Class Questions

I think that the idea that the message itself is what matters and not how it is portrayed is a good one, but not necessarily the case in our society today, unfortunately. There is a reason that so mnay products mentioned in the articles we read are popular and sold despite their terrible gas mileage, or expensive prices, or history with sweat shops. People like products and are influenced highly by the images the products give off and the messages we retain from the way the products or ideas are presented.

There is a poster I remember seeing in my anatomy classroom in high school that had a dead girl's corpse laying on a slab in a morgue. She was all discolored and gross looking. The message had something to do with smoking. It was saying she smoked to be skinny and look cool or something to that affect, does she look cool now, is she pretty? It was something like that. Now, this message is a good one. It's telling kids not to smoke and I would understand that message probably no matter how it was written or portrayed. the poster could have been white with black writing saying SMOKING IS BAD. This is a true statement, and seeing the girl isn't going to make me less apt to smoke than I would be anyway, but it stuck. I do still remember this poster and we use to notice it every day when we walked into class because it was so gruesome looking and stuck out even though we saw it everyday. That does show that for someone who may be considering smoking, maybe this ad would have made a difference. Maybe seeing the girl and being reminded in that way every day could make a difference. It sticks out much more than just the words smoking is bad. It provides an image and makes you think about it more. Attracting one's attention is half the battle of getting a message across, and this is what design and advertising does.

Design Readings

First Things First Manifesto 2000

Until I read this article I really had never considered the difference between design and advertisement. I'm still not sure I see exactly what the difference is supposed to be. I guess that is what this article is saying is the problem in today's society. I do think that today, we are overwhelmed by commercials and ads about everything, but I don't really see that as a reason to blame designers. I think they make advertising an art, rather than just a scheme, which is precisely why there is so much competition with advertising.

Hysteria

Again, I feel that in this article, as well, designers are being blamed for something that is not entirely their fault. Advertising has become a way of life and although, it is not necessarily the greatest achievement our society has made, it is not going away any time soon. If all the designers in the world were to stop helping make ads, people would still buy products based more on how they are sold and their reputation rather than the actual product. This will not go away. I don't think is a fault of the designer or advertiser, but the fault of ourselves for buying into such elaborate scheming. Designers are just providing the public with what they are demanding. One of the biggest parts of the Superbowl for some people are the advertisements. this says something about the public more than the person creating the ad.

Light unto the Wealth of Nations

This article I thought contradicted the first two. The way the writer describes how easy it has become and how important it has become to buy Christmas lights and make huge displays shows how design can be a good thing. Yes, there are some houses and some families who go way over the top when it comes to decorating for the holidays. I think hiring someone to put lights up on your house is a bit ridiculous, but this is a different form of design. It is not so much advertising, as it is a tradition, or neighborhood competition. It is fun. It shouldn't be looked upon as a bad thing. This shows how important design really is in our culture.

Salon.com asks "Are you ready for some 'unswooshing'"?

The idea of creating the Blackspot sneaker to teach Nike a lesson, I think it a pretty ridiculous one. For one thing, I definitely do not think it will work. Nike has made a name for itself that I do not think can be so readily crushed. For another thing, I think the idea is kind of hypocritical. The article says that they will sell each pair for about $65. This is not much cheaper than other sneakers out there today, like Nikes. The article quotes Lasn, "One of the many reasons I really love this campaign, is that we are selling a product, not an idea or advocacy." This is completely untrue. They are trying to get air-time and appear on CNN to promote this new shoe. They are not selling this product for no reason. They are selling it to try to create a movement against Nike. They have an even bigger advocacy or idea than Nike does itself. Also, this shoe, is very ugly. It is supposed to be a replicate of the old Converse but the reason people still buy the old Converse shoe is because of the name and reputation it has. People buy that shoe so they can have the retro-style Converse shoe like in the old days. They don't want a shoe like that because of its looks, and they're not going to buy an "old Converse" that isn't Converse. I think these people are attacking their cause in the wrong way.

Girl Power Gone Wrong

This shows a little better, I think, what our assignment is actually supposed to be about, but it will be hard to turn such an ordinary object into a statement. I never really thought about a simple shirt in such a complex way. I guess I never really thought that much about inanimate objects to find such a hidden meaning. This sample paper was interesting, though, and will hopefully help me get an idea of what I will write for my paper.

Car Culture

A Prius-Hummer War Divides Oscarville

It was kind of interesting to see how many celebrities were driving cars like the Prius as opposed to Hummer's or stretch limos. However, the fact that this article mentioned that most of the stars driving these cars were driving loaners due to a campaign for an environmental group. that shows that, most likely, these celebrities wouldn't be driving these cars to the Vanity Fair party normally, and since they didn't own the vehicles, they didn't really care that much about the environmental cause to begin with.

Women Giving the Directions: Now, It's Time for Female Designers

I was unaware that more women were consumers of cars than men. The idea, however, to try to sell pink cars and include little parasols and such with them to make women interested was a pretty stupid idea. It didn't work, but it surprised me to think that the market thought it would. If women are already the top consumers, clearly they are happy buying the cars that sell the most, which probably don't include pink, female cars. In fact, the article says that most women get the final say in what comes into their driveway, so they are not necessarily buying these cars for themselves. They are trying to decide what is best for their family as a whole. This is why the idea of the YCC is just as stupid as pink cars, and yes, sexist. Although it includes some features that would be pretty useful to myself, and other women, I would not buy a car because of those features. Women can handle driving in heels, they don't NEED special features to do this. If they're buying a car for their family, this would not be the one they would choose, and this would limit the market to only women, because no man would buy a car like this.

Car Makers Aim for the 'Love It Or Hate It' Category

I found this article interesting because I am always astounded by the amount of hideous cars I see on the road. I always wonder what possesses people to make, and especially, buy those cars. I think PT Cruisers are so ugly, as wells as the Scion xB shown in the article. The article, though, explained an interesting point. Apparently enough of our society today is focused on standing out, being different, or rebelling from the norm so that polarizing the car-buying population actually works. I guess it makes since, in a weird way.

My Life, My Cadillac Escalade EXT

I was surprised that this girl wanted the EXT. She talks about how all her girlfriends want trucks and how the guys think it's cool. This is definitely not how it is where I come from. None of my girl friends drive trucks or have any interest in doing so. I don't even like the looks of the EXT. I think they're huge and ugly and would definitely not choose this if I got to pick any car I wanted.

Mac vs. PC

I like PCs much better than Macs. I grew up with PCs and am used to and more familiar with their functions and aspects. I have only used a Mac a few times since they became very popular and I had trouble figuring out how to use it because it was so different from my normal PC. Although the Mac has a different look to it that may be more appealing to some people, I prefer the standard functions and appeal that PCs have. I find them much easier to navigate.

Quote

"That that don't kill you only makes you stronger, and the will to succeed will only feed the hunger." -Nelly "N Dey Say"

This song is a remake of an older song, but besides the chorus and tune, most of the song is a lot different. I always liked this song by Nelly because it's not really his typical type of song. It seemed different and the overall song has a good message. It talks about failure and trying to keep going with life. I like this one line because the saying "That which doesn't kill you only makes you stronger," is a very common one which I have always believed in. I do think that the struggles people go through make the person who they are, and although it may bring out the worst in some people, I think if you look deep enough, you will find how, in some way, it did make that person stronger. This version of that saying kind of rhymes and has flow, and I think of this song and this particular line whenever I hear that kind of message.

Intro Paragraph

In “Ducks on a Pond,” by Mark Sibley-Jones, Baxter, the narrator, shows the readers through his own eyes what is occurring and how he feels about each instance in the story. There is some dialogue in this story, but many aspects are captured and analyzed specifically by Baxter, which reveals his emotions and many of his own personal experiences. A particular passage in this story demonstrated this technique especially well. In this passage, Baxter is remembering a time in his past that ended up dictating much of his present life. He exhibits feelings of stubbornness, determination, and blind ambition because of his father’s crushed dreams and because of polio. Baxter tried to become what he always thought his father wanted, and this passage highlights the pain and difficulty he went through to try to achieve this. Through the use of contradiction and the way that Sibley-Jones constructs the sentences and allows the readers to get inside the narrator's head, the underlying theme of sacrificing pride, regret, and blame in order to find forgiveness and happiness is revealed, which is a vital and often overlooked concept of life.

Short Writing Assignment #1

1.) "Ducks on a Pond."
2.) Living with regret and blaming people for what went wrong or different in your life is no way to go about living. One has to let go of the past, forgive, and look forward to new things. Pride is nothing in comparison to living and doing what is right and good.
3.) page 258: the last full paragraph
4.) This paragraph is full of statements reflecting a regretful and blaming tone. "Although polio didn't cripple me, it did its damage" is one of these sentences. There is an implied meaning behind the words in this sentence as well. I think the damage is supposed to portray not only physical damage, but also emotional, mental, and spiritual damage. Also, the way the paragraph begins with the narrator saying, "But I knew better" was an important choice of diction and punctuation. The sentence was brief and very to the point, which showed how strongly the narrator felt and how he absolutely thought that he knew what he was doing.
5.) This passage does not have much rhyme, rhythm, or alliteration. It is a story and not a poem, so it does not really follow a certain flow, but the sentence where it says "his speed, his agility, his athletic grace" does show some repetition that I think was purposeful on the author's part. I think it was to emphasize how the narrator is constantly comparing himself to his father.
6.) These different aspects of the passage, like the diction used, the implied meanings, and the way certain sentences are constructed all relate somehow to the main ideas of the story. They all can be analyzed in a way that brings me back to the themes of pride not being enough, regret, and blame encompassing one's life. Although, this passage actually contradicts those themes in many ways, but I think this paragraph was supposed to do this to show that the narrator has not come to terms with or has not fully accepted the themes of this story; at least not yet.

Thesis:
Through the use of contradiction and the way that Mark Sibley-Jones, in "Ducks on a Pond," constructs the sentences and allows the readers to get inside the narrator's head to discover his own feelings in this passage, the underlying theme encompassing the idea of sacrificing pride, regret, and blame in order to find forgiveness and happiness is revealed, which is a vital and often overlooked concept of life.

"Child" in Sonny's Blues

The words "child" or "kids"are not used as much as the word "boys" in this story. Every time the word "boys" is used, it seems to be describing something cynical. The narrator compared Sonny to the boys in his classes or to boys he saw in the story. Every time he did this, it was like he was realizing that these boys were going through everything that he went through at that age and everything Sonny was going through. The narrator was thinking of Sonny and how he thought "he hadn't ever turned hard or evil or disrespectful, the way kids can go, so quick (17)." Every image of the boys in this story were ones of troubled boys who had no future and were filled with rage. Even when the narrator heard the boys in his school laughing, he heard it as "mocking and insular" laughing, instead of "joyous(18)."
He said that "these boys, now, were living as we'd been living then, they were growing up with a rush and their heads bumped abruptly against the low ceiling of their actual possibilities (18)." This shows what little expectations people have for the kids growing up in Harlem, and how, sadly, they are very true. Sonny's mother said "It ain't only the the bad ones, nor yet the dumb ones that gets sucked under (24)." The kids at the playground were "most popular with the children who don't play jacks, or skip rope, or roller skate, or swing, and they can be found in it after dark (22)."
This image of children in this story says a lot about the setting, which is Harlem, where these kids do not know a good life, and do not have much of a chance for a good future. It defines the mood- very dark and sad and cynical. As for plot, these kids are a reflection of what Sonny became, so it has a lot to do with the plot and how common Sonny's character is in this kind of life.

Close Reading Handout 3 Exercise

1.)
Character
by Taslima Nasrim

You're a girl
and you'd better not forget
that when you step over the threshold of your house
men will look askance at you.
When you keep walking down the lane
men will follow you and whistle.
When you cross the lane and step onto the main road
men will revile you and call you a loose woman.

If you've got no character
you'll turn back,
and if not
you'll keep going
as you're going now.

2.) I think this poem sends a strong message to women. It is warning women of the hardships and struggles they will encounter when they try to make it on their own. It is telling women that people- men- will not immediately, or ever, respect them, especially if women flaunt their confidence or act independently. However, instead of just warning women of the whistles and disrespect that they will most likely come across, it is encouraging women to keep going. It strikes a nerve when the poem reads, "If you've got no character, you'll turn back." This is really trying to get women to see that they have got to stick it out. They want character and in order to have it, they must prevail and disregard what others might think of them. If they have character, they will keep plugging along, trying to make a difference, just like they started to and just like they are doing now. It is a message telling women not to give up. They have made a difference by trying to become more than expected, but they have to keep going.

3.) Girls who try to pave their own path and act independently will get sideways glances, whistles, and snide comments thrown their way. This will happen every step of the way and every time a woman acts strong and differently from what men expect of women. However, these girls must not let this stop them from attacking their dreams and making history; they have to keep on going without taking any mind of what men think of them while they are doing it.

4.) The narrator is a woman, probably an elderly woman who made some kind of difference in the world for women. I think this poem was maybe written a long time ago, when women didn't have many rights. She is probably someone who has been through a lot to make a name for herself and for all women. She is talking to any young girls, maybe in their twenties, whether she knows them personally or not. It could be directly spoken to her granddaughter or a daughter, but the message is for all young women.

5.) I think the poem means that women, no matter how they are looked at by men, should not take any of their opinions into account. Women should be able to be independent and live freely just like men, but in order for this to happen, they have to keep going without hesitating. they have to show that they have no fear, and eventually people, even men, will respect them for it.

Lost in the Funhouse

I did not like this story, nor did I understand it. I think it was supposed to be about a boy who was dealing with normal adolescent problems and how he reacted to these issues. It revealed his many insecurities and confused emotions. The funhouse, I think, was supposed to be the part in his childhood when he really saw himself for who he was. He saw Magda having fun with his little brother, and saw them not missing him when he was gone. He saw himself in all the mirrors and was afraid of what he was and what he would become.
I really didn't like how the author made of mockery of most writing techniques. Although it is very true that many writers use italics only in certain, defined situations, and similes and imagery only in particular circumstances to provide a certain reaction for readers, but the way this author kept interrupting the text with what seemed like sarcastic, mocking comments was very distracting. I found myself very confused by the story, as if I was missing what was really trying to be said and it was because it jumped around so much and was constantly interrupted by the author's little comments.

Videotape

This story really made me think. I find it so strange how things can happen so coincidentally. This little girl, just playing, exploring, innocently learning, with a camera taping a complete stranger, who appears to be nice and innocent, just happens to end up videotaping a drive-by murder. Just thinking about that seems to hard to believe. It shows how much violence is really out in the world. What were the chances, that this little girl would end up videotaping some crazy killer's act of murder? The scary thing is... it happened, so the odds must be greater than I would have thought.
This story also revealed how much people swarm to tragedy. I have seen this many times before. Thousands of kids going to a funeral for a boy they probably never even saw once in their life, but because he went to their school they feel that they are a part of his death somehow. Or, kids acting like they are best friends with a girl who becomes diagnosed with cancer who never even spoke to her or did not care for her before this traumatic event occurred. People love tragedy. They are innately drawn to it. And this is sad. Think of how traffic gets backed up on a highway when there is an accident, not because the wrecked car is in the way, but because everyone driving by has to slow down and look to see what happened and how bad it was. This is, unfortunately, human nature. We all have this curiosity that only seems to be quenched when we are viewing someone else's torture, death, or misfortune. It is sad, but true, and this story and the way the narrator explains his feelings while seeing this video over and over and over again exemplify this truth.

Sonny's Blues

I really liked this story. I thought that it held many different messages and different aspects of life. It told the story of two men, related, but who knew virtually nothing about each other. Two men who met each other truly, for the first time, years after they had known one another. They met each other through music. A music that meant so much more than the tune that it played. It meant life- Sonny's life- and finally allowed his brother to see him and see his struggles. I thought it was interesting how the narrator did not understand Sonny's dream to play music and how he felt that it was below Sonny, when in the end, Sonny's music is what made everything clear to him.
Another part of this story I liked was the fact that the two brothers were separated so far by age. My brother is seven years older than me, which helped me relate to certain points of the story, like how Sonny tried so hard to get him to understand that he had grown up. When Sonny said, "I just wanted to see if I'd have the courage to smoke in front of you," it reminded me of how awkward it is when my brother realizes that I have gone through everything he went through as a kid too. The older brother seems so scared and taken aback by all of Sonny's actions. He says things like "I had never really noticed before" when he finally really sees his younger brother's face and realizes that there is age there, and struggle, and experience. My brother often says to me how weird it is to him that I am in college and that I will be starting my own career and will not always be home like I was when we were kids. I can see the same realization in Sonny's brother when Sonny talks about his dreams and plans for the future.
The part about Sonny and his drug addiction was especially illuminating. He really tried to explain to his brother the reason he did it and how it made him feel. Reading someone's explanation for something like that is very interesting, because it shows how hard it is for people to stop once they become addicted, and how lost people must have felt in order to start a habit like heroin.
The man at the beginning of the story, who came to tell Sonny's brother the news of Sonny, was an important part, despite his small role in the rest of the story. He was showing Sonny's brother that he felt guilt for what happened. He showed Sonny's brother that Sonny was not a bad kid, he was just lost and needed someone to help him. It revealed another person who was just trying to escape. "It might be said, perhaps, that I had escaped, after all, I was a school teacher; or that Sonny had, he hasn't lived in Harlem for years," was a real strong point. It was interesting that the brother considered Sonny's addiction and the fact that he had to be taken away for a while an escape. After all, that was all Sonny was trying to accomplish. He was just trying to escape. But leaving Harlem to get rid of an addiction he would have to fight with for the rest of his life was not really an escape at all. Like the narrator said, "those who got out, always left something of themselves behind." For Sonny, maybe it would be his music and the impression he made on those people who listened to him and treated him like "royal blood."