Yellow Wallpaper

As I began reading the “Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman it took me a moment to realize it was a compilation of journal entries. I followed along for the most part, a few questions here and there but for them most part understood it was a woman who had a bit of an illness and basically had nothing else to do but write. Her living arrangements were a bit odd, and I still do not exactly get what the deal was with that, and by the end of her journal entries it left me a bit confused as to what exactly happened, and what the entire story was really about. It was a bit confusing, the wallpaper and different things she mentioned. I could not quite understand if she was locked up some sort of way or it was just a metaphor because she was so confined to her barred up house. Her husband, who is a physician, was another little mystery that her journal entries brought up. At first she portrayed him as a some what harsh man who made her stay locked up in some horrible place. But then she would say how sweet he was, and he spoke to her so nicely. I did however wonder if she was trying to say her husband was cheating on her when she was talking about walking in unexpectedly and John and the lady were “reading the paper” or something. The story as a whole brought many questions that I am not really sure if I ever found the meaning to them. I think the message the woman is trying to convey is for other people that share her same nervousness disease. She mentions many times how it is not helping her to be confined to her house with absolutely nothing to do. She is always asking her husband if they can leave, and seems quite bored with her situation. I think this message could possibly try and show other people suffering that there are other ways to cope with the illness. It is so boring to be confined inside with nothing to do but write in a journal. Well it might work for some people but not me! I am trying to look for symbolism in this story and while I am sure there is plenty I am having a bit of trouble trying to figure something out. I want to say that her house is a symbol for possibly her past and how her illness confines her to something she does not want to face. She describes the house as something she does not exactly enjoy, how the wallpaper is all messed up or the bars are so tight on the window. I think overall this story was something that had to do with this woman’s feelings and how her only way to express herself was through her writing.

Movie Article

After reading the article “How and What a Movie Communicates” about making movies compared to television and what a movie communicates, it has helped me to understand more about the business of making movies. The article points out the uniqueness of television based on its simultaneity which is not possible with movies. The article also discusses the art of movie making versus the business of selling a creative work of art. Often these two parties have differences which result in either a packed house at the movies or a total bomb which loses money at the box office.

The director, writer, and actors of a film all have to come together into a unified artful whole. The director is ultimately responsible for a film; the actor must immerse himself into the character he or she is playing. If the actor is particularly charismatic the film will have the signature of that actor. Producers of movies usually perform executive duties. Eighty percent of the movies produced are based on books. Many movies are left unwatched because they have not been marketed. By and large the content of movies reflects the American Dream.

Schindlers List, my movie for my paper was produced in 1993 by Steven Spielberg. The movie won seven Oscars and is considered Spielberg’s greatest accomplishment. This movie is based on a very tragic true event that happened during World War II. The protagonist, Oskar Schindler builds a factory in Poland and hires Jews to work for him. He witnesses the horrific events against the Jews and endeavors to save as many of them as he can. The film is in black and white and this communicates a somber tone to the viewer of the film. The musical score also makes the viewer feel sad which also sets the tone as the dramatic events unfold.

This article was informative but it does not really affect the way I view films. Yeah maybe it added some background information, but when I go to the movies I go to be entertained, sometimes to be educated, but I don’t really look at the movie in terms of how the film was put together by the director, writers, or actors.

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I absolutely love the first video about the Dove self esteem challenge. First of all it is completely accurate how advertising can be totally untrue. I was completely shocked and honestly did not know that much photo shop was used to make these people look what is supposed to be “good”. I think dove is doing a good think with their natural beauty campaign because nothing you see on a magazine cover or in the movies is natural beauty; it’s all fake. The argument in this video that Dove is trying make is that what you think is real beauty is all fake and that only one’s natural beauty is the only thing that is real. This seems to be a very honest video because it is showing reality and how out of wack the mindset of the people who think it is natural beauty.
Wow, the playstation versus wii commercial was quite interesting. Obviously the more attractive and well slutty girl is trying to sell the wii with her ways of thinking that apparently are supposed to get people to want and buy the wii. Well yeah probably if you’re a guy. But anyways this commercial was very interesting because the lady representing the playstation made good points that the wii girl didn’t really argue back, more just make stupid little comments that made a little bit of sense. I guess in this commercial it was more about what the player wants out of the game system to make a decision. This ad for sure makes value judgments that do not apply just to the product. The girl is dancing around half naked slapping her butt saying things like she’s “fun, easy and cheap”. Well this sure sends several messages other than about the wii. Obviously we all know what they are, but I think this article is not in the best taste, and it makes fun of the other girl because she’s more conservative.
The cinnamon toast crunch commercial is obviously a commercial trying to promote cereal. They use techniques to try and make the cereal look appetizing in order for people to think “oh that looks good I want to go and buy that so I can have it for breakfast”. I think this commercial leaves out important things but things that commercials obviously are not going to put because that would make negative advertising on their product. But things like the sugar, it has a high amount of sugar which is not the healthiest thing, and they also say it is homemade. Well we all know that it is produced in factories and there are tons of machines and workers that help to produce the cereal.
Well the Calvin Klein commercial was just about like any other cologne/perfume commercial you see with two people who are all passionate for each other, some dramatic music, and some sort of physical action. I think these commercials are so stupid because they try and make it look like if you wear this certain perfume you’re going to get laid. Well we all know that’s not the case. Yes it might smell good, and help attract woman to you, but okay lets be realistic woman don’t just go up to guys and say oh man you smell nice, okay lets get together. Well at least I don’t think so! (I sure don’t!) This is in a sense false advertising because first of all you don’t even know what the scent smells like, and your life is not going to magically turn into the guy on the screen.
I have to say I really like what we had to do this week for the blogs. It is by far the most interesting and fun!

Week 3

After reading the three articles I have to say the one I am most familiar with is the Gettysburg Address. Abraham Lincoln gave this speech with the intent to start something new. In his attempt he starts off by using facts, facts about the civil war and men who died for the country. This is the start of his argumentative speech and what our English book calls factual arguments. Like the book says, “factual arguments tend to be driven by perceptions and evidence” and that is exactly true in the Gettysburg Address. Lincoln’s statement, “our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation: conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal”. Well yes that is what most people would like to think, but did these facts hold true through out the rest of history? I don’t think so! Even though Abraham Lincoln tried to stop things like slavery, there was still prejudice all over against black people. It was something the people had an extremely hard time accepting after they had been using slaves for all these years past.
The other article by Booker T. Washington uses a few devices to try and capture the reader’s sympathy while also using persuasive devices to try and influence the people around him. One of Washington’s big ways he presents his idea is through a metaphor and a quote about a ship lost at sea that finally spots a friendly vessel. Washington uses this to try and help the reader understand in a more dubbed down version why racism basically needs to end and why the blacks and whites need to be able to be friendly with one another. He also uses a certain quote through out his speech, “cast down your bucket where you are” which is also the title of the speech. This is one of Washington’s ways to tell the people to stop and be who you really are, and help to make a change in society.
The article about woman’s rights was an article that presented its evidence very well. It gave reasons for why woman are important in society and what they do that makes a change. This article is also organized very well into the different sections and topics that dealt with woman’s rights and why the woman should be given them.
All three of these articles deal with equality and facts that are used to prove the arguments in a persuasive manner.

Week 2

After reading the first article, “Faith, Freedom and Bling in the Middle East” is it made somewhat apparent that the author of the article is not so in favor of what President Bush does. It is not necessarily an article against Bush but the author does throw in comments to show small amounts of opinion about the President. This sentence seemed to have a somewhat sarcastic undertone, “Blessed is the peacemaker who comes bearing a $30 billion package of military aid for Israel and a $20 billion package of Humvees and guided bombs for the Arabs”; however I do not know if it was exactly meant in a somewhat negative way. The main part of the articles point was about President Bush’s visit overseas and the treatment he was given while he was there. One of the possible arguments that the author is trying to reinforce is the statement about how “Less than a week after the president arrived in the Middle East, three violent eruptions — an Israeli raid killing at least 18 Palestinians, 13 of whom were militants; an American Embassy car bombing in Beirut; and a luxury hotel suicide-bombing in Kabul — underscored how Sisyphean a task he has set for himself”. Dows reinforces this account with Zahar’s statement of how it is the reason for Bush’s visit, just another way to possibly show how the President is not exactly “great”.

The second article “America’s Not Ready to Talk about a Black President” seemed to be interesting while extremely confusing at the same time. I did not seem to get much from this article, except for the fact of racism and how people seem to be so racist for not too many reasons. According to this article America might be ready for a black president but not ready to talk about one. Honestly to me, that does not make much sense. Unless the author is trying to say, we are ready to consider the notion to make it look like were not racists, but when it comes down to the actuality of it, we don’t want it. This article seems to be written from the perspective of someone who does not like Obama because of sentences like, “So rather than saying "Rock of Love" has more substance than Obama, reporters just smile.” However, the author wants to make you think that his opinion is the right opinion, especially by his somewhat threatening last sentence of “And if you disagree with me, then you're a probably a racist and worse than Hitler.” Now that’s a bit intense, but everyone has their own opinion, and you don’t have to be racist to disagree with the things he is saying.

After reading the article, "Adventures in Cheating" by Seth Stevenson, my knowledge for plagiarism has increased. I did not realize how easy it was to have a paper created to the exact subject matter. The article also made it seem so easy to go through college with out ever having to write anything. Even though it is not smart and you are not learning anything, it's an easy way out if you don't get caught. The article is very informative if your a college student looking for advice on which site to try and get a paper from. It seems to have a wide range to choose from with decent advice. However, what is the point of trying to get an education if your not actually doing the work. Your basically living a huge lie, telling yourself you finished college with decent grades and a diploma and never did any of the work. Plagiarism can be a serious problem, almost like an addiction if someone thinks they can get away with never having to do anything. Yeah papers can be a pain to do, but its only for the better in the long run. It gives you so much more knowledge when you have to research and then apply the material into your own creation. You never know what you might have to do later on in life, you might somehow stumble across a subject that you wrote a research paper on. Well if you actually wrote the paper then you would be in good shape, and remember things but if you never put any work into it then you would be starting all over again like you originally were supposed to in college. Doing your own work is like a building block for your future because you never know what you might run into later on in life.
The second article, "Not That There's Anything Wrong With That" also by Seth Stevenson is more about the technicalities of plagiarism and copyright. Plagiarism is equated with dishonesty while copyright is more from a legal standpoint. However, both are dishonest and completely wrong coming from any ethical point of view. When it comes to recipes, it is understandable to want copyright over them as your own. Its a way to become famous and if everyone else uses them than nothing will ever become of the original creator. I think that Lapine is being a bit over the top insisting that Seinfeld's work was copyrighted because Lapine was not even the first to come up with the idea of sneaking vegi's into kids food. It seems to be much of a jealously deal going on between Lapine and Seinfeld. Basically Seinfeld is getting more publicity for her book that shares the same ideas as Lapine's but the article is trying to reinforce that fact the Seinfeld is a celebrity and Lapine is not.
Basically plagiarism is not a smart thing to do, and your cheating yourself out of knowledge that you can't exactly get back. Sure some people think they won't ever need that knowledge but just about any job in the real word requires some sort of thinking and research or writing.