Table of Contents
Reflection on Quarter
Introduction to Critical Thinking Selection
Selection: “Character Wins Over Prejudice”
Introduction to Revision Selection
Selection: “Where did I go? Found Me!!”
Introduction to Audience Awareness & Voice Selection
Selection:”Traditions End & Begin”
Introduction to Writer’s Choice Selection
Selection: “Soldiers’ Bond”
I’m a very private person and this portion, “blog” is a bit of a struggle for me. I am of the generation that was raised with corporal punishment, strict boundaries, and consequences. Although talking through technology has its place, I prefer face-to-face conversation. That may be considered bias and narrow, but even telephones seem impersonal to me, because you lose the expressions meant to be shared. Peppered through my assignments were hints or peeks into my family and life because we typically write based on who we are. At almost fifty years old, I have been exposed to different religions, geographic locations, the military, and enjoy my current career of 20 years. This personal academic undertaking will not give me any more money or a promotion. The goal of obtaining a degree is almost complete, but is really an exercise in showing my children that is never too late to learn new ideas and complete goals. My children… you may ask, are in their late teens and twenties. English courses throughout my academic life have always come easy and enjoyable. This particular class truly continues to challenge me. Twists and turns throughout the course which focus on social standards such as identity, tradition, and community are not only interesting, but also very individual. Many of my life experiences have played a key role in my analysis of the different interpretations of all three categories which is probably the norm. The assignments made me think and analyze many everyday locations, people, and settings that typically your senses just note. I found myself looking and listening to people a little more, being a little more attentive, and at some level focusing more on the words being expressed during everyday conversations. I confess that my views probably have not changed, but certainly reviewed. These points being noted, I still believe that human contact will always be more important than any other forum. The different forms of media, movies, radio, and others topics that might fit this category, are just entertainment for the most part. I do not take them serious and would always choose a good conversation with a friend. The identity portions of the course brought self bias to the forefront and at some level helped me recognize or at least acknowledge my core beliefs. This started with an essay written by Kathy Wilson entitled, “Dude Looks Like a Lady.” Wilson’s essay noted the bias shown towards culture assumptions where a busty woman was constantly mistaken for a male because she chose to wear her hair short. While reading other students posts, I quickly realized that the community as it relates to this course contained numerous communities. Young people and a few older with spirit beliefs based on their backgrounds and the material presented. Some were just fun to read and some I struggled even to connect with because of the differences in generations. I saw communities my children live in, and some that I could even relate with. It would appear there are no clear rules or boundaries with identities or cultures. This since of community was noted in Emily White’s essay, “High School’s Secret Life” where she noted the different type of students congregating in the lunch room in different areas, yet attending the same school. Even if you were raised in a particular culture, youth continues to challenge and reshape new and old beliefs based on social and individual’s needs. As with history, some of these are productive or destructive. They both associate with each other throughout life, but there is no clear winner in the end. Maybe that is the way it should be, so that balance emerges, yet individualism thrives. Tradition was kind of interesting because it noted traditions with a slant. I have always loved and assumed that traditions provided security and comfort. Talking about wearing particular shirts, eating certain meals, and even when and where we ate certainly spun this premise around. I do not know if I really believe that much thought is needed to define tradition, but recognized some could define, divide, and even combine different people, cultures, and generations. The Thanksgiving dinner assignment originally didn’t peak my interest. Different posts from students on this subject provoked emotions of resentment, endorsement, and at times even contentment because each student had their own spin on this particular idea. None were ever meant to be rude or provoke a strong challenge, but all certainly were individually based. In the end, it didn’t change my personal belief that families lose precious memories if they don’t celebrate in certain social settings and will regret it later in life. That being said, I do not advocate any type of dysfunction or arguments during these traditions because those are negative in nature and will always taint the setting. This tradition enlightenment was noted in the essay by Garrison Keillor, “A Wobegon Holiday Dinner” in which stereo typed conversations, preparation of food, and even gender roles were discussed. We have been asked to cite why we chose our particular pieces during this assignment. The “Critical Thinking Piece” selected is the Intermission One timed writing assignment. The movie reviewed and analyzed was, “Return of the Titans.” This movie was very stereo typical in substance, but made me feel good at the conclusion. I have always represented the underdog in my life and this movie was no exception. Throughout the movie the characters moved from the “Insider” position to the “Outsider” position. Although the movie was simple at first blush, the social settings, characters, social backdrop, and even personal biases were the themes in this movie. The “Paper Revision” selected is the Discussion Board for “The Museum and Me”, written by Ellen Ullman which illustrated the computer’s importance in the technology world to the point of isolation. This was probably the most noted essay I read. It is now and real world with quite a slant towards the individualism, media, and maybe even the future. As part of the “Community” section of the course, you will swiftly question whether the “Web” binds communities or segregates individuals. It saddens me and at the same time enlightens me to the fact we have all this information and communication at our fingertips. This is supposed to be a good thing…right? The “Awareness of the Audience and Voice” selection is a blog entry based off the essay by Garrison Keillor, “A Wobegon Holiday Dinner”, which is noted above. Tons of assumptions and challenges sprinkled through this essay. Traditions of comfort verses old outdated mundane traditions. Additionally, are traditions even necessary? In my posting of “Traditions End and Begin”, the current, sometimes referred to as the traditional was noted, but left with a foundation for my children to construct their new traditions if they choose. There were many heartfelt, challenging, and pointed conversations during the discussion portions of this assignment. You will not that tradition was challenged or embraced in this essay. Not necessarily the most interesting topic, but certainly traditional wounds were felt. “Writers Choice” was also an easy piece to choose. I didn’t do particular well on it but a message written in it is how views concerning the military, or more specifically, why people choose to enter a job that doesn’t pay much and is normally more physically and emotionally demanding then most, and one that may end their life way before the golden years. I have lived my life a military dependant, an active military member, and still have friends serving in Middle East today. You might get the sense that was my career. Actually, I was only active military for approximately six years of my life. I just believe these special young people who join the military are the ultimate public servants. They all love America, want to always do the right thing, and would generally choose honor over anything else presented to them. The essay aspires to compare both past and present reasons why people enter the military. All my papers, as with many I have read were written based on our personal experiences in life and core values. The assigned readings weren’t always that interesting or provocative, but like everything else we deal with in life, I always try to approach everything with a positive attitude, so everyone succeeds. I am not a dreamer or live in a make believe world, but I do believe that everyone does control their destiny at some point in their life regardless of how they poorly their particular early life experiences were dealt.
During Intermission Week #1, we selected movies to analyze and write about during a timed writing exercise. “Remember the Titans”, was the film selected because I never watched it before and thought it might be promising. Right away there were the stereo types typically discussed over coffee, dinner, or just in general. It had all the ingredients of baking a cake of prejudice. The social setting was in the south, black against white, and school segregation. During the time writing exercise we selected characters to review and analyze as a sense of identity or sense of belonging. This should be viewed collectively as a whole while separating a character as to their sense of belonging. Gary who was a gifted white player from an established all white school was chosen because he moved in and out of belonging to being an outcast because of a friendship with a black player, “Julius” and back again once the team did well in the football games. This movie was really a mix of racial slangs, prejudices, and all ends well at closing. I tried to focus on individuals instead of the movie as a whole because some of the characters such as Louie made this movie. Louie was an outcast because he was cast as a white trash kind of guy with no community or particular notch in this culture. The characters were the focus of the analysis for me and made the movie enjoyable. In the end the title given to this exercise fit the simplicity of the movie under review, “Character Wins Over Prejudice.”
In "Remember the Titans"; an outsider is described as position of a person holds that changes with acceptance and true character, because it is the right thing to do. The movie opens with civil unrest due by panning in on the civil unrest in Alexandria, Virginia because a white man killed a black student. The nucleus within the civil unrest is the integration of black and white students not only in the new High School, but also within the historically white football team. The outsider position is demonstrated throughout the movie starting with the black student moving into the school. The whites firmly believe they are inferior which is demonstrated by the stereo typical slangs used such as black animal, your people, and Sambo to name a few. Julius is a black player who friend was shot by the white man and has to face a new school, new football team, and eventually Gary who is favored white player on the team. Both are scared of each other's culture and struggle, eventually becoming best friends. This particular relationship defines that positional aspect of being an outsider since Julius starts as an outsider and through Gary's friendship and the football teams success moves to an insider. Julius's character portrays so much integrity that Gary's parents even accept him in their home and lives. Gary is clearly an insider at the start of the movie because he is white, homegrown, and the Captain of the football team. Because of his ability to see clearly what is right and just, he loses his best friend Ray who refuses to be a team player with the black players. Even though Gary is making touch choices throughout the movie, his friendship strengthens with Julius and eventually influences his girlfriend's prejudice against blacks. The shaking of Julius's hand by the Gary's girlfriend signifies the strength of her character growing and accepting; therefore changing from an insider to an outsider. As the town accepts the football team and the blacks her position and many others will change again to an insider. Probably the most interesting character defining character and the changing of positions throughout the movie was Louie. Louie clearly is what he describes as, "white trash" and is accepted in no particular position. Because of Louie's economic status and what his perception of his lack of intelligence, he restricted himself to the label of being an outsider. Outsider for Louie had nothing to do with race, but more because of Louie's own beliefs about himself. Race was not important to Louie; his outsider position was purely based on not having the capability to get good enough grades to be accepted in college. The term, "Outsider" is nothing but a short, narrow minded, temporary term because it limits someone’s capabilities based on some type of prejudice or bias belief. Throughout the entire movie, character is the most important component. Julius, Gary, the girlfriend, and Louie display numerous stereo types that have been perpetuated throughout America's history. The more important movie theme demonstrated from genesis to end is the quality of a person's character will always rise to the top. Race, religion, body size, intelligence, and any other bias are just mere barriers to overcome to find the truth of a person. In the end, a person's character is always more important then any type of bias regardless of its history. If we measured a person by their character instead of cultural or personal biases, there would be far less, "Outsiders" in the world because every person would have a valued position in society.
During Unit Two, we explored the sense of community and basic assumptions surrounding that topic. Some of the assumptions were community provides comfort and security. Quickly noted in Ellen Ullman’s, “The Museum of Me” was this new forum called the “internet” was neither a place to join people and may even be causing isolation. This is noted in her final thought, “Today I visited the museum of me, and I like it.” Ullman talks throughout the essay of the isolation of people coupled with their computers. They may be any person and any place they choose while visiting the cyber world. This may have spawned the narcissistic character in people to life. I agreed with Ullman’s views about the internet killing the middle person and allowing people to be void of human voice and touch. My view furthered Ullman’s by using example of the self centered sales approach used today on items that drive home the narcissist views being fueled by our beloved web. Hence the title—“Where did I go? Found Me!!
In the “The Museum of Me”, Ellen Ullman speaks to the loss of the middleman, the salesman, or in essence, human interaction. I agree with her observations of generations void of feeling, needs, or even in some case empathy. This great explosive end all in the name of technology called the internet along with other wonderful inventions like texting has removed the human element from everyday life. Families sit in their living rooms, the television staring at them while everyone waits to respond to the next text or they sit in front of their computers finding the latest and greatest gadget they can’t live without.
We have now named an illness for excessive internet usage like any other addiction. No need to call information or ask someone a question. It is one more step in removing the human element from society. Even on-line classes are based on text alone regardless of feelings or voice. It is at times simply symbols on a page being summarized, categorized, and graded. When Ullman says, "The only place of pleasure and satisfaction is your home", I believe she is basically saying, I you feel blue just dial up pleasure by logging on to your nearest search engine on the internet and all will be well (644).
Gamers joke about how many lives they have and if they get killed today, they just start over. Some have elected to emulate that philosophy in real life only for everyone to be confused or question why someone could possibly do such an awful act. We shrug as someone mentions the influence of the internet and all its information both good and bad. Starbucks and other coffee shops have changed from reading literature and discussion to simply internet troughs. There is no discussion while everyone is plucking on their laptops and certainly by no means should you interrupt their individual trip through the virtual reality, yet there is no reality attached.
The internet does have its use in business and in international arenas in the sense of high numbers and sales, but I do not think it is by any means an answer to world issues or even human issues. I agree with Ullman and her descriptions of drones living in the outside world and a whole new beautiful descriptive environment opens when you see the chair in front of the computer. The internet allows everyone to be what ever and who ever they want anytime they want instead of being their self; a person and a human being."Where did I go? Found Me!!"In “The Museum of Me”, Ellen Ullman quickly relates two boys playing a video game to women on the internet who could not communicate what was just explored. They lost themselves with the barrage of information that seemed so relevant and interesting at the time. The premise of the internet was originally built on was to connect people to information and other people throughout cyber space. Instead Ullman quickly realizes this is not the case. “The message left behind was a child’s secret wish, the ultimate baby-world narcissism we are all supposed to abandon when we grow up: The world really does revolve around me” (641). What Ullman is relaying is as adults with the internet, we can make any world surround us, particular, one about me. Her essay is riddled with examples of this concept which has a melancholy or dark view attached. When describing this narcissist view, Ullman writes, “Every time I passed it, its message irritated me more.” “It bothered me the way the “My Computer” icon bothers me on the Windows desktop, baby names like “My Yahoo” and “My Snap”; my, my, my; two-year-old talk; infantilizing and condescending” (641). This example of self centeredness is the basis of her essay which is fueled by advertising manipulating adults, who should know better, but embrace the concept of being the center of attention. Ullman strengthens and supports these observations when she states, “And in a world so dominated by markets, I don’t think I go too far in saying that this will affect the very structure of reality, for the Net is no longer simply a zone of personal freedoms, a pleasant diversion from what we used to call “real life”; it has become an actual marketplace that is changing the nature of real life itself” (641-642). Ullman is correct when she makes this statement because by eliminating the middle person, the store representative and the salesman in retail, the consumer the direct-line to a distributer. Ullman’s concerns are real time and real world. The cutting of the middle part of the pyramid allows the narrowing of the food chain directly to the world of “I” and “me.” Mortar and brick stores will be threatened because of on-line shopping. No longer will a consumer be nagged or irritated by a sales person. If they wanted to view a product or shop for merchandise all we need to do; my mistake; all “I” need to do is meet with my computer. The media has tapped into the very primitive part of humans by marketing the final domain, where they all can be the boss or whatever position they choose. A telling statement of the future is “In this sense, the ideal of the Internet represents the very opposite of democracy, which is a method for resolving differences in a relatively orderly manner through the mediation of unavoidable civil associations” (644). The cyber world is not face-to-face or personal, or emotional. A person does not have to have any contact with a human or show any empathy. Ullman’s concerns are valid and all the ramifications are not yet born. The media has found a golden egg here. They allow a person to be anyone, anywhere, at any time while being at home with their beloved computer. We have now named an illness for excessive internet usage like any other addiction. No need to call information or ask someone a question. It is one more step in removing the human element from society. Even on-line classes are based on text alone regardless of feelings or voice. It is at times simply symbols on a page being summarized, categorized, and graded. When Ullman says, "The only place of pleasure and satisfaction is your home", I believe she is basically saying, if you feel blue, just dial up pleasure by logging on to your nearest search engine on the internet and all will be well (644). This is the start of self centered driven propaganda and advertising campaign. If anyone doubts this has occurred, the computer or technological world has marketed some favorites of the narcissistic portion of our primal selves. They have marketed products that appeal to us, like the “I” pod and the “I”phone. We have invented mass connections on the internet someone might have interpreted as place to communicate. Places like “My Space”, “Face Book”, “Blogging”, and now “Twittering.” These are various types of journals that we somehow believe people want to communicate on. These are homes for people with narcissistic views of themselves believing someone wants to know more about “them.” Any person can manipulate, build, and customize everything we would care to call our own on our computer. Ullman’s concerns are to be noted as a problem to be fixed in the future. Her final statement, “What can one of us possibly say to another about our experience except, “Today I visited the museum of me, and I like it” (645). The strategy of marketing the internet has just begun and the world of “I” is just peeking over the fence. This is not a fad but a way of life that will be carried throughout our everyday lives. We will have less tolerance with each other and when we are annoyed enough, we may retire to our sanctuary of the “net.” This self centered problem will be felt throughout every economic, social, and personal endeavor in the society.
Unit Three was a challenge of assumptions. The blog assignment, “You are what you eat” is the lucky selection. It genesis was the analysis of Keillor’s essay, “A Wobegon Holiday Dinner” which spoke of typical scenarios you would expect to see on an old sitcom like Seinfeld or All in the Family. It was riddled with gender bias roles of women cooking and men waiting to eat. This piece challenged old and new traditions like a crash course of two trains on the same track. There was such a negative undertone to this particular essay, probably based on my own bias and generation. Wanting to escape seemed to be the theme and my spin on this particular essay, “Traditions End and Begin” tried to address some past and present. Fond memories are my theme but with recognition of the present…my children’s views of seeing how many friends they can visit on Thanksgiving as well as how many meals they can consume. Since being labeled the old out of touch guy, they are required to at least start with us at the table. Traditions are changing, but at least they will have a baseline to initiate the change that will someday become their traditions. They continue to roll their eyes, quietly of course, but always mention how warm everything feels while at home; with the traditional, conventional, and generational Thanksgiving dinner.
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