Advertisements R Us by Melissa Rubin

1.  Rubin describes the ad as appealing to some stereo typical values of the 1950's. She explained that the ad depicts certain social groups as a desirable part of a society, for example there are many working blue and white collar workers as well as military servicemen to suggest that the perfect society is hardworking and worth defending. There are a few women and no people of color, suggesting that the Coca-Cola company did not see either of those groups as being part of a perfect society. I agree with how she describes the company's tactics, but I don't necessarily I think such tactics would be effective, especially in today's society

2. Rubin talks about how the characters dress, as well as the racial and sexist inequality within the group of people depicted. She also mentioned how the ad may itself have been outdated when it was produced because it played on war time qualities but were coming to close. I think this historical evidence strongly supports her essay and makes it more believable.

3. A question that I would have would be how would this ad positively or negatively effect a younger population who is not yet fully entered into this "perfect society". Also, is this a depiction of what society considers perfect, or what it should consider to be right according to the company?

4. This Audi Q7 ad plays on the generalization that people today have a very adventurous spirit as well as the entitled feeling of freedom. This ad is much more focused on the singular person whereas the Coca-Cola ad focused on a society. This ad applies to the more basic, animistic natures of humans but at the same time is not specific to any racial or sexual group, it encompasses all people.

5. This ad focuses on today's social need for simplicity. People today always feel like their lives are over complicated in that they have no time for themselves. Again like the last ad, it is very self oriented and has no specific group of people targeted. It displays how today's society has become very cut off from one from one another. It also gives people a sense of importance, showing that their lives are so full of things that only they can accomplish. 

Pages 138 and 141

138.

Decision	Choosing not to apply to a four year college	Going through acupuncture treatment	Eating on the Paleo diet	Picking a community college to attend
Factors	Not knowing what I wanted to study made choosing between options very hard.   I wasn't sure that I felt comfortable leaving home after high school	It would help with my injury recovery, as well as my asthma and anxiety.   The reasons for not doing it would be there was a possibility it wouldn’t work, and though not nearly as important, I really hate needles.	There was a diet that went along with my acupuncture treatment that we never followed, the paleo diet seemed like a good compromise.	I live on Bainbridge Island, so any school would be a commute, but as much as I didn’t want to drive, I wanted to take the ferry even less.   I liked the range of classes I could get through Olympic, and that I was able to start off in Poulsbo.
How it affected my personal life	My mom convinced me other ideas were alright too, and we wound up going to France for two months instead of me starting at a university.	I am much more comfortable in my own skin and far less anxious about situations out of my control.	Planning out meals and snacks for a day. Now everything I time I think about food, it’s not just about if I'm hungry, but about whether I'm allowed to eat the snack in question.	I spend more time doing homework and I’ve met some interesting people.
How it affected my professional live	I had to take two months off work, not that I’m complaining.	I still have knee pain, but it no longer keeps me from being able to be on my feet all day at work	I am a food server at an event center where they make amazing food and the employees get to eat left overs, but most of the food they make is not on the diet.	I’m not available to work so many days out of the week.
How it affected my school life	I was taking classes at a language school. There was no credit involved for college, and it meant I had to start the year a quarter late. Again, not complaining.	Without suffering from anxiety or knee/neck/back pain, I can focus on just doing my best with my work and not so much about keeping a grade or missing a class.	You never know how much you just want to buy a snack out of the vending machine until you can’t.	I started gaining credit for college.

I guess this chart says that I want to stay on top of things, but not if that will interfere with my health or major life experiences.


141. Costco.com, looking through their furniture department, the website provides some specifications and details about the product and a visual representation. There is also a place for buyers to add their reviews of the product which is very useful for prospective buyers that seems generally unused. I would probably add reviews of other companies or similar products to provide a comparison for the buyer and more specific construction details.
Eddie Bauer's website seemed slightly more user friendly. They provide detailed information about the product with multiple visuals. They also have a place for buyers to post reviews, but they also have a chat option to talk with a "product specialist".

Narrative vs. Position Paper

I definitely had a harder time writing the position paper over the narrative. There was a lot more organization involved with writing the second paper than there was with the narrative. In writing the narrative, I was able to start with descriptions of events and fill in spaces with analysis. I had a natural framework of description to use. With the position paper it was more difficult to organize how everything fit together. I had to spend more time on transitioning from one idea to another because there wasn't a natural flow to the writing like there was with the first paper.

The process itself was also different because of the intended audience. The narrative was easier to write because it was about something real, a series of events that no one could dispute. But the position paper was different. I had no intended target audience in mind, but I also knew that there might be people who read it who already have opposing views, and I was trying very hard not to have the language sound condescending or contradictory. 

Another obvious difference was in my support. I didn't need to go looking for factual evidence to support my narrative because it all came from my life and my memory. My position paper, on the other hand, required that I go looking for other facts to support my opinion. I think the same can be said for addressing opposing arguments. I had a general idea about what other people would say on the topic of my position paper, but it was another case of needing specifics that I had to go looking for. Not necessarily for the argument, but I needed the evidence to back up my reasoning over theirs.

The Narrative seemed much easier to write because it was like telling and analyzing a story. I felt like writing the position paper was more of a battle, not that it was hard, but that there were more hoops to jump through and possibly more toes to step on.

One other big difference I found that was a little difficult to work around was the formality. Almost every paper I have had to turn in, with the exception of my narratives in this class and in others, have been written in a formal style. Trying to argue a position and be convincing about my argument while also attempting not to sound superior is much easier for me to do when there is less of a personal attachment. Writing a formal paper allows for a more unbiased feel, more like you are writing with a neutral voice, not your own. When writing my position paper, there were several moments when I felt either I was being too formal by force of habit, or I was getting too involved. Since I really didn't want the paper to sound like I was shouting at the reader, I was constantly trying to find the balance.

The combination of all these things made the writing process feel like more of a struggle in comparison with my narrative. That being said, it was a very nice change to feel comfortable arguing about something I care about without the fear of being shouted down. I really enjoyed writing my narrative, but I also get very tired of being so purely descriptive, since I do that a lot. The position paper was a nice change. 

Position Paper

Margaret MacKay

2/24/15

Disney's Big Switch 

Are Disney’s animated films really kid movies or family films, and is it childish to enjoy them as an adult? As an adult fan of Disney’s works, this is a question I am quite familiar with. Simply put, the answer is that the company’s animated movie franchise began as family entertainment, but throughout the decades, it has been slowly gearing more towards younger audiences. Since the change in animation styles, there has been a lowering in the depth of Disney’s animated films.

Though it has been a gradual change leading up through the nineties, for all intents and purposes, we are going to say the shift came in 2010 when the Disney Company all but abandoned 2D and hand drawn animation, leaving it solely for sequels and spin-offs such as Winnie the Pooh, and began their reign of 3D movies. This change followed the massive box office let down by The Princess and the Frog in 2009, and lead up to the company laying off nine of their animators (Amidi).The following year saw not only a change in animation style to 3D, but also a redesign of the character franchises.

Disney princesses have never really portrayed realistic female features, but I don’t see how having them turned into Barbie wannabes helped the cause.

Disney films have always been geared toward the modern audience of the time, but in more recent years they have been focusing more and more on a younger audience, children. I am not saying the new movies aren’t fun for adults, they most definitely are, however the fun feel of the movies play more on the nostalgic heart strings instead of an adult’s intelligence. Re-watching your favorite movies as an adult, you tend to notice a higher appreciation for the underlying humor, many characters make references to topics no child would understand. Point in case: The movie Hercules contain many examples of the characters displaying more adult intelligence. Perhaps most memorably when the demi-god compares his problems to Oedipus the King, hopefully not a context a child would understand. Today’s characters have been visibly dumbed-down. Yes this means your six year old will understand absolutely everything, but it also makes the character less interesting for you. It is clear to see that Anna from Frozen is a modern, rebellious woman, but we don't actually know what she does with her time, does she study or cook, or learn languages, or fish, what does she do besides be a princess and sing to ducklings? It’s cute and all, but for an adult, this could be kind of boring.

I know many people would argue that Disney movies have always been intended for kids, after all they have changed some of the most gruesome fairy tale tragedies to give them happy endings. This is true but I would say that this argument suggests there is no cross over between children’s and adult’s stories. Disney movies have a tendency to have a cheerful finish, however they also manage to keep the balance between what captures a child’s intrigue and an adult’s. It is also true that older Disney films have a G rating, the first to receive a PG rating was Black Cauldron in 1985(“Trivia”), and for good reason. I would challenge people to think of what other reasons there might be for this particular fact to be true. One may be that all animated movies were rate G simply because they were just that, animated. Another may be that it was harder to score a PG rating in former years than it is today. As Forbes contributor Scott Mendelson puts it, “we’ve gone from animated and/or family films being rated PG for having kid-sized heroes killing henchmen in battle (The Incredibles) to animated films getting PG ratings for the equivalent of a fart joke and a few near-miss escapes.”(Mendelson)

In the past, Disney has always tried to make the leading characters more relatable to current viewers. True Cinderella may seem somewhat helpless and not too intelligent to the women of today, but in the fifties being able to attend to so many things such as cleaning and cooking were highly valuable skills that require brains. And, when comparing Cinderella vs. Snow White, You can see that though they demonstrate a similar skill set, the Cinderella of 1950 is far more ambitious with her goals and more intellectual with her attitude than Snow White, whose movie was made thirteen years before.

If we turn the tables and put Cinderella on the other end, we would expect to see much the same results, and if you compare her to heroines such as Meg from Hercules, Jane from Tarzan, or even Belle from Beauty and the Beast, you can see the change in focus as the audience changes, but in a side by side with Tangled, it is easy to see a certain shadowing that practically screams nostalgia. Both involve evil step mothers, however Lady Tremaine is arguably more villainous since Mother Gothel’s over the top flamboyance makes her feel less like a serious threat and more like comic relief. Also, songs such as “When Will My Life Begin” and “I See the Light” though inspirational, echo the tunes like “A Dream Is a Wish” and “So This Is Love.” So even with Rapunzel and Flynn Rider’s very modern attitudes, many of the ideals seemed pulled directly from previous decades, out dating the heart of the movie for its older audience who grew out of such ideals when they were ten.

So far, when referring to “older movies” I tend mostly to name movies from the last thirty years. This is, of course, because younger generations weren’t around when these movies were new. As a result, the eighties and nineties is now becoming known as the years of Disney’s “classics.” I explain this distinction now because I am going to talk about music, this is the time most people associate with Disney Musicals. During this era, the company was notorious for creating music tracks that were comprised of great songs, each of which could hold its own against the other. Today movies are advertised with a hit song, go see Frozen featuring hit song “Let It Go”! Compared to Aladdin which not only had three hit songs, but also won both at the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards for best original score, as well as being nominated for best comedy/musical (“Awards”).

Sticking with the Frozen theme, it would be good to notice that aside from the inspirational award winner “Let It Go”, the other songs tend to be lacking in the wit department, “Fixer Upper” and “For the First Time In Forever” are most definitely charming and great fun to listen to, but the obvious meaning behind the lyrics leads anyone over the age of eight to wonder if it would have been possible to make the plot any more obvious. Of course this is not to say that all the songs in the older movies were chock-full of meaning, some of them were definitely just added for the fun factor, but that also does not mean that they fall so flat on the quality meter.

I think we can agree that characters such as Baymax from Big Hero 6 and Pascal from Tangled are meant to give the movies a more comfortable feel, mission accomplished. But there was a time when Disney was not afraid to make even the protagonists less perfect. Older animation was also accompanied by the embrace or scarier content, or at least darker ideas that would not be understood by children. Take Peter Pan for example, Peter himself is rather arrogant and narcissistic, not to mention a play boy. If that weren’t bad enough, Tinker Bell fully intended to have Wendy killed by the lost boys. Alice in Wonderland‘s colorful characters displayed suggestive signs of drug usage. And let us not forget that the biggest musical number in Dumbo, “Pink Elephants on Parade,” was brought about by drunken hallucinations.  All these things would not be apparent to a child.

Here again we see that The Princess and the Frog was a last revival attempt as it contained more of the darker content that has been lacking recently. The art style and depth of villainy gave the whole movie a much scarier, creepier feel, much like the Black Cauldron, that could arguably be unsuitable for kids.  The newer animation villains, though they maybe destructive, tend to be far less frightening. As mentioned before, Mother Gothel’s performance as bad guy gets drowned out by her ridiculous behavior much like the flamboyance demonstrated by King Candy in Wreck it Ralph, not exactly striking fear in the hearts of the viewer.  Big Hero 6 and Frozen share a similar predicament in that the audience spends most of the time pretending they don’t know who the real villain is(even though it is pretty obvious), instead of feeling any amount of anxiety over the evil deeds being committed.

 

 

A comparison: The Black Cauldron’s Horned King and Prince Hans from Frozen

 

I know the newer bad guys are designed not to be too terrifying so as not to frighten the youngsters in the audience, but that change seems to be accompanied by a lack of the character’s intellect. You may find that as an adult, villains such as Scar or Ursula become more hilarious and intriguing than their good-guy counterparts. This isn’t because they become more silly or flamboyant, but because your ability to appreciate their dry humor and depth of plotting has grown since your childhood.  

But what about the goofy bad guys in older movies? Yes, Captain Hook and Prince John may not have been the most fear-inspiring evil masterminds, but their short comings in the villain department are somewhat forgivable since the protagonists of Peter Pan were hardly perfect and Robin Hood has characters like the Sheriff of Nottingham to supply an extra source of evil-doing.

Before all is said and done, I want to make it clear that I thoroughly enjoy the newer movies, as well as the 3D animation. They maintain a fun spirit that is a credit to the Disney Company. I just find it is disappointing that the transition of animation styles has led to stories being told with less depth than their predecessors.

 

Sources

Amidi, Amid. "BREAKING: Disney Just Gutted Their Hand-Drawn Animation Division [UPDATED]."

Cartoon Brew. N.p., 11 Apr. 2013. Web.

Website

 

"Awards." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web.

Website

 

Brejan. "Black Cauldron- The Horned King Monologue." YouTube. YouTube, 7 Sept. 2011. Web.

Website

 

Disney Movies. "(FROZEN) - Hans Betrayal to Anna." YouTube. YouTube, 30 Jan. 2014. Web.

Website

 

Mendelson, Scott. "Disney's 'Frozen' Proves Failure Of PG Rating." Forbes. N.p., 26 Nov. 2013. Web.

Website

 

 

Heather Havrilesky on Mad Men

1. Havrilesky's main insight about the show Mad Men is that it represents people's desire to achieve the imperfect "American dream" and the harsh realities that people will have to face to reach that goal. She describes many of the characters who have had to suppress or sacrifice parts of their lives to attain whatever their version of perfect is. Once the characters get there, they may find their perfect dream to be lacking in some way.
2. Havrilesky is a television critic for Salon, and she uses specific details as well as generalizations about the show that suggest she has followed it closely enough to have an understanding of each character.  
3. The first two paragraphs play heavily on ideals that most people grow up with, "we should be paid handsomely for our creative talents..." Also later in the essay, she uses specific examples from the character's lives to make it relatable to the reader, describing social pressures of marriage, romantic relationships, relationships within a family, and work.
4. I had seen the first episode of the show when it first came out, and didn't continue to watch because it didn't really interest me. Havrilesky doesn't really describe the premise of the show, so I don't really know any more about it than I did before. It does seem like she wrote her arguments for people who have watched the show and can put her examples into context. In that way she has made me want to go back and give the show another shot just so I know what she is talking about. On the other hand, her arguments are rather disheartening and I don't think this essay advertises why the show would be good to watch, so I remain mostly disinterested.

Analyzing "On Buying Local" by Katherine Spriggs

• Spriggs' main point is that buying locally is better for the environment.
• Her thesis is clearly stated at the end of the first paragraph, "we should give up a little bit of convenience in favor of buying local."
• Some of the reasons she gives are: 
• The US is a major contributor of green houses gas emissions as well as a guzzler of world oil supplies, to transport food goods across country.
• Local farmers would not have to compete against large farms as much to survive.
• Large farms use monoculture techniques that deplete earth of nutrients.
• Small farms are more sustainable, using local and natural resources.
• Buying locally can reduce fuel costs.
• She uses quotes and statistics from a wide variety of sources.
• Yes, her reasons are plausible and sufficient.
• She does mention counter arguments, and uses facts to prove how they are flawed.
• She acknowledges them but holds to her argument.
• she presents the counter arguments respectfully
• avoids sweeping generalizations.
• She uses quotes from experts like the director of research and education at the Center for Global Food Issues, and uses statistics from not only credible, but varied sources.
• Her sources are credible and unbiased.
• Her essay was published in 2010 and all the sources are from 2006 or later, so they are current within the last ten years.
• She does not assume that the reader knows a great deal about the topic and provide appropriate detail and background to make it accessible.
• The language is fairly informal and generally inclusive.
• This is a topic is one that I have studied fairly recently, and I have found that I do agree with all the point Spriggs has made.

Response to Bob Herbert

Herbert is pretty clear about his position right from the beginning of the essay. He uses the example of the high school kid if he knew who the vice president as a lead in to say that the U.S. is holding on to an outdated educational system that does not fit the demands of society today. He goes on to explain that there is a need to re-examine the way the school system is structured. His focus is on two areas: teacher quality, instead of just counting on their paper credentials, there needs to be a higher regard for the teacher’s effectiveness, their social ability to connect with the students; and openness to alternative school models, for instance adopting a longer school day.

 

Herbert’s tone is somewhat demanding, but not in such a forceful way that makes thee reader feel threatened. And he isn’t asking for people to follow his lead, his demands are more along the lines that people need to open their eyes to the current situation and come up with ways to fix this situation. For me, this stood out most on the last sentence of page 89, “The U.S. has not yet faced the fact that it needs a school system capable of fulfilling the educational needs of the children growing up in an era that will be at least as different from the 20^th century as the 20^th was from the 19^th.”

I think he establishes the importance by not just throwing facts and statistics into his writing, but by using the knowledge and opinions of real people, like the high school kid and Professor Kane.

Herbert appeals to values near the beginning when he states that “Over the next 20 or 30 years, when today’s children are raising children of their own in an even more technologically advanced and globalized society, the educational requirements will only grow more rigorous and unforgiving.” And with the very last paragraph, “If American kids – all American kids…” Both of these passages weigh heavily on the reader’s value for a better future for generations to come, and the last paragraph appeals to the value of equality, that every kid in any situation has the right to learn.

I agree with Herbert that there needs to be a change in American education, I just don’t know what that change would be. From my own experiences compared to those of my parents, I think that education has become hyper-focused on certain things, and somewhat neglectful of others. I also think that there needs to be more variety of options for people who learn differently, not necessarily different schools, but more qualified personnel within schools to help and teach those students. I agree that the success of a teacher will be measured by their ability to connect with the students, and though I don’t like it, I agree that new systems with longer days or school years should be considered, as well as number of classes given in a year. One major issue I have had with the education I have received (though it has been very good) is with testing. I thinking testing for placement can be very useful, but within the classroom, tests administered either by the state or by the school sometimes seemed to hinder the learning process. The lessons seemed to be geared more towards preparing for the next test rather than towards gaining knowledge about the given subject.

Possible position paper topics

Things I feel strongly about:

• Society's dependency on technology.
• High costs preventing proper medical care.
• Lack of general knowledge about medical care.  
• Pressure on youth to attend 4 year universities.
• Wages for entertainers vs. service workers.
• General fascination with private lives of public figures.
• William Shakespeare's true identity. 

Response to Tim Wise

Time Wise starts out by clearly stating his position that the term in question is not one that should be used by white people to describe black people. He supports this by explaining that historically the terms has had been used in a negative way, as a form of insult. Wise provides the analogy of the term “red-neck” being somewhat offensive and only appropriate coming from certain people who are involved in that society to make the situation more relatable. He goes on to say that if the specific term is to be reclaimed, it his place, or right, as a white man to take part in the reclaiming.

What struck me most about his lecture was the way he was at ease with the idea that you can recognize racial differences, see that even in the nation as a whole, we are divided by cultures, colors, and attitudes, BUT that does not have to been seen as a bad thing. It is important to realize that you are not racist simply for recognizing differences, you are racist when you use those differences to deem another person beneath you. This is a difference that I think many people have forgotten.

P. 70, Thinking about my writing

The only things I've written recently were either the blogs for this class, my literacy narrative, and fictional stories. Of those options, the only one that really has a specific "issue" that holds any great importance for me would be the narrative. I think the intention for writing the narrative was pretty clear, it was just meant to be informative about a situation most people don’t experience growing up. I suppose my position was a little less clear, but the narrative wasn’t really about something I had a strong opinion about, it was just a description of a series of events, and I find it unlikely that people would disagree with my narrative as it was just a recollection of my experiences. 

"Yes, We Can" Response

The message of the speech is very powerful all on its own. There is a sense of strength behind the words that is expressed in a way that doesn’t make the reader/listener feel weak or overrun, but included and empowered. I a way hope is the most fitting definition of this speech because it gives off the feeling that we are the masters of our own lives and don’t have to be over powered by the social conditions of the world.

I think music can make anything more powerful. So often, I feel that a melody can express raw emotion so much better than words can. That can be useful in trying to make a situation relatable, the audience might not understand the event being described in words, but chances are the will recognize and connect with the emotions floating on a wave of music.

This video gave me chills. The combination of the beautiful harmonies compelling text felt so raw, so real, and so personal, it struck right to the core. Usually it seems that things with such power make the viewer’s feel small and insignificant, but this worked to lift everyone up and give them strength to keep working at change.

HOWEVER, as great as the combination is, there is a drawback. So many voices talking/singing at different times and paces was rather confusing and difficult to follow. The video really depended on the audience already knowing what was being said, which is not a bad thing, but it does make it hard for expanding the following.