Blog Post 12

I feel that I have taken something away from all the of inquires we have done. The first inquiry we did I learned to dig deeper into my film watching and also when i read a book. There is always a deeper meaning behind a text, and everyone also has a different view on what the film is supposed to be about. The second inquiry i work the most on because i really tried to make my paper an analysis and not a research paper. I think i learned a lot from this paper because it taught me to think outside the box and allowed me to make up my own topic for The Kings Speech and be able to make the paper what i wanted it to be. I gained knowledge on looking up evidence on the internet to support my claim, even though i already knew how to do this, it is always good to have practice because i know that in future papers i will have to do the same thing. The third inquiry i was really happy with the way it turned out because i liked the idea of being able to create my own canon list and talk about why i value it. I found myself deleting things and adding things because i couldn’t decide what to put on my list. My writers reflection is something that i have struggled with in all my inquires. I feel confident in this writers reflection because i have learned from the mistakes in my other inquires and my peers responses have helped me into making my writers reflection a solid intro to my paper.  

Blog Post 11

I really enjoyed the presentations we did in class! it was a nice way to see the different types of text that each person values. it was also interesting because we had such a wide rang of texts, people, movies, poems, songs etc, which is cool because no one had the same thing they wanted to share, everything was different. One movie that i had never heard of was Fly Away Home. i found this movie to be interesting because its an older movie and also has a different type of story line. The movie talks about a girl who find geese eggs and want to raise them, (i didn’t know that whoever a goose sees when they are first born is the one they will relate to the most and learn from). So the girl must teach the geese to do everything so that when they are ready they will be able to fly south. This movie caught my attention because i had never heard of it and isn’t a movie that would watch, but after hearing Rachel’s reaction to the movie and why she values it, it might be something i would consider watching. Another text that i had never heard of was the clip that Vivian showed us. (i can’t remember the authors name), but i remember Bridget saying that he was very popular and is not heard of much any more. I thought it was cool that she showed us a clip that was like a cartoon but a faster version of the actual text. I really liked the description that she gave and why she valued it, she gave a lot of good points that made me want to look it up. 

Extra Credit

RuPaul

I really enjoyed RuPauls interview because he teaches so many lessons through out his talk. He is a drag queen but doesn’t let outside sources bring him down, or try and make him do something else. He loves what he does and wouldn’t change it for anything. He believes that our society is all based off of superficial and they are the ones telling us what we should believe is right from wrong. He gave the example of looking in a magazine and always seeing “normal” people, so when you go into the real world you don’t know what to expect because not everyone will look that way. I agree with what he has to say about society shaping who we are, there is no doubt about that. One lesson that I learned from his interview was that we should always do what we want, no matter what others say, because when you look back at it in life you will remember that one thing the most. I like this comment he made because people have always told me to do what I want because if you don’t you will later regret it and may never get the opportunity to do it again. I really enjoyed RuPaul and what he had to say about his life and the advice he would give to others. I believe he is someone that if I did more research on him and got to understand more about who he is as a person I would include him on my canon list.

Extra Credit

Nicole Holofcener:

Her interview was something that I was really surprised to hear because she was the writer and director of this movie. This is so uncommon because not many women direct movies. I found this to connect to the discussion we had in class about canon list because very seldom did we see an author that was a female, and to see her as a successful female director was very interesting. I really agreed with her when she mentioned that she wanted to be with someone whom she could be herself around. I think that this is a really important thing to consider when being in a relationship with someone; because if the person is not going to except you for who you are then you shouldn’t be with them. Going back to the point of women being directors, I found it interesting that she included all daughters in the film and no sons. Jesse Thorn asked her why she did this, and her response was that she often sees herself in the teenagers and it reminds her of when she was younger. After hearing her say this it made be wonder if by having sons in the film and not daughters would it have changed anything?

Blog Post 10

A few of the bands that were mentioned such as Incubus and The Great full Dead were bands that I had never heard of but after hearing my classmates advice on why they valued them so much made me want to look up a few of there songs and do more research on them. I found it really cool that Matt got to Skype one of the members of Incubus and I didn’t realizes how much support and money that Incubus raised for the Philippines. The thing that stood out to me the most during presentations was when Reagan compared flappy bird to the importance of life. This really blew my mind! I had never put so much thought into it, but after he explained it, it made so much sense and I totally get where he is coming from. I would have never thought of putting so much thinking into a game that everyone thinks is pointless and dumb, when you can actually learn a life lesson with it.

Extra Credit

Prodigy:

The interview with Prodigy, in my opinion, seemed to be very ‘out there’. I found this interview to be really difficult to connect with and also difficult to pull out something that I learned form it. I did find it interesting that he got his start in the music industry by standing on the street with a pair of headphones waiting for someone to listen to his song. From there he was able to start his music career. This reminded me of when I went to California, because when we went to Hollywood there were people doing the exact same thing. A lesson that can be learned from his experience is to never give up on your dreams. He believes that if you put forth the effort and try, then you will see results. I think that after listening to Prodigy’s story about how he was selling drugs at age 12, his dad telling him to go out and fight/ stab people, and how he was put in prison, this really opened by eyes to see that he overcame all of this stuff to become a successful rapper. He didn’t let his past stop him from pursuing his dreams. When I first began listening to his story I was thinking, there is no way that I have anything in common with him because he has lived such a scary emotional life. But as he continued I realized that I did learn the lesson of never giving up on what you want. I feel like this can connect with the song on my canon list called 100 Years because the song talks about living each day to the fullest and making everyday better than the last, and I think this is what Prodigy is trying to do with his life.

Extra Credit

Elizabeth Gilbert:

I found this podcast to relate to our canon list in a way that Elizabeth talked about how she wanted to create a book about a women who was a very successful scientist but her work was never noticed because she was a woman, and women during that time were not valued as much as men were. I think this connects to the canon list because the same goes for that; not many books that are written by women are on the canon list for the same reason. I liked that she had the intention to create a character that would be so different, but yet women who read it would be able to value that person for the work they did. I found it interesting that she made her character have her success when she was in her 50’s rather than in her 30’s because after doing her research she found out that women during the 19^th century actually did have success in there 50’s due to being widows, having more wealth, and children are growing up, etc. Another topic she brought up that I found to be very unique and different was that she said she went to communist Russia when she was a teenager and she said she was able to find out more about herself because she was lonely. I felt like I could connect with this because when your lonely you are able to think more about who you are, and whether you are able to be independent or if you need someone to rely on. I think that after listening to this podcast I was able to take away the importance of self confidence and how Elizabeth puts so much time and effort into her books and to her characters in order to make them connect to the women who need it the most.

Blog Post #9

The first article I read was called Is the Literary Canon Still Racist and Sexist? I found this article to be very interesting and something that I can agree with. While I was reading I often agreed with the author about how there are no women writers or colored men who are recognized in a canon. This struck me as racist and sexist in many ways. I agree with the author when they explain that maybe the reason for not having these types of people in the canon was because it was not acceptable for them to write or even have books published during that time, but that still doesn’t answer the question as to why there aren’t women or colored men in canons today. I believe that canons need to be changed or at least looked over again, because there are lots of new writers out there besides Shakespeare who have written amazing works of art. 

The second article I read was called The Literary Canon- What Books Should be Required Reading? Reading this article has helped me get a better understanding of what canons really are and how they are different for every person. As the author mentioned in the article “My instinct is to give him a list of the most important books we think are worth reading, regardless of gender or race or time period, and then arm him with some history about how the canon was formed, how it has evolved, and whether there should be a canon at all” she wants teachers to explain what a canon is to the students but not have them read books of what is solely on the list. In my opinion, everyone has a different perspective on whats a good book, poem, song or etc, so how are we able to make a canon that is agreeable and please-able for all? Well the answer is, is that we simply can’t. I believe that the people who create the canons are not focusing on what is really valuable. They need to look at the bigger picture and get writing from different people and different time areas to get a wider range of types of writing to include in the canon. 

Blog Post #8

In my paper i am focusing on the two arguments of those who liked the film The Kings Speech to those who thought it was a complete wast of time. Tying this two perspectives into my paper was challenging because they focused on totally different topics, making it hard to compare the two. I was able to connect them in a way that was easy for someone who hadn’t seen the movie to understand what i was arguing. 

some things that are not fully complete in my paper such has my last paragraph arguing about the people who didn’t like the film. Also I’m having a hard time trying to make a conclusion that will tie the two arguments together and make the whole paper flow together. While my peer view my paper i want to know if they think my paper flows in an organized way and if my sources fit in with my arguments, making them reliable. 

Source 10

“TIFF Review: THE KING’S SPEECH, Emotionally Effective Historical Drama with Stunning Colin Firth Performance.” WhatCulture TIFF Review THE KINGS SPEECH Emotionally Effective Historical Drama with Stunning Colin Firth Performance Comments. N.p., 14 Sept. 2010. Web. 09 Mar. 2014.

Why did so many people see this movie and why did it win an Oscar? These are the questions that are covered in this article. The writer of this paper explains the background information during the time of the movie. All of the events that are shown in the movie are from 1925, this is when Hitler was beginning to take over Germany.  The writer believes that The Kings Speech won an Oscar because of the theme of the movie; British royalty and the responsibilities of the family to the people of the Empire, who are overcoming the pressure of failure. They believe that this movie is so different than any other movie that came out during its time in 2010. From the theme, to costume, to actors, this writer believes there is no doubt that The Kings Speech deserves its Oscar.

This article can tie into my paper because it provides excellent reasons why people loved the movie. Including background information, the actors, wardrobe, plot, and the script. These are all aspects that movie watchers and critics look for when viewing a movie. Including these characteristics in my paper can provide back up for my argument.