Francie feels at home, things have a turn for the worst; A few months before Neeley and Francie's graduation their father dies. Francie is heartbroken and her writing begins to reflect her depression. Her teacher speaks to her about it, but Francie decides not to complete the English work for the remainder of the year, barely passing and disappointing her mother. the class and her mother decided to attend her brother's graduation instead of Francie's.
            Now Francie's little sister Laurie is born and her mother Katie tells the children they cannot afford to keep both Francie and Neeley in school. Katie decides that Neeley must go back to school because he would not go unless forced. Katie tells Francie that she is sure Francie will find a way to go back so she will go to work.
      Francie struggles to find a way to provide for her family and make her dreams of an education come true."

Works Cited

-http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/snpim1.htm

graph: ---http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/cs/sp/sdc/pkrf/publications/bulletins/2001-000004/images/graph5.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/cs/sp/sdc/pkrf/publications/bulletins/2001-000004/page04.shtml&usg=__XZHSIDqhU7uBDQ918RClysn8d_8=&h=316&w=450&sz=31&hl=en&start=14&sig2=rEGL3uczmOmZCxzz43q41A&zoom=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=AUYq2SVvzG7DnM:&tbnh=89&tbnw=127&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dimmigrant%2Bemployment%2B1990s%2Bgraph%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26ndsp%3D18%26tbs%3Disch:1&ei=u2rkTM39PIK4sAOAn73oCg

-percentage: http://www.socialexplorer.com/pub/reportdata/htmlresults.aspx?ReportId=R10003425

-candy bar:

http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodfaq5.html

Blog 13: Minority Report Response

The argument "does everything happen for a reason?" is a universal one; ranging from physchological, theological, and biblical concepts. The same argument is soon followed after with the underlying question: "If the future really is predetermined, where would a human's free will take part in it?" The belief in fate is especially tested in the movie Minority Report, where the futuristic police force "Precrime" seek out to execute and eliminate murder before it's even committed.

Although the world of Minority Report is a world where an individuals actions are foretold before they even take place, where does that leave room for choice or circumstance? I believe that the future is capable of being altered by these two factors, unlike Lemar Burgess, the creator of the PreCrime system, who believed that using the Precogs (beings  that could see into the future) was the best solution to end crime even though it wasn't foolproof. For instance, (using an example from the movie itself), at the beginning of the film, when a ball is about to roll off the desk and main character John Anderton (Tom Cruise) stops it before it hits the floor. Anderton's precise actions to stop the ball from hitting the floor causes character Danny Witwer (Colin Farrell) to question him. Witwer asks Anderton how he was so sure that the ball was going to hit the floor, which Anderton quickly answers saying that the ball's future was predetermined and he was only trying to prevent it from falling.

Even though Anderton was probably right about the ball having fallen to the floor because it doesn't have the ability to make a decision or change its course; but for argument's sake, what if the ball had rolled to a stop at the edge of the desk? Or something had cushioned it's fall? That's exactly what I mean to explain in my position for applying ethical considerations in actions to reduce dangerous crime. The ball rolling off the desk situation is similar to the law enforcement in the movie Minority Report. In the movie , criminals are "haloed" (almost equivalent to a what we would call a prison in the present day) before they commit a crime without a trail. However, the audience goes unaware of the hole that has been overlooked in the Precrime system. As the movie progresses, the audience then comes to the realization that the Precogs predictions aren't one hundred percent accurate, and that a number of the people who have been imprisoned had a minority report (a report of that person's alternate future if they chose not to go through with a crime) which were contained in the most powerful precog, Agetha. This means that some of the criminals who were imprisoned before they could even make their decisions might have changed their minds and not have gone through with the crime at all.

Despite Lemar's intentions of having a world with no murder, I believe that the Precrime system doesn't make a just and moral society.  A society that isn't fair to it's members is a corrupt one, and if I were to put myself in the position of a criminal who had a change of heart at the last minute, I'd probably go my entire life living through a punishment that I didn't deserve. Although Precrime's prominent success was preventing murderous crimes and putting criminals away before the actions were committed, the fact that the criminals didn't even get to make the choice of even committing it was also it's greatest downfall.  

Special Project: MOMI activity

During your visit to the Museum of the Moving Image, you must have realized that both the layout of the museum and the course of the guides' tour create a narrative. Discuss what you understood that narrative to be and what your reaction (positive, negative, skeptical) is to this narrative.

What I understood from our visit to the Museum of the Moving Image in regards to the layout and the tour was that it was trying to tell us the story of the moving image. I first noticed this because our tour (the group I was with at least), started with the phenakistoscope, which was one of the first inventions used in the creation of movies and film. We quickly followed through with other later inventions like the penny arcade, the radio, and the television. I thought this was very interesting because the tour drew you in and made you want to know what the earlier inventions had evolved into. It was especially enjoyable when we got to see how some more recent films (Freddy Krueger, The exorcist, etc.), were built using older techniques that seemed almost completely irrelevant until they were applied. It was a really great experience, and I hope to visit again one day! =)

Blog 12: Outline of Major Research Essay

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Thesis: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn; seeking to portray realistic issues in the 1920's. 

Topic sentences:

1. Cost of living in the 1920's.

-http://www.1920-30.com/

2.Prohibition begins in US

-http://www.buzzle.com/articles/prohibition-in-the-1920s.html

-A Tree Grows in Brooklyn; Betty Smith

3. Immigration in the 1920's.

-http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/snpim1.htm

Blog 9: Essay 2 (revised)

     It is all too common for people when asked about who they idolize as a hero to receive the familiar answers of “my parents”. A person’s parents might truly be a role model… but what happens when that person disappears? You and your family might remember them as a hero, but what happens once you and your family disappear; and the family after that? The memory of your heroic parents will soon have disappeared along with all of the other “heroes” we have as parents. The concept of this reality and how people choose to see what they want to see instead of accepting the truth is shown in several parts of the movie “Hero”, where not just people, but the media also, choose to ignore the truth, even if it is evident and overwhelming, and prefer to idolize an image they want, instead of a truth that doesn’t fit their preferences.
     The idea the movie portrays is not so much the fact of the modest action of saving people from a burning plane, but in fact what we want that person to represent. I mean, it’s no one’s fantasy to be saved from a burning plane by an unattractive short guy who’s too busy cussing and wondering about the contents of your wallet to care if you’re alright. What anyone would want is an honest (for the most part), giving, tall and handsome gentleman to come and save you instead. That’s exactly what John Bubber was. A most especially good example of this can be seen in the bar scene, where Bernie sits down with his close friend the bar tender and asks him the same troubling question of “What would you say if I told you I was the real hero who saved all of those people from the burning plane?” Where the bar tender simply answers him saying, “You and me, we just aren’t those type of guys. John Bubber has all of those heroic qualities that we ordinary guys just don’t have. [Adapted] “, not knowing that the real savior of all those people on the burning plane is sitting in front of him all along .Although John Bubber was living in his car, he was a generous and caring individual, and that’s exactly what the people were looking for and represented what everyone wanted to be. A homeless man with nothing, turned into a celebrity and savior. Unlike Bernard Leplante, who always seemed to have just about enough from swiping credit cards and scamming people.
     We can see the way people disregard the truth further still when the news reporter and John Bubber are creating a reenactment of the tragedy for a news broadcast. Even though John Bubber is completely oblivious of the tactics Bernie used to save the people and is using all of the wrong motives, the news reporter chooses to disregard his mistakes by saying that she was probably just “too delusional” from the crash and fire to remember that he was much taller and his actions were different than before. Further still when the news reporter visits Bernie Leplante’s apartment and finds her missing award and purse, and her and her news team automatically assume and make up this story of Bernie somehow making up a scheme of blackmailing John Bubber, even with the overwhelming evidence of who the real hero is right under their noses.
     With all of the evidence of people choosing not to accept the truth, Bernie finally comes to the realization that even if he had confessed about saving all of those people, he probably wouldn’t receive the same recognition. He didn’t have any of the admirable qualities (handsome, brave, inspiring, etc.) society look for in a hero that John Bubber possessed.
     It is no question that a hero really is what the people make of him or her. Unfortunately, a hero isn’t the person who commits the heroic action itself. Instead it is that person who possesses the qualities and ability to represent want everyone else wants.

Blog 11: Media paper

Yumarlin Rodriguez
Drs. Lucca/Vasileiou
29 October 2010
                              “Facebook, Changing the World of Social Networking”
     It only took a 19 year old expelled from Harvard to change the world of Social Networking. But, what makes Mark Zucherberg’s creation of Facebook any different than any other online social network? Aren’t Myspace and Friendster just about the same thing? Although all similar in the aspect of socializing, exchanging media files, and meeting people virtually, Facebook has managed to take the entire social experience of college and everyday life and put it online, changing mass media and communication for the entire world.
     Although Facebook has a misleading upbringing (created in the dorm room of a drunken teenager), we can’t exactly be fooled by its unappealing origin. The basis of the network came from Zucherberg’s first experiment called “FaceMash” (Kaplan). The website was designed for the humor of his classmates and his own, where students were able to rate other undergraduate students by appearance. Of course, this was malpractice on Zucherberg’s part, where he was charged with breaching his school’s computer system to attain the files required for the website, causing emotional stress to the classmates who were put on the site, and immediate expulsion (Kaplan). It was not so much the sole popularity of the site that Zucherberg found enticing (22,000 hits in just 2 hours (Mezrich), but the fact that its popularity had grown in such little time because the people on the site were people that all knew one another personally. People had the ability to contact their actual real-life friends over the internet (Mezrich).
     The Facebook’s (its former name before being changed to “Facebook”) most outstanding feature compared to the other social networking sites is its functionality and user base. Unlike other social networks, Facebook profiles are hidden unless you are logged into the site, are friends with the person, or edit your privacy settings; as opposed to Myspace where profiles are open to the public unless settings are altered (O’Hear). The website was created to help people share information in a safe and secure manner, or as Zucherberg says himself: “A lot of the challenge was just making it so that people were comfortable having a page [on the internet] at all.” (“Press Open Door 2009”).
     However, just like the world of popularity and the fashion industry, the internet world went through a lot of drastic changes and “latest fads” since 2004 and up until the present day. The use of the site became more based on what was happening at the current time and how people were able to convey it in that instant. Seeking to find a solution to the need, co-founder Chris Cox came up with an idea: “Wouldn’t it be really cool if for every single person in this graph [the social graph of the Facebook community] you could summarize what was going on for them and deliver it as a personal newspaper every day, at any moment in time, perfectly up to date, assembled by exactly the set of people that you care about?” (“Press Open Door”). That’s when Facebook launched the world’s first ever “News Feed”. The News Feed is a wall that streams everyone’s information or current “status” as soon as they post it up onto your personal homepage. This allowed Facebook users to gather information much more efficiently and rapidly, instead of having to visit a person’s individual page. The impact of the creation of the News Feed was such a huge success that other leading companies like Twitter (in terms of pace of information moving very quickly) were adapted after it.
     Facebook’s growing number isn’t solely based on a speedy stream of information, but in the types of ways users are able to use the site. The site is made for all sorts of mediums which are sorted through a “fans” and “friends” option, unlike Myspace or Friendster, where everyone is set under the same standards. This allows people to differentiate between just how deep and different these sorts of relationships are, whether it’s someone trying to convey a message to the public, or someone looking for a chat with friends from school. These connections can branch out as far as the president of the United States or just around the corner and to your grandmothers; being sure to accommodate everyone to their utmost comfort and needs, as Chris Cox states: “People want small audiences, people want large audiences. They want tight privacy control, they want to reach everyone. They want to share photos; they want to talk about the election. Or they just want to talk about what they just had for breakfast.” (“Press Open Door 2009”).
     Because of the flexibility of communication Facebook gives users, Facebook has invited companies from all over the world to be a part of their system; being the first social network to incorporate this type of media into their website. Although Myspace has similar options like these where they promote unsigned bands, Facebook just doesn’t include fan pages for music and company advertisements, but fan pages for small businesses, and nonprofit organizations like the ASPCA and The Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign (Facebook). This sort of commercialism allows companies to reach out prime targets and connect with more than 500 million potential customers. Extending flexibility and ease further still by allowing companies to synchronize their search (if wanted) to specific age groups, locations, and interests (Facebook). Doing this, Facebook is able to “build a world where people are living amongst each other even though they are far apart’” (Cox). Bringing everyday shopping, community service, and communication to your fingertips.
     Aside from being able to present an audience with clothing, goods, or an organization in the English language, Facebook has the capability of translating the website to a language of preference. Although all languages are not offered yet, (They have recently translated the website into Hebrew and Arabic) Facebook offers a variety of languages to insure fast, easy, and reliable communication. It is most probable that Facebook is not the first social network which provides a selection of languages (Myspace, Friendster, Twitter, and other social networking websites happen to obtain this ability too), but is one of the networks with the widest range of selections; making communication and exchange of media only that much faster and easier for those even outside of the United States.
     Although probably not the first in changing communication towards language, Facebook is the first social network to promote communication by starting online communities called “groups”. These types of groups are made by the people, and for the people, and are unlimited in variation and topic. One of the most popular is called “Scribd”, an online book club that lets people communicate in the interests of books. Scribd allows people to read together, share articles, form book clubs, get book recommendations from friends, and even debate and discuss new books and stories. 55,000 items are streamed over Scribd every day, including projects handed out by teachers, book publishings by authors, famous chefs exchanging recipe cards, and hobbyists who are looking for all types of manuals (Facebook). With groups created by Facebook like Scribd, friends and people from all over the world can read and share documents together, making it easier to get insight and recommendations through help of your friends; something Myspace and Friendster and other familiar sites have not been able to achieve.
     Facebook has in fact had such a strong impact on a society that they have also launched a recent application called “500 Million Stories”. The application allows users to post up collections of stories they’ve shared about the impact Facebook has had on not just their friends, but their very own lives. Through this, people are allowed to share their own stories and read thousands of others, categorized by themes and locations all around the world. Facebook has helped millions of people like: “Ben Saylor, a 17-year-old high school student, who turned to Facebook to organize a community effort to rebuild the Pioneer Playhouse, the oldest outdoor theater in Kentucky, after it was damaged by floods in May.” And “Holly Rose, a mother in Phoenix, who credits a friend’s status message telling women to check for breast cancer with her being diagnosed in time to treat the disease. She used Facebook for support during treatment and became a prevention advocate herself.” (Facebook).
     Mark Zucherberg and the creators of Facebook aren’t the only ones who sought out to change the world through communication, but other figures in history have also; One of the most popular being Marshall McLuhan. Marshall McLuhan was an educator and scholar whose work generally consisted of the study of media theory (“Regent University for Communication and the Arts”). His work is viewed by many, (including Zucherberg and the Facebook team) as one of the cornerstones of media theory; having practical applications in advertising and television industries. Employers at Facebook use McLuhan’s famous expression “The medium is the message” as a motivator to keep helping the world connect in different types of ways (“Press Open Door 2009”).
     Although Facebook’s greatest factor has brought many great changes to the internet world in regards of most anonymity being executed and helping people share more and more information, its greatest factor has also been its greatest downfall. As opposed to Myspace, Twitter, or Friendster, some Facebook users feel that Facebook gives much more information than it generally should. Unlike the sites mentioned previously, Facebook has options where users can include their employment and educational information and has also recently launched a new application called “Places” (Facebook). The application (with use of a cell phone or mobile device) is designed to let users tell their friends where they are and vice versa, making it possible to track and give away a person’s location at any moment in time. This can prove as a dangerous tool if let fall in the wrong hands, and while a percentage of the social networking world think its fun to chart their travels around town and the world, another percentage think it's a sign of online predatory appeal (Gaudin).
Analyst Dan Olds, as quoted by Journalist Sharon Gaudin says "Would you want a wide number of people to know that there's no one home at your house?" Olds asked. "And, couple that information with Facebook posts about how you put your dog in a kennel while you're on a two-week trip, that's just too much information to put out there. Many people think they're only sharing it with their friends, but they have to assume that they're sharing it with anyone who can access their friends' computers or Facebook accounts." (Gaudin). While Places can be an entertaining tool, no one should use it without considering the consequences of some location information getting out past their immediate circle of friends (Gaudin).
     Another criticism associated with applications like Pages that concerns privacy advocates is that the applications are launched to users using opted-in settings which are set up by default. This means that applications similar to these are running automatically, rather than allowing and giving users the decision to run it in the first place (Gaudin).Users can sometimes go unaware and unannounced to applications that are set up by default, causing bewilderment when something goes wrong or attention is drawn to the matter. It is also critiqued that turning off the settings that are on by default aren’t as easy as it seems, as Guadin states: “opting out isn't just a simple matter of clicking on a "no thanks" kind of button. Shutting off Facebook Places is a multistep process.”, where she then proceeds to demonstrating the steps she had to take to changing and altering the settings Facebook had by default to her own personal preference in her article.
     Unfortunately, adaptations to the internet like social networking never follow their original course. Different factors, such as the speed of information, the amount of it portrayed, or privacy control towards it, affect their outcome. Yet, just because there are slight differences between the people who use it, it doesn’t mean that Facebook cannot be appreciated for its unique qualities and the way it has changed mass media and communication.






Citations and Reference:
Gaudin, Sharon. "Facebook Places just too much information? Here's how to opt out." Reuters (2010): 2. Web. 29 Oct 2010.

Kaplan, Katharine. "Facemash Creator Survives Ad Board." Harvard Crimson (2003): n. pag. Web. 17 Oct 2010

"Marshall McLuhan." Regent Uiversity, School of Communication and the Arts. Regent Univrsity, n.d. Web. 29 Oct 2010. .

Mark, Zucherberg, Perf. The Social Network. Dir. David Fincher." Perf. Jesse, Eisenberg. Columbia Pictures: 2010, Film.
Mezrich, Ben. The Accidental Billionares- The founding of Facebook. NY: Anchor Books, 2010. Print.
O'Hear, Steve. "Research: Myspace and Facebook are different class." Social Web n. pag. Web. 17 Oct 2010.
Press Open Door 2009." Mark Zucherberg Facebook. Web. 17 Oct 2010.
Zuckerberg, Mark. "500 Million Stories." The Facebook Blog. Facebook, 6/21/2010. Web. 18 Oct 2010

Blog 10: Gattaca response

     It is human nature to ostracize certain types of people. In many cases, this is distinguished by types of gender, race, or even genetics that might seem superior like in the movie Gattaca's case. I agree with George J. Annas as he explains this in his hypothesis "The new ideal human, the genetically engineered 'superior' human, will almost certainly come to represent 'the other'. If history is a guide, either the normal humans will view the 'better' humans as the other and seek to control or destroy them, or vice versa." Many examples of how people are categorized by these characteristics can be seen in human history; one of the many being The Holocaust of WW2.
     The movie Gattaca takes place in the distant future where humans are designed at birth for perfection. This means that most that are born are without any risks of disease and are made in the image of what society considers "elite and superior". This puts those who are born out of natural birth at the bottom of the totem pole, because of risks that their "contaminated", low-class genes will affect the company's reputation. Although there are many people who are against this ideology including myself, many people have fallen prejudice to different types of discriminations just like in the movie Gattecca in human history and in our world today.
     Classifying different groups as 'others' can take us as far back as WW2, where The Holocaust took place. The Holocaust was a mass state-sponsored genocide by Germany against the Jewish people. All non-Germans were considered of "filthy blood", and were unfit in the German's "pure and Aryan" race. This meant that anyone who wasn't of German blood was considered 'the other' and was dealt with the consequences of extermination, or for those who were lucky, to join the labor force (reference to Annas: "If history is a guide, either the normal humans will view the 'better' humans as the other and seek to control or destroy them, or vice versa.")
     Although discrimination today might not be drastic enough to lead to genocide, we still experience it today in our everyday lives. Whether it's someone dislike towards you by race, appearance, gender, or in many cases sexual orientation. An example of this can be found in the recent passing of gay marriage in San Francisco. Many people are in opposition to the law, and therefore view gay couples as 'the other'; where gay couples experience the same opposition also, but instead view people against it as 'the other' because of their unacceptance to the ideology. This has caused many riots in San Francisco and many places in Northern California, where the battle head-to-head in trying to control the other.
     Despite what many believe is right (a world without prejudice beliefs); I believe that this ideology is an essential human characteristic, just like Annas states in his hypothesis. It is just the way the world is and how we are programmed to function. No one is perfect, which means that none of our ideas are perfect either, therefore creating friction between one another when ideas are presented. However, I do believe that with some time and careful consideration both sides can come up with a resolution that is fair to both parties.

Blog 9: (Hero)

     It is all too common for people when asked about who they idolize as a hero to receive the familiar answers of “my parents”. A person’s parents might truly be a role model… but what happens when that person disappears? You and your family might remember them as a hero, but what happens once you and your family disappear? And the family after that? The memory of your heroic parents will soon have disappeared along with all of the other “heroes” we have as parents. Although I believe the movie Hero expresses the idea a little differently, it is able to show the audience what the public views as a real hero, as opposed to one’s ordinary, average day parents or citizens.
      In the movie Hero, we are placed into the scenario of Bernie Leplante, a wise guy from New York whose criminal record for theft probably extends as far as Mexico. Just like any thief, Bernie possesses very unlikeable characteristics to the public. He only cares about himself, and his obsession with money has really given him a run for his luck. Our thoughts of Bernie however, have a slight change of heart when a plane crash delays him from visiting his nine or ten year old son (Bernie is not so sure of his son’s age himself either.) Just like the character Bernie is, he goes about complaining about his hundred dollar shoes as he’s saving innocent people from the burning aircraft. Not that this mattered to him however; he was more concerned about impressing a little boy whose father had gone missing during the fire, stealing a news reporter’s purse, and his expensive missing shoe.
     Just like any other criminal, Bernie doesn’t stick around unless there’s some sort of exchange of money involved and flees the scene without a trace. Only to realize that he had given his shoe away to a friendly hobo who helped him hitchhike home and that they were offering a million dollar reward to the hero who owned the missing pair. The hobo, John Bubber turns in the shoe instead, and Bernie’s luck just seems to spiral downhill from then on.
     The idea the movie portrays is not so much the fact of the modest action of saving people from a burning plane, but in fact what we want that person to represent. I mean, it’s no one’s fantasy to be saved from a burning plane by an unattractive short guy who’s too busy cussing and wondering about the contents of your wallet to care if you’re alright. What anyone would want is an honest (for the most part), giving, tall and handsome gentleman to come and save you instead. That’s exactly what John Bubber was. Although he was living in his car, he was a generous and caring individual, and that’s exactly what the people were looking for and represented what everyone wanted to be. A homeless man with nothing, turned into a celebrity and savior. Unlike Bernard Leplante, who always seemed to have just about enough from swiping credit cards and scamming people.
     The concept of this reality and how people choose to see what they want to see instead of accepting the truth is shown in several parts of the movie. Where the media and people chose to ignore the truth, even if it is evident and overwhelming, and in parts where Bernard questions people is they’d believe him if he told them if he was the real savior of the people on the plane. This can be seen when the news reporter and John Bubber are creating a reenactment of the tragedy for a news broadcast, and even though John Bubber is completely oblivious of the tactics Bernie used to save the people and is using all of the wrong motives, the news reporter chooses to disregard his mistakes by saying that she was probably just “too delusional” from the crash and fire to remember that he was much taller and his actions were different than before. Further still when the news reporter visits Bernie Leplante’s apartment and finds her missing award and purse, and her and her news team automatically assume and make up this story of Bernie somehow making up a scheme of blackmailing John Bubber, even with the overwhelming evidence of who the real hero is right under their noses. A most especially good example can be seen in the bar scene, where Bernie sits down with his close friend the bar tender and asks him the same troubling question of “What would you say if I told you I was the real hero who saved all of those people from the burning plane?” Where the bar tender simply answers him saying, “You and me, we just aren’t those type of guys. John Bubber has all of those heroic qualities that we ordinary guys just don’t have. [Adapted] “, not knowing that the real savior of all those people on that burning plane is sitting in front of him all along. With this answer, Bernie finally comes to the realization that even if he had confessed about saving all of those people, he probably wouldn’t receive the same recognition because he didn’t have of all the admirable qualities (handsome, brave, inspiring, etc.) society look for in a hero that John Bubber possessed.
     It is no question that a hero really is what the people make of him or her. Unfortunately, a hero isn’t the person who commits the heroic action itself. Instead it is that person who possesses the qualities and ability to represent want everyone else wants to be.

Follow up to Blog 8

I would now like you to return to your blog 8 entry and discuss a situation when you have been seen as the other--when your sex, race, habits, tastes etc. have clearly made somebody react negatively toward you and turn you into "the other" for them. Discuss the experience in detail and what you thought about the person as well as about yourself after this experience.

A time I have been considered the other is when visiting my own country. Although I am from Dominican Republic, I wouldn't consider myself the cliché thought of what a Dominican girl acts like (Looking after children, taking care of the men of the household, and cooking and cleaning on an hourly basis.) It struck my family members as strange when I wasn't picking up after my uncle's when they left the dinner table, or when I wouldn't change my younger cousin's diaper. I could tell they were displeased with me with the body language and stares they'd give me; although I would have if asked to, I felt like it wasn't my place to do all of those things because they were distant family. It sort of made me feel bad because I wasn't what my family in the Dominican Republic had expected, and it made me feel like I wasn't as responsible as I thought I was.

Blog 8: The Concept of the Other

a) give a description of your "other."
My description of an "other" would probably be  a mathematician or anyone who has a very special interest in math or is very good at it.

b) explain what it is about it that makes you feel such opposition to it
I feel that the opposition to this group defines me as someone inferior. I'm not very good at mathematics or anything in the category (sciences like chemistry and physics), and I feel like I would never have anything in common with them simply because I don't have the same interest in the subject.

c) discuss what has happened or would happen in situations where you have to interact with someone who belongs to "the other" as you define it. You should make sure that you do not write something offensive to members of that group, but at the same time if you keep good manners you should express your ideas openly.
I have interacted with this sort of group back in high school, and even though I was able to cope with the awkwardness because it was in such a little amount of time, it felt pretty intimidating because I was the only one among my peers who was out casted. I was able to socialize, but not as normally as I would.

Blog 7: Outline and Annotated Bibliography

Facebook


Thesis: Facebook managed to take social experience of college and lifestyle and put it online, improving mass media and communication for the world.

Topic sentences:

1. Creation of Facebook and why Mark Zucherberg (creator) thought it was such a brilliant idea and how it would help people share information.

• Kaplan, Katharine. "Facemash Creator Survives Ad Board." Harvard Crimson (2003): n. pag. Web. 17 Oct 2010

• Mark, Zucherberg, Perf. The Social Network. Dir. David Fincher." Perf. Jesse, Eisenberg. Columbia Pictures: 2010, Film.

2. Different functionality and user base (helping people share personal information more safely between family and friends just like you would in real life). It is not viewed by the public unless they have a Facebook account or a person alters their settings; making it so people are comfortable having a page on the internet at all.

• O'Hear, Steve. "Research: Myspace and Facebook are different class." Social Web n. pag. Web. 17 Oct 2010.

• Mark, Zucherberg, Perf. The Social Network. Dir. David Fincher." Perf. Jesse, Eisenberg. Columbia Pictures: 2010, Film.

3. Creation of the news feed, allowing people to live amongst each other and talk even though they are far apart.

• "Press Open Door 2009." Mark Zucherberg Facebook. Web. 17 Oct 2010.

• Mark, Zucherberg, Perf. The Social Network. Dir. David Fincher." Perf. Jesse, Eisenberg. Columbia Pictures: 2010, Film.

4. Facebook is made for different mediums. You can communicate with friends or a large audience. (ex. Obama or the New York Times wanting to give a message out to the people, or someone who is using facebook to talk to close knit friends and family)

•  "Press Open Door 2009." Mark Zucherberg Facebook. Web. 17 Oct 2010.

5. Site is able to be translated into different languages, so that it is not restricted to anyone with differing background.

• "Press Open Door 2009." Mark Zucherberg Facebook. Web. 17 Oct 2010.

6. Makes things simple and flexible so that it doesnt discriminate anyone. Easy to use!

• "Press Open Door 2009." Mark Zucherberg Facebook. Web. 17 Oct 2010.

7. Has helped keep in touch with their communities and has brought them back together.

• Zuckerberg, Mark. "500 Million Stories." The Facebook Blog. Facebook, 6/21/2010. Web. 18 Oct 2010.

8. Not just Mark Zucherberg, but great people in time also feel that the best way to get a message across is through media and technology.

• Marshall McLuhan- http://www.regent.edu/acad/schcom/rojc/mdic/mcluhan.html

These are the topic sentences I've been working on so far.

Blog 6: Hero

                It is all too common for people when asked about who they idolize as a hero to receive the familiar answers of “my parents”. A person’s parents might truly be a role model… but what happens when that person disappears? You and your family might remember them as a hero, but what happens once you and your family disappear? And the family after that? The memory of your heroic parents will soon have disappeared along with all of the other “heroes” we have as parents. Although I believe the movie Hero expresses the idea a little differently, it is able to show the audience what the public views as a real hero, as opposed to one’s ordinary, average day parents or citizens.

                In the movie Hero, we are placed into the scenario of Bernie Leplante, a wise guy from New York whose criminal record for theft probably extends as far as Mexico. Just like any thief, Bernie possesses very unlikeable characteristics to the public. He only cares about himself, and his obsession with money has really given him a run for his luck. Our thoughts of Bernie however, have a slight change of heart when a plane crash delays him from visiting his nine or ten year old son (Bernie is not so sure of his son’s age himself either.) Just like the character Bernie is, he goes about complaining about his hundred dollar shoes as he’s saving innocent people from the burning aircraft. Not that this mattered to him however; he was more concerned about impressing a little boy whose father had gone missing during the fire, stealing a news reporter’s purse, and his expensive missing shoe.

                Just like any other criminal, Bernie doesn’t stick around unless there’s some sort of exchange of money involved and flees the scene without a trace. Only to realize that he had given his shoe away to a friendly hobo who helped him hitchhike home and that they were offering a million dollar reward to the hero who owned the missing pair. The hobo, John Bubber turns in the shoe instead, and Bernie’s luck just seems to spiral downhill from then on.

                The idea the movie portrays is not so much the fact of the modest action of saving people from a burning plane, but in fact what we want that person to represent. I mean, it’s no one’s fantasy to be saved from a burning plane by an unattractive short guy who’s too busy cussing and wondering about the contents of your wallet to care if you’re alright. What anyone would want is an honest (for the most part), giving, tall and handsome gentleman to come and save you instead. That’s exactly what John Bubber was. Although he was living in his car, he was a generous and caring individual, and that’s exactly what the people were looking for and represented what everyone wanted to be. A homeless man with nothing, turned into a celebrity and savior. Unlike Bernard Leplante, who always seemed to have just about enough from swiping credit cards and scamming people.

                The concept of this reality and how people choose to see what they want to see instead of accepting the truth is shown in several parts of the movie. Where the media and people chose to ignore the truth, even if it is evident and overwhelming, and in parts where Bernard questions people is they’d believe him if he told them if he was the real savior of the people on the plane. This can be seen when the news reporter and John Bubber are creating a reenactment of the tragedy for a news broadcast, and even though John Bubber is completely oblivious of the tactics Bernie used to save the people and is using all of the wrong motives, the news reporter chooses to disregard his mistakes by saying that she was probably just “too delusional” from the crash and fire to remember that he was much taller and his actions were different than before. Further still when the news reporter visits Bernie Leplante’s apartment and finds her missing award and purse, and her and her news team automatically assume and make up this story of Bernie somehow making up a scheme of blackmailing John Bubber, even with the overwhelming evidence of who the real hero is right under their noses.  A most especially good example can  be seen in the bar scene, where Bernie sits down with his close friend the bar tender and asks him the same troubling question of “What would you say if I told you I was the real hero who saved all of those people from the burning plane?” Where the bar tender simply answers him saying, “You and me, we just aren’t those type of guys. John Bubber has all of those heroic qualities that we ordinary guys just don’t have. [Adapted] “, not knowing that the real savior of all those people on that burning plane is sitting in front of him all along.  With this answer, Bernie finally comes to the realization that even if he had confessed about saving all of those people, he probably wouldn’t receive the same recognition because he didn’t have of all the admirable qualities (handsome, brave, inspiring, etc.) society look for in a hero that John Bubber possessed.

                It is no question that a hero really is what the people make of him or her. Unfortunately, a hero isn’t the person who commits the heroic action itself. Instead it is that person who possesses the qualities and ability to represent want everyone else wants to be.

Blog 5: Plan for Media paper

For this blog, I want you to deal with these questions: what is your topic? What is the importance of the topic in the evolution of mass media? What kind of position will you develop in the paper? What kind of sources will be available and what will be the best sources to use?  

I haven't chosen a specific topic yet, but here are a few possible topics I've been thinking of.

Possible topics:

1)Internet and it's influence on society- Facebook: Has brought people together
Sorces: Movie: The social Network, Internet

2)How a specific court case has changed media and communication- sacco and vanzetti trial
Sources: Books: The right to Privacy, Internet

3)The flinstones- how it was the first cartoon to incoporate actual living people into it's series
Sources: Episodes, Internet

4) How google has changed mass media and communication
Sources:Internet, books

5) Star wars- First series to incorporate a perfect society (utopia). ( Demonstrated what everyone wanted)
Sources: Episodes, books, internet


Also, for this blog you should explain, in your own terms, how you understand the concepts of "reason" and "evidence" as well as the term "argument" (it is not what most think). We will go over what you write in class.
Reason is why you have chosen the topic you are talking about.
Evidence is the data and information which you used to support your work.
Argument is simply your opinion of the matter. How you view it, agree or disagree with it.

Blog 4: Reflection

1) What have you learned about writing academic texts so far? Anything from ideas of audience to invention techniques to thesis and topic sentences can be discussed here. Do not simply repeat whatever notes you took in class--the point is for your thoughts on what we did in class: Did these concepts connect with things you already knew and how did you make these connections? If something was unfamiliar, how did you approach it? What is still puzzling to you about these writing concepts? What are you not sure of regarding them?

The writing techniques we’ve done in class aren’t something that I have not come across in previous English classes before. Although I was already well aware of what a thesis statement, topic sentences, and similar writing techniques were, I guess I didn’t understand how to apply these sorts of things in an essay to their full extent. For instance; I didn’t know how to build up a good thesis, where all the points are unified, specific, and restricted, but instead thought that a thesis didn’t need to have all these qualities and just present the main idea. It was pretty startling at first, especially since I was so used to my old way of writing, but it really has helped outline and pinpoints parts of my essay that should be emphasized more and has strengthened my essay writing.

2) What did you think of the interaction with ENA 099? Does such interaction make blogging more meaningful for you or not? How was writing to someone not in class different from making comments on classmates' blogs? Did trying to critique someone else's summary make you more confident that you know the criteria for a good summary?

The interaction with ENA 099 was pretty unexpected, so I was a little taken back when the professor said we’d be commenting on essays that weren’t from our class.  At first I was a bit uncomfortable because I didn’t want to feel as if I were being too assertive with a person I had never met, but towards the middle of the critique I realized that I was only criticizing this person to better their writing. In a sense, I feel that it was much more meaningful to comment on a stranger’s blog because they know I wouldn’t be criticizing them for their appearance, or for personal reasons, but solely on their aspect in writing (as opposed to writing to a student in my class who I already know personally). It made me feel more confident because I knew the individual wouldn’t feel judged as a person.

3) Area of reflection of your choice: What else would you like to share with all of us?

I guess I’d have to say that I’ve learned a lot from the class so far, not just from the class itself and how to better my writing, but also from the students (even those who I have not met personally). I’ve learned how to look at different aspects of a situation and not just assume that mine is the correct one.  I’ve also learned a lot from the essays I’ve read so far (as cheesy as it may sound), some of this stuff is really interesting! I mean, take Nick’s essay about the witch trials in Massachusetts. That’s some cool stuff!

Blog 3: The Matrix Analysis

                In the movie The Matrix, the audience is exposed to the idea of an alternate reality. This sort of “reality” goes completely against the lifestyle we have as humans today, where machines are the primary existence and the earth is a nuclear wasteland.  Similar to the Matrix’s action based movie, Plato’s Allegory of The Cave possesses the same and very famous argument. “Is ignorance really bliss?”

            Unlike today’s perspective of reality, the movie The Matrix takes a little turn on events. Instead of the “real world” being what an average person’s lifestyle would look like (composed of going to work, spending time with friends, and doing things on a routinely basis), the movie tries to get the viewer to believe that this (The Matrix) world is actually a non-existent one.  Implying that the Matrix is a simple façade, used to cloak the true world for what it really is. Although the “real world” in the movie is a world filled with never ending battles of man versus machine for cinematic purposes, it isn’t hard to miss the true intent behind it all: “If given a choice, would you prefer to live in the comfort of a lie or face the truth despite your losses?” This same question is further emphasized in certain scenes and lines from the script of the movie like:  

“MORPHEUS Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself.

NEO:How?

MORPHEUS: Hold out your hands.

In Neo's right hand, Morpheus drops a red pill.

MORPHEUS: This is your last chance. After this, there is no going back.

In his left, a blue pill.

MORPHEUS :You take the blue pill and the story ends. You wake in your bed and you believe whatever you want to believe.

The pills in his open hands are reflected in the glasses.

MORPHEUS:You take the red pill and you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.

Neo feels the smooth skin of the capsules, with the moisture growing in his palms.

MORPHEUS :Remember that all I am offering is the truth. Nothing more. “

As quoted in the lines above, Morpheus (The heroin’s mentor) uses the pills to symbolize just how hard decision making in these situations can be. He offers Neo (heroin), nothing but the truth in exchange for his bravery. Unlike many people in today’s world, Neo chooses the hard way and prefers to fight for the truth, even if that means sacrificing himself for others.

            Plato further portrays the same puzzling decision in his Allegory of The Cave, where three prisoners are confined to a cave facing a blank wall with a blazing fire behind them. The shadows cast by the fire on the wall before them is the closest to reality the prisoner’s ever get to see, and because of this they begin to identify with the shadows as they would with real people. Therefore creating their own sort of reality made up of shadows within the caves walls. In the text, one of the prisoners come loose of the chains and faces the painful rays of the sun. With the sun directly hitting him, the prisoner comes to the painful realization that the shadows are actually not real people and when trying to tell this to the other prisoner’s, they prefer to disregard his cries of pain. As opposed to The Matrix’s Neo, but still upholding the same idea, Plato’s texts depicts how sometimes people would much rather live in the comforts they have known and trusted all along than face the blinding truth because they don’t just don’t know what the possibilities might be. Unlike the Matrix, the prisoners were not given a choice and were forced into a lie, therefore leading to their ultimate demise. As quoted by Socrates in Plato’s allegory of the cave; "True, he said; how could they see anything but the shadows if they were never allowed to move their heads?"

            Unfortunately, even the wise words of Plato and modern adaptations of it in movies like The Matrix can’t give us the answer we are all looking for in the troubling question. Even though a person might agree with Neo and feel that facing the truth is the right thing to do, or might side with the prisoners and feel that if they don’t remain ignorant they will become isolated. Like both, the prisoners in the cave and Neo, the answer is simply what you make of it.