Englsih: Final Summative

Here is my final project of the year.

Media: What Has The Media Course Taught Me?

This media course has been so much fun. I had an amazing time and a lot of laughs in this class. The units of examining different elements of media helped me really look at mediums in a different way. The angles of a camera shot, the purpose of advertising, the evolution of music, and the legality of it all. None of it would have been as fun with a different teacher. Mr. O'Connor you made this class so much fun and a lot easier to learn. The whole curriculum could have been theorists and theories but they got intertwined throughtout the units making them so much easier to learn. I mean if Foucault was textbook based, there is no way I would still remember his name right now, but because we actually had conversations and debates throughout the semester it just made everything...stick. Thanks for an amazing course and semester Mr. O'Connor! You Rock!!

Media: The Age of Persuasion "Even More Remarkable Brands"

"Even More Remarkable Brands" is a very...interesting podcast. There are a few valid points that stand out but the general reaction from me was very minimal. Terry O'Reilly discusses the "popular" brands of the century. At first he rambles on about space and a black hole, but then jumps to Remarkable Branding. Marketing is what sells a brand, and if the brand is marketed well enough, it will become a Remarkable Brand. Remarkable Brand meaning it is the most popular of that category, Crayola for example, is to childhood art, as Coca Cola is to soda. Both are the biggest brands of time and are still immensely popular today. Logos are a key role in branding. The single image and name of a product are what distinguish it from all the others in the same vicinity. The logo can evolve and become more dynamic over time, but one wrong small change can plummet the product off the shelf of remarkability. When Coke changed it's recipe in 1985, their consumers could tell the difference and were furious about the change. If you have worked hard enough to make your product a remarkable brand, why fix what isn't broken?

The Myth of Sisyphus: Albert Camus

     

       The Myth of Sisyphus discusses the punishment bestowed upon Sisyphus by the Gods. Sisyphus had stolen the Gods secrets, one of which being Egina stolen by Jupiter. He knew of the capture but would only talk about it if Espopus, the father of Egina, would give water to the citadel of the Corinth. Sisyphus also wanted to test his wife’s love so he requested to be sent to Earth from the Underworld to chastise his wife while he was in the Underworld. However, once he was on Earth he did not want to return to the Underworld because Earth was so beautiful. After spending a couple of years on Earth, Mercury snatched Sisyphus back to the Underworld where his rock was waiting for him. The Gods had punished Sisyphus for his betrayal by condemning him to roll a boulder up to the top of a hill and when the rock rolled back by its own will, he was to push it back up the hill. He was sentenced to do this all day, every day, for the rest of his immortal life.
      Sisyphus is an icon of Camus’ study. The Myth of Sisyphus can easily be related to the aspects of every day life. On the other hand, it is to be determined just how relatable the Myth of Sisyphus is. His hate for the Gods and his love of life won him his punishment of undying torment. The torment of never knowing when the punishment will end can be compared to the everyday life of an average person. They wake up every day just to follow the same routine they did the day before. They get out of bed, get all prim and proper, grab a cup of coffee and leave for work. They slave all day long for the American Dream but have nothing to show for it. Yes they get paid, have their little monuments, franchises and billion dollar companies but does that not reflect society instead of the individual worker themself? The society creates monuments for future generations to enjoy and observe a story, but who created the monument to tell that story? How many monuments can you think of where you can say “Oh, John Smith made that.”? Not very many, if any at all. People feel inner satisfaction from accomplishing something of a rare occasion. Whether they get recognition or not, they follow the daily routine to provide what society needs and wants. It can be a construction worker, teacher, janitor, firefighter, mother, policeman, chef, father, bank teller, designer, there are so many individual jobs done on a daily basis. But how many are done for the sheer passion of the work?
      There is a part of society that does what they do everyday in order to get by and make ends meet. Working everyday for a job you really don't care about is like rolling that stone up the hill day after day. You give your all, get the job done, leave satisfied and return disappointed to do it all again, just like walking back done to the base of the hill to push up the stone again. When you think of what needs to be done, chances are it will take longer to do. If you wallow about needing to sweep & mop the floors again, or mark a pile of papers, or read 100 pages of a textbook it will take longer then just doing it. Sisyphus would need great motivation to keep rolling the rock up the hill day after day. Of course there would be days of great disappointment to still be doing the same thing as you were days ago, but he continues to push that rock up the hill. Just like we awake on a daily basis and stride off to work to do what we need to do, but it is up to us in the way we approach the task at hand. We can be sullen and angry about our miserable lives and allow the melancholy feeling to seep into our minds. Or, we can look at the bright side of our chosen path and live every day to the fullest even if it is the same as the day before because there will be new things to learn and explore every day.

English-Beyond The Horizon Passage Response

I think the biggest dilemma in a trip around the world would be finding the motivation. Anyone can make a plan to do something and have all the steps to follow through with the plan but it's a matter of being able to have the determination to make the plan happen.Going around the world solely on human power would be quite the journey but I think there would be moments where a part of the person would be tempted to jump on a plane and head home. It could be bad weather or lack of supplies or food or maybe the isolation would get to them and they just want to go home so the airport seems more and more appealing. It sounds like Beyond The Horizon will be an interesting book to read but I'm mainly curious to see how or if Colin & Julie keep the motivation they had at the time they decided to go on the adventure around the world.

English-Jason Bourne

Is Jason Bourne, of the Bourne Identity, a hero or an anti-hero?

I think that Jason Bourne is the hero. An anti-hero does good things in order to look better to the public and feel more invincible, a hero just does what needs to be done. At the beginning of the movie I was leaning more towards Bourne being the anti-hero because I didn't really understand what was going on, but neither did he. He has no memory of who he is or what he has done, so how could he be doing these things for himself if he doesn't know who he even is? Once he met Marie, that is when I started swinging more towards the hero side. Instead of trying to trace back his steps to figure out who he is, he continues to try to figure out who he is but is more cautious now that there is another person involved. There are several times when Jason gives Marie the chance to leave and go on with her life and be safe but she insists on staying. When they are at the house, he tells Marie to get in the car and leave because he knows that things are going to be too dangerous and he doesn't want to put her at risk. I think throughout the movie Jason Bourne gradually changes from anti-hero to realizing different pieves of information and changes into the hero.

Media-Lady Gaga....Pop Star or Entertainment Artist?

When it comes to Lady Gaga, there is much controversy about: her clothing choice...or lack there of, her lyrics, and her performances. However, is she truly a singing pop star, or is she just a performing entertainment artist? I personally think that she is an entertainment artist. A true pop star can sing, without auto-tune(Avril Lavigne for example) and still sound good, they can have chart topping hits without parading around in questionable outfits doing risque moves. Lady Gaga started out with many body suits of different colours and shapes. Now, she is wearing dresses that are see-through with stars in certain areas, a meat dress and she has climbed out of an egg? Who sits in an egg? An entertainment artist does, entertainers jump out of things all the time, cakes, boxes, plants, etc. Gaga may be able to sing, but she does what an entertainer is supposed to do. She grabs the audiences attention and holds their attention by keeping things fresh and new and quirky. With Lady Gaga you never know what you are going to get or hear or see next, and I think that is the way she wants it to be. She loves her fans, she has said this in interviews many times, but I think as she evolves and alters her approach to her music and performances, she may be narrowing the window of followers.




                 

                   Lady Gaga's 2008 album- The Fame



Lady Gaga at the 2011 Grammy's



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Media-Merchants of Cool

Do you think you or the people around you are influenced by the media standard of "cool"? Why or why not?

In every school there are groups of people. There's a group for people who are always ahead of the latest fashions and trends. Another group of people who are following the first group like lost puppy dogs always wondering what's cool and what's not. And then there is the last group, for people like me, people who genuinely could care less about the latest fads. I definitely don't care what the latest trend is, why spend 300 bucks on a new iPod and then shell out another 400 bucks two weeks later when the next one comes out? There are things that I buy just as an interst or keeping up with technology (i.e. my mp3 player for all my music, and my blackberry to keep in contact with my friends) but that's about it. I don't upgrade to a new iTouch everytime one comes out, or get the newest blackberry when its released. One is all you need, and if it works, why waste money on a stupid upgrade? Because that is what the media tells us we need to do in order to be "cool". You must have the hippest clothes, the sleekest technology, the fastest car and so on. Not everyone can afford these luxuries of latest fads and if you can't everyone finds out. If you show up to class with a walkman, yeah you will most likely get made fun of since cassettes are rather old, but even if you walk in with a Samsung mp3 you get the 20 questions asking you why you don't have an iPod, that's just how trends work and will always work. With these trends and fashions constantly changing and frequently being updated it's amazing to me how the same people can consistently afford to keep upgrading their status on the fad list, but I guess some people will buy whatever they need to in order to be ontop of the latest trends to be "cool".

Media-Re-Appropriation

Has the re-appropriation of the "N-Word" and/or the "Q-Word" helped or hindered the cause of black and gay Canadians?

    The term re-appropriation means to take back a word and its meaning. The N-Word and the Q-Word actually mean different things then the society today believes. However, society has taken those words along with others and altered the meanings, thus classifying and degrading specfic groups of people. A person is a person no matter what size, shape, colour, sexuality, gender, race etc. And being a person, everyone should be treated as such and not be completely disregarded by a word. If we(meaning society) "need" to classify groups of people using a word then why stop there?? Why not classify all the short people as "stump"? Or all the people with black hair as "black sheep"? Or all the tall as "stretch"? Because those words aren't as powerful!!!! Society has taken the N-Word and the Q-Word and re-appropriated them into a demeaning classification. Since society has altered these meanings, it reflects just how incoherent society today truely is. The fact that the words are TECHNICALLY off limits but are allowed to be said in songs or to one another in the same "classification" seems a lot like a double standard. There shouldn't be any halfway point. You either re-appropriate the word completely OR leave it alone!

English-28 Days Movie Review

    In the 200 film, "28 Days", Sandra Bullock stars alongside Elizabeth Perkins, Dominic West and Steve Buscemi in this production about the road to recovery. With the screen play written by Susannah Grant, a group of people at a rehab center travel down the path of acceptance and hardship, as Betty Thomas directs the ensemble in the proper direction.

    An alcoholic New York journalist, Gwen, (Bullock) becomes enrolled in rehab after crashing her sister's (Perkins) wedding. Once Gwen gets to the center she realizes it isn't as easy as she though it would be. She needs to choose whether to listen to her councellor (Buscemi) and follow the rules, or listen to her New York boyfriend (West) and leave.
    This is a typical Sandra Bullock movie. It is jammed packed with comedy and has a little bit of drama tied into the plot as well. Much like her other 2000 film, "Miss Congeneality", Bullock plays the off-beat, quirky character. She demonstrates yet another strong female lead on the edgier side of her character range. The overall acting skills of this film mesh well together to make the production more coherent to the road actually travelled by recovering addicts. They portray many characters with a variety of addictions, some alcoholics, some druggies, some sex-addicts, some have an addiction to self-harm, and they all remain in character throughout the entire production making the overall plot more powerful.They learn to accept that they have a problem and learn that it is okay to ask for help, that doesn't mean you're weak. Whether they choose to get help and solve the problem, you're going to have to watch the movie and find out. 
    I personally like this movie, but I am also a Sandra Bullock fan. It is a great movie to understand the road travelled by those hoping to change their life and cope with their addiction. This remarkable cast blends well to deliver this comedic film and earn 5 stars from me.

English-All About Me

           My name is Stephanie Pulley. I’ve been referred to as the typical: Stephanie, Steph, Stephie, but also; Stephster, Stefawn, Stefooner, and so many other weird creations my friends come up with. I’m as very social person, I talk everyday, all day long, and I always have something to say. I’m a very honest, opinionated person and I have no problem with standing my ground and being blunt regardless of if people want to hear it or not. I’ve experienced enough in my life to know that you might as well be honest because if the situation is bad enough to lie about it whether you lie about it or not, someone is going to get ticked off either way.

            I’m almost 18 years old, two more weeks, and to be only 18 years old, I have experienced waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much crap. Everyone has their days where they just can’t take it anymore and just want to crash down and punch something or whatever they need to do to release their emotions. I’ve experienced so many things that most people would have crashed by now and given up, but I’m still fighting to make it through every day with a smile on my face. The majority of people don’t know what I’ve been and still am going through but that is fine by me just as long as they believe that smile.

            This semester will hopefully give me time to get my mind together. Last semester was chaos on wheels because of how crazy my courses were and the things I had going on, but this semester is rather easy. I’m hoping that since this semester is easier I can focus on more personal, home-based issues and get them squared away so that I can focus on what I need to do at school instead of trying to focus on school work when I’m really worrying about other issues. So hopefully this semester will be good, fingers crossed!! J