Blog post #8

Jessie J- Who You Are
Notes: This song is something i relate to teenagers in high school. Everyone is trying to fit in, to belong, most people don't know who they are or where they are going in life. Some may be going through something you haven’t or never will experience. Some fall into social traps, get caught up in the wrong crowd, lose themselves and surround themselves with things they didn’t ever imagine before. Some cross paths with unforgettable people, some lose friendships, maybe make or break relationships. Everyone gets down in the dumps, and everyone can lose their way. This song really makes you think about what makes you happy, makes you think about the path of life you choose, sometimes i think about how i can become a better person, i feel like when you are content in your life you should strive to pick someone else off the ground and give them a foundation to lay there feet. This song is emotional for me because of the experiences in my on life that come to mind when i think of this song.

My favorite part to analyze of this song is:
"Don't lose who you are, in the blur of the stars
Seeing is deceiving, dreaming is believing,
It's okay not to be okay
Sometimes it's hard, to follow your heart
Tears don't mean you're losing, everybody's bruising,
Just be true to who you are"
Implied Reader:
From the point of view of the writer i believe she is talking about being famous. You are obsessed with what you look like, and you try not to forget about where you can from and who you were before the fame and fortune. I think she intended this song to mean that nobody is perfect, including herself with the pressure that society has built her up to be.

Actual Reader:
This song for me means that everyone feels lost, upset, makes mistakes, falls into reality, and the pressure of belonging and living up to the standards of others can cause you to breakdown, to lose yourself. Nobody is perfect, everyone has their moments and everyone has a unique way of dealing with their problems. Eventually, you realize that being yourself is the only way be happy.

I think it's important to consider the reader because we gravitate towards things we can relate with and each reader can enhance a piece of work by the input and stories they contribute.

Blog post #7

The Social Network is about the beginning processes of Facebook, in which can be analyzed through the Feminist and Psychological lens. Mark is the main character that creates a profile of emotions that are portrayed in multiple lights and creates contrast in the storyline.

Looking through a psychological approach, you analyze the characters behaviors and motives throughout the film "The Social Network." The question I based my observations off of was what were the motives behind Marks actions for the creation process of Facebook? In the beginning of the movie Marks girlfriend Erika broke up with him, he then began to blog and created a site to compare all the faces of students, called Facemash, which compared who's hot and who's not. He was already very talented with coding and knew how to access forbidden and locked information. Mark's goal was to get into a finals club, which required recognition. He was enraged with the way people had treated him, he wanted to get back at them, and to have the last word in every situation. He accomplished this by throwing his friends under the bus and created enemies with people who were significantly higher on the social scale by stealing their general idea for what was projected to be a successful web design.

Looking through the Feminist approach, it is easily determined that women have no power in this movie and are represented as more of sex symbol/ stereotypical perception of women. Women were shown at parties, dancing on tables, making out with one another, taking off their clothes and are ultimately used as a "service" for the men. This movie shows women as objects to the men, in a group setting the women are nothing but pretty faces, despite the fact that they’re also most likely Harvard undergrads with the brains and intellectual talent comparable to the men.

 

Blog post #6

Characters in TV series are created to connect with, some may be positive and other may be negative. Dr. House challenged my own personal beliefs and dealt ethics that were complex enough to go on both sides of a spectrum. Although House comes off as rude and arrogant during the course of the show, there are moments where you have a change of heart because you realize that underneath a tuff complexion he has emotions that have created his outlook on life. House himself is very good at hiding his emotions, in which he seems to not care about his patient’s emotions either. I strongly disagree with the techniques House uses; a patient should be treated with dignity, which includes taking time to listen to the patient and taking the time to prescribe an accurate cure not an experimental guess. House has little faith in humanity and although he is one of the best doctors he doesn’t involve the patient in their treatment and refuses to belief what they say... what makes doctors think we trust them either? It goes both ways. House kind of gets a taste of his own medicine when his boss stands up to him and tells him to get to work on the papers that have piled up from the clinic. I agree with his boss when she intervenes with his thoughts on how to treat the teacher who fell ill.

 

 

Blog post #5

The lottery represents society’s morals. We are encouraged to participate and be involved in things we do not understand or believe in just to follow tradition. In this story I believe that the character Tessie Hutchinson represents the future generations, she understood that the concept of the lottery is outdated and many of the towns had discontinued the ritual. Old Man Warner represents the past generations who have experienced an older view on life; they like to keep a stable cycle of traditions in their lives. He refuses to change and honestly believes that the lottery is a good thing. Most people are taught to not stand up against the crowd but in modern society it is necessary to contribute an opinion for democracy. I believe that one of her messages is along the lines of "monkey see, monkey do." We learn from previous generations and accept the rules and norms of modern society because they have been in place to keep consistency.

 

Blog post #4

Chris McCandless from Into The Wild and Mr. Fox from Fantastic Mr. Fox both strive for personal satisfaction and are prepared to risk what they have to achieve fulfillment in their life, a major aspect that contributes to their actions is family.

In the beginning of the movie Fantastic Mr. Fox, Mr. Fox was not satisfied with the outcome of his journalism career, as he felt no one read his column and it was of no value to anyone. A fox in nature will live in a "fox hole" underground to provide protection, but Mr. Fox had begun to feel poor and he wanted an upgrade or as he put it, something better for his family. The new home he chose was a tree settled across the way from three of the most dangerous farmers. The real estate agent had warned him about the homes conflict with the farmers, but Mr. Fox had decided to move his family into the tree anyways. Mr. Fox's past had consisted of stealing goods from farmers and part of the reason for moving was to feel like a wild animal again. This is easily relatable to Chris McCandless because they both portray a liking for high risk and dangerous situations. Chris McCandless was unaware of his family concerns that left them heartbroken in the end. Chris made decisions based on his own happiness and often let his family unfamiliar with his whereabouts. Like a wild animal instinct Chris wanted to get away from the standards of society, he didn't want to behave in such a way that followed the norms or rules of modern society. He was a free spirit and wild at heart.

Another view on the movie Fantastic Mr. Fox would be from the point of view of Ash (Mr. Fox's son). Ash becomes jealous of his cousin, Kristofferson, because of the amount of attention he receives from Mr. Fox. Kristofferson was an excellent athlete, much like Mr. Fox in previous years. Kristofferson received praise and encouragement from Mr. Fox while diving and playing whack bat, while Ash became angry and the little recognition he received. Ash was looking for approval from his father and worked very hard to receive attention. The trigger point of jealousy for Ash was when Mr. Fox asked Kristofferson to join him in a robbery from the three farms; he even received his own black mask. Mr. Fox didn't consider Ash's feelings when it came down to the bottom of thins, he often rejected Ash and left him behind. I believe Chris McCandless relates to Ash in the opposite sense, Chris wanted little approval from his parents and explained his thoughts to his sister through letters. This creates conflict between characters but I think they both wanted recognition. Chris want self-approval and Ash wanted approval from his loved ones. Chris's father, Walt, acts similar to Mr. Fox; he doesn't understand his son and often clashes personalities. He is confused on how, “. . . a kid with so much compassion could cause his parents so much pain." (pg. 103) In the end, he didn’t understand Chris's feelings towards his parents fighting and past history.

Emotional needs are important to the decisions and achievements of an individual and in both stories this is clearly demonstrated by the actions of the character.

 

Blog post #3

As a child Chris was put into accelerated school programs for "gifted children," in which Chris was always trying to find a way out of. Chris's parents weren’t always open and available to their children they were responsible for shaping his personality and providing a structure in which they lived by. Carine recalls, "...There was always a little wanderlust in the family, and it was clear early on that Chris had inherited it." (pg. 108) Although the atmosphere was tense within their household the family often embarked on adventures, taking to the road, they purchased an Airstream trailer and spent time away.

Chris inherited a rebellious attitude and often had a hard time following the rules. He had begun to run competitively, becoming the top distance runner in the region, took interest in ending apartheid in South Africa, which was a system of racial segregation enforced through legislation, he also had concerning feelings towards hunger and homelessness. I believe he felt as if the people in need were not given the chance to truly enjoy life, he strived to improve humanity. He was given a car, law school money and was forced into Emory. He ended up donating his money to charity, i think that symbolized how unconcerned he was in materialistic things... Eventually he buried his valuables; left his car under a tarp, burned his cash, and took only what he could carry on his back.

Chris was striving for independence; he did not want to accept help from his parents or society. Chris was determined to leave he past behind. He changed his name and social security number to insure that he was impossible to find and unmarked on the map. He was looking for the beauty in life and seemed completely content with being alone. In the final days of Chris's life he marked passages and wrote on the pages of books as a journal. I think his greatest pleasure was being able to share his knowledge and receiving nothing in return.

 

Blog post #2

Gene Rosellini was a man of an adventurous heart, much like Chris McCandless. Although Gene Rosellini and Chris McCandless never crossed paths they lived with similar views of life and adventure. Before going "into the wild" both of these men came from exceptional athlete and brilliant scholar backgrounds, they exceeded the requirements for learning, but both weren’t interested in learning what was considered proper. Gene Rosellini accumulated credits without earning a degree, and Chris had a donated his college funds to charity in hopes to learn on his exploration. He was very book smart and related his life to many classics in American culture. Both men found modern society less then idealistic and left their families in the dark as to why they were left behind and unaware of the travelers whereabouts.

I believe Chris was influenced by Gene Rosellini in the fact that both men went into the wild to live of the natural resources given by the earth, they adventured away from home with the basic necessities to last them until they could provide for themselves. Gene believed humans had developed into progressively inferior beings and he often wondered if it was possible to be independent of modern technology. They both wanted an escape from reality.

 

Blog post #1

What do the characters emotions or behaviors reveal about their personality and psychological state?

Carrie explains Chris with, "Even when we were little he was very to himself. He wasn't antisocial, he always had friends and everybody liked him, but he could go off and entertain himself for hours. He didn't seem to need toys or friends. He could be alone without being lonely." (pg. 107) Chris moved swiftly through school and he had declined awards and recognitions, insisting that such honors were meaningless. After graduation Chris donated the remaining college funds to charity, informed his parents that he was "going to disappear for a while," and left in his yellow Datsun. I believe Chris rebelled against his parents to establish the person he wanted to be rather then the pre-determined standards his parents had set for him. In the process of breaking free from the standards of society, Chris became a wandering spirit. I don't think he ever planned for the outcome that occurred; I truly believe he just desired to live a life full of adventure.

Are patterns such as repression, dreams, and desire presented consciously or unconsciously by the author?

Throughout Chris's adventures he stumbled in and out of many people’s lives, one specifically was Jan and Bob. Chris had hitched up the coast to Oregon and was picking berries along the side of the road when a Jan and her boyfriend had pulled over to acknowledge him. They admitted that Chris looked rather hungry when they stopped. Chris's parents had hired an investigator to find their son; it's ironic that someone who was seeking a solitary life made friendships easily but refused to kindle his relationship with his parents. His mother says that "Chris was very much of the school that you should own nothing except what you can carry on your back at a dead run." (pg. 32) He is very determined in his adventure towards the Alaskan terrain to remain living off the land.

What happened in the past and how does it affect the present?

Chris McCandless called himself Alex, short for "Alexander Supertramp," during his travels. The adoption of a new name is most likely caused by Chris's rejection of his parents' values. Much like the tradition in the American literature Chris read, the characters reinvent themselves and even change their name. An example could be Jay Gatsby, from F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby. Walt and Billie (Chris's parents) often fought and contemplated divorce. Walt was not yet divorced from his first wife when Chris and Carine were born; this discovery caused Chris a lot of bitterness towards his father and may have been a reason for his views and rejection of society.