Two similar characters

Luke and McMurphy are both outcasts, bursting with emotions that they cannot cope with positively. They express them in a manner that is not socially acceptable, resorting to vandalism and fighting, only adding to the tough, rebel-like exterior that they both possess. In addition to their rebellion, both are casted as religious figures in many ways (gathering faithful supporters, disregarding their own interests to better their supporters, etc.) but the most obvious is in the way that they die. Luke and McMurphy are both killed because of their strong refusal to bow to the will of authority figures. Despite these striking similarities, Luke and McMurphy are also very different. Luke is more quiet and reflective, while McMurphy is brazen and fearless. Their contrasting personalities allow them to gather their followers to fight authority with very different leadership styles; McMurphy continues to push forward relentlessly, while Luke is more calculated in his efforts.

Many groups used many different and useful techniques to make their messages into their video essays. In my group we went around the school interviewing students and teachers about what time school should start, and how many hours of sleep they get. We also did much research on the computer and look for other schools starting times, and how many hours students need to fully be awake and active throughout the day. Our group also included part of a music video as one of our techniques. Some other groups actually did experiments how long it takes them to get from one side of the school to their car, then back to the other side of the school. Some elements that I found most effective were the videos with experiments and interviews. Interviews shows points of view from many different people not just a couple, but from people around the school, including staff members. Experiments actually showed how this data can result in something bad, and how you can fix this. In “supersize me” a movie that we had watched over this trimester, he did an experiment to show how bad fast food is for you when you eat it every day for one month. The actor of “Supersize Me’ was Morgan Spurlock. Over the month he gain 30 pounds and increased heart disease. This experiment shows what can happen to you and shows results.

Our Last Blog

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Despite the different video editting software, the presentations were all the same. They began with some sort of music relating to the issue at hand,(Enter Sandman for A sleep related Video or Party in the USA for a Drinking Age video) and that music would dim and a voiceover would begin, introducing the issue. Music seems to break the "awkward" behind listening to somebody talk about something you don't care all too much about. Speeches are boring because there's no music. It gives you something to think about other than the topic at hand, and most of the time it's good music. But it also helps relate your topic to something your audience has already heard about. You don't play obscure music in your video, you play something that everyone's heard, so everyone can relate in some way to what you're trying to communicate. Using music and flying words and cool effects helps peek your audience's interest as well. Neat effects grab your audience's attention and they will be more interested in watching. Also, it shows that you put time and effort into your work, and if you put time into it, then it might be worth your audience's time. I found that eye grabbing transitions were very important. If you talk for a long time, and then subtly change topic, everyone who drifted off before will be completely lost, but if you have a bright flash, a loud sound, other such attention grabber, it will waken those who've drifted off, and it will grab the attention of your audience. Most people did straight videos, but several groups did powerpoints and prezis. Video's were more interesting and they grabbed the audience's attention better. After all, videos are generally interesting, for the reasons stated above. However, the prezis and powerpoints had much more information about the topic at hand. Facts were readily available and paragraphs are easier to pull information from than videos. Finding the correct balance between interesting content and good information is key to conveying your opinion effectively. Professional documentists typically had music introducing a new topic or "chapter" in their movies, as seen in Supersize Me, where a new "fat" based song was played when a new topic was introduced, like the obesity rate or school lunches. All in all, I enjoyed the product, it was fun being able to research something I care about, and while I don't believe the policy I selected will get changed, it's still nice to know that it's out there now, and possibly subject to change. I wouldn't change anything about the process, as we certainly had enough time both in and out of school to complete the project.

The groups used similar techniques to shape their messages in their video essays. Music helped to set the mood for certain scenes, some even had voiceovers playing during interviews or still frames of images. Creative editing played a large role in devoloping the persuasiveness of the arguments, and some groups used imagery to evoke emotions from the viewer. Transitions were also used to smooth over the period between changing scenes. I found that a combination of carefully chosen music, narration, transitions and imagery was the most effective at persuading and educating the viewer on the video essay's content. While watching the films, I also observed that the essays resembled Morgan Spurloch's approach to filming and editing 'Supersize Me'. Like Spurloch's film, they were informative, unbiased, and entertaining, as opposed to Michael Moore's 'Farenheit 9/11', which was heavily biased, emotionally driven, and a one-sided approach to preaching his message.

Video Essay Debreif A.K.A-final blog

I think that the 4 video essays that we watched yesterday were very insightful and interesting. All of the groups looked like they put a lot of work into their projects and were very passionate about their topic. One of the groups actually showed us why their rule about tardiness needs to be changed. They had Brad walk the length of the school at a steady pace and they recorded how long it took him. By the time he got to his class it was about 10 seconds past the 8 minute passing time. This really showed us that there is not enough time to get in between classes without being late. I also liked how the group that wanted to lower the drinking age used popular music to enhance the atmosphere of the video and to persuade us. I think that our group did a really good job on showing the side effects of getting less sleep a night. By showing side affects like acne, and a bad immune system, I think we persuaded the people in the audience to change the school start time. I think that the most effective way of persuading the audience was by personally telling people the downfalls of the subject if you don’t change it. I also think that the interviews of different students in the school were really effective because it showed us all what the kids in the school think. I think by interviewing people in our videos it related our documentaries to the one in “Supersize Me”. Spurlock went around New York asking people how much fast food they eat a week. We used this technique and asked kids how much sleep they got each week. Overall I think that these projects were a very good way of incorporating what we learned throughout the trimester into a video, and they were a good way to express our opinions on the topics we chose.

After watching the “One flew over the Cuckoos Nest” I noticed many differences between that and he book. Some of the events like when they played basketball were different. The book said that chief did not play basketball but in the movie I showed chief playing with them. Also I liked the movie much more because it actually put a picture in my mind of what the characters looked like, how they acted, why they acted that way. The movie was much more informative than the book. Usually when I read books I don’t get very good visuals of the characters and if they tell an event that had happened id like to see that event. Both the movie and the book were very good, some things were different here and there but overall it was filled with excitement from the beginning to the end.

Luke from Cool Hand Luke and R.P. McMurphy from “One flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest” are the same character in many ways. They both have the same character traits; they are both rebellions and poison to their bosses. Their bosses or Nurse Ratched, the evil mean nurse in the asylum in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” Luke, being the new man in the prison had to climb up the ranks, and eventually every other prisoner looked up to him and followed in his path. Luke was the king of the castle and the captain did not like it whatsoever. Luke tried to escape many times, but got caught twice and was brutally beaten. McMurphy was a man of the “Outside world,” which Nurse did not like at all. The nurse wanted to keep the outside world out of the ward as much as possible and when McMurphy showed up all them diminished. Both of these characters are the same because they are both rebellious, traitors, backstabbers, and just evil men who contradict the place where they are staying.

Cuckoo's Nest: Video vs Book

After I had watched “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” I realized that there were many differences in the movie and the book. First off, the book was narrated by Chief Bromden, the movie was more of a set narrator and it had each of the characters speaking in their own voice. I did like this touch in the movie more though because I think it added more spirit to the book and it enhanced the characters more. The movie also left out a few key events that the book had. It didn’t show the basketball training and game that McMurphy put on for the patients in the hospital. Cheswick was also not featured in the movie and they didn’t show his death. I think they should have put this in because it only added to McMurphy’s rebellious attitude to the nurse and her aides. Overall I think that Nicholson did a great job playing the role of McMurphy, he was always fired up in the movie and was never short of excitement throughout the film.

Luve Vs McMurphy

R.P. McMurphy and Luke in the novel “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and the film “Cool Hand Luke are very similar. One of the major similarities between the two characters was their rebellious character traits. It seemed like wherever McMurphy or Luke went they were rising up (or at least trying to) against their superiors. I believe this was because they wanted to establish their power in the situation they were in. I believe that the authors of the two stories tried to make the main characters almost “god-like” because they wanted to show us that there is always hope along the route you choose to take. McMurphy was always trying to get the men in the hospital to cheer up and go out with him; he also always showed the men that he was not afraid to stand up against authority. Luke was also a religious figure to his inmates at the ward because he always showed them how to have a good time and he was always in good spirits. Luke was also never afraid to stand up against the authority, even if it meant he had to spend the night in the box. I think that McMurphy was a lot more rebellious than Luke was; Luke was just there to do work and have a good time. I don’t think either of the men deserved the punishments they got in the end of the book.

Cuckoo's Nest: Book/Film Differences

My first reaction to the Cuckoo's Nest film was disbelief. The movie neglected so many things that were in the book, such as Cheswick's death, certain aspects of the fishing trip, even a few characters were left out. The film would have been more powerful and unique if it had been narrated from the Chief's point of view as it was in the book. Movies such as 'Pink Floyd The Wall' and 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' successfully incorporated strung out viewpoints from narrators under the influence of hallucinatory drugs that mimic schizophrenia. Including some of Chief's actual schizophrenic hallucinations would have made the movie more impressive. Also, Cheswick's death gave the book a more bleak and defeated tone that the movie did not have. His death/suicide emphasized the true power of The Combine. Jack Nicholson's acting did not capture all of McMurphy's true character. In the book, he was very vibrant, robust and outspoken, while in the film he seemed to be relatively quiet and even seemed relaxed at times.

Martyr For a Cause

Poor McMurphy and Luke, two troublemakers who really didn't deserve their fates. I really emphathized with McMurphy, and he didn't deserve the icepick. Nor did Luke deserve getting shot out of the blue. No warning and he even tried to surrender, but the main boss shot him down anyway. Despite their unfair demises, both men died for a cause. They gave hope to their fellow ward/inmates. Both represented an ideal that everyone else was afraid to go along with. They went against logic and authority just to mess with the system and get some laughs along the way. Society can be cruel sometimes, and it takes a few people to sacrifice themselves to cause change. People had to die for medical wards to be reformed and people had to die for prisons to be changed. It is unfortunate that these two likable characters had to die for changes that really should have been the initial model. I feel bad for McMurphy and Luke, and I wish there would have been a happy ending to both stories, but happy endings aren't always ment to be, and atleast they went out with a bang and they will be remembered for the good they brought to their friends. RIP McMurphy and Cool Hand Luke

Oh Boy! It's Halloween!

 Another day to go to bed early. I remember back when I was a kid and halloween was one of the best times of the year. I get to dress up and get free candy! What could be better than that? Now that I'm in high school, a lot of thing. I can sleep, which I did last night. I went to bed at 9:30. Something I rarely do. I did my homework, played some games, and went to bed. Besides the fact that the doorbell is constantly ringing, it felt like a normal night. Halloween doesn't have the appeal it used to. I now have to buy my own costume or make something, which I couldn't be bothered to do as I really don't have the time. I can buy a huge bag of candy for $5 so I dont have to go out and freeze to death, and I could be doing other things. Halloween really is a young kids' holiday, and I grew out of it. I remember the first year my dad said i was too old to go trick or treating. I was outraged. I thought that as long as i dressed up i should be able to go out. But 3 years later, I can see that I'm too old, There are more important things to do, like sleeping, or catching up on school work. Oh well, another halloween come and gone, and I hardly ever noticed

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

So far, I have really enjoyed Kesey's novel. His style of writing is very realistic and vivid, especially in the Chief's schizophrenic narration, which gives the book a unique touch. From what I have read so far, I do not think that Kesey's novel promotes misogyny, but I do find the characterizations of the black boys to be a bit outrageous. He accurately portrays the forces of conformity through the Combine and the Big Nurse's insidiously repressive nature.

Supersize Me

Spurlock's documentary effectively identified the problem and proposed a solution. He presented tons of supportive evidence about how and why Americans are obese (sugary, fatty foods and drinks in school cafeterias, lack of nutrition facts in fast food restaurants, enticing advertisements, etc...) Spurlock's solution to reduce obesity in Americans starts in school cafeterias nationwide. If healthier food options were presented to students, and unhealthy drinks and meals were eliminated, students would start learning healthy habits at a young age, reducing the chances of them becoming obese. Supersize Me was a well made, virtually unbiased documentary, and the sources interviewed were credible. Spurlock presented the facts about the harmful effects of McDonalds in a rational manner, but the artistic genius of the documentary was obviously creating negative (and sometimes creepy) imagery to help push Spurlock's point home.

Bullicide

Teasing is a byproduct of many adolescents lumped together in an enclosed area. The older species of the vile Snott-nosed Bratticus are often hormone crazed and angry, finding what they perceive to be flaws in others and relentlessly berating them for it. Such is the world of the high schooler...yet this is not necessescarily a good world to exist in. Victims of bullying have been pushed to kill others, but most common are cases of suicide, when they can't take the torture inflicted by their peers any longer. Unfortunately, not many bullies realize the effects of their 'innocent' actions, but harassment is truly in the eye of the beholder. Teasing someone may seem harmless, but it has the possibility to inflict deep, psychological damage. With such large gains in technology, we are only making bullies job's easier. Cyberbullying is a relatively recent trend in the way bullies torment others. It is all too easy to send a hateful message to that annoying girl with the big ears, or that one overweight guy. Cyberbullying is harder to police than the more traditional form of bullying, but it is still highly important to attempt to abolish it.

Bulling happens everywhere, in person, on the computer, on the phone, everywhere where people talk bullying happens. Bullying is everywhere in our society, you can’t stop it. The only way you know your pushing some kid to the limit of bullying, is when the kid commits suicide. You don’t know they could be really getting hurt cause they are always laughing with you when you make fun of them, then all of a sudden you don’t see that kid anymore, and you know it’s your fault. When tormenting happens it usually happens to the gay students. People call them gay, faggots, homo’s, many other hurtful things towards them. And this happens because they are not like everyone else; they are different from the society. The people who bears this responsibility to curb such behavior is their parents, students, teachers. Almost everyone. People see bullying everyday and nobody tries to stop it, but they just laugh at them and point fingers. Even though we have these “house rules” as Groves, it does not reduce bullying at all unless there is a teacher around to stop it. People don’t listen to kids especially teenagers.

College...Such stuff as dreams are made on.

October has been an extremely stressful month for me. After many frenzied trips to and from my counselor's office, answering awkward application questions about work visas and how many children I've had, and long hours spent filling out every minute detail of my academic career, I have FINALLY conquered the dreaded college application. After applying to five schools in the span of three weeks, I have been reduced to a nervous wreck. I still find myself jolting out of bed at three A.M., sweaty and muttering feverishly about deadlines and secondary school reports (just typing that sent my brain into a frenzy, ticking off items on my mental college checklist). I'm pretty sure that all of this college application hooplah is worth it, though. Living by my own rules, FREE from the reign of my household version of 'The Man'...oh yeah, can't forget about the degree thats supposed to get me a decent job. But in case you couldn't tell, I am mostly excited for a little taste of freedom. I never thought about what would be like, standing on the edge of my high school career. It's exhilarating. I think I know what is waiting for me on the other side, yet at the same time, I am a little remorseful as I watch my senior year slip past me. I have a feeling that life will only get better from here... provided that I don't sustain any major bodily injuries, or become addicted to crystal meth, or anything detrimental like that. Things are looking good.

STOP BULLYING

Today, unfortunately, bullying has become a very common sight in our society. We see it in school and out of school. Too much testing in and out of the school environment can lead to children committing suicide. I believe that there is a no tolerance rule for bullying, even being bullied once can hurt someone. I believe that it has to be a group effort to curb this bullying habit that many kids in our school and others across America have. The teachers have to be on the lookout for possible threats, and the students, as well have to stick up for their fellow classmates whether they know them or not. I believe that the groves house rules are a very good way to try to stop the bullying effect because they show all of the students in the school the rules that they have to live by if they are to go to the school. I think that the assembly that we will have on Thursday will be a good way to show us how to prevent bullying.

I'm Tired! I'm Tired! I'm Tired

High School classes should start later. 7:30 is just plain stupid. Why are the student who need the most sleep getting the least. The average high school student sleeps around 7 hours a night, and that is 2 hours below the average needed to succeed in high school. And to those who say that we can just go to be earlier, you cant really fall asleep at 9 pm, people simply arent tired yet. I have to get up at 6 to get ready and get myself set for the school day. Some of my friends have to get up at 5 or even 4 in the morning to catch the bus or go to swim practice. That's insane! Instead of starting before middleschool, at 7:30, we should start after elementary school at 9. School days would run 9 to 4 or something around that time area. Students would be able to sleep in and get a decent night's sleep. Extra curriculars wouldnt be a problem because the students would be able to stay up later. Even if this isnt a viable solution, the current model won't work. People in the first two hours look like zombies, and there is absolutely no enthusiasm. People with core classes in first hour simply cannot fuction well, and they are at a severe disadvantage to those at later hours.

Supersize Me

Morgan Spurlock’s movie supersize me demonstrates the hazards of eating too much fast food. I agree with Spurlock because throughout the movie the main character who is doing the 30 day diet of eating just MacDonald’s 3 meals each day, and cannot consume anything else that is not served over the MacDonald’s counter. Spurlock’s documentary does offer a solution: don’t eat fast food every day. It’s that easy, as seen in the movie that main character gains weight everyday and puts his heart to risk. This experiment I don’t think is that valid because people will eat stuff at their homes also, where the main character only eats MacDonald’s for 30 days, and only MacDonald’s. The part that I found most effective in Supersize Me was when the main character has to walk up the stairs everyday for work, and he notices throughout the experiment the stairs get even harder and harder to climb up every day he goes on with the experiment.

Supersize Me

I think that Morgan Spurlock’s experiment to see what McDonalds would do to your body image and health over the course of a month was a great idea. I think that it was a good idea that he carried out this experiment because it showed Americans what McDonalds and fast food would do to your body if you ate it for a month straight. I think that his experiment directly identifies the problem with fast food making Americans obese because it shows Americans that eating too much of fast food and not getting any exercise really wear down on your body. Throughout the movie we see Spurlock throwing up from all the fast food and we see his cholesterol levels rising very quickly. I think that he treated the issue fairly too because to get the point out to the country not to eat so much fast food he had to directly show them what would happen if you do. The part of supersize me that I found most effective was the final body image of Spurlock after his 1 month eating binge of McDonalds was over. To see how much fatter he had gotten was awful and it taught me to not eat fast food all the time.

Recruiting trip - University of Kentucky

I went on a recruiting trip last weekend the University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY. Both of my brothers, Tripp and Nick, go to the University of Kentucky, so I am looking there to go to college. I have always liked the University of Kentucky since my oldest brother was looking there. I am also planning on swimming there as a teammate to dominate the SEC’s. It’s a small campus, which is good for getting to class to class, but there are also a lot of students who attend there. On my recruiting trip we looked at every study building the campus has, the swimming pool, the dorms, apartments, roads, restaurants, name it and we went there. I stayed there for one night and I stayed in the dorms with my host. Every recruit got a freshman host and they stayed in their hosts dorms. There were a total of 10 swimmer recruits that had been there that weekend. There was also a football game that was going on against the Louisville Cardinals, UK rivals, so the game was also really fun to go to. We were able to go on the field because we were athletes. In the end I really liked the campus and everyone on the swim team because I will most likely seeing them every day in the pool.

Spirit Week

This year was the first year that I actually dressed up for all of the spirit week days, and competed in one of the games. The past three years of high school I guess I never really took the time to dress up for the days because I knew our grade wasn’t going to win. This year was different though, since we are seniors I knew that if we were going to assure ourselves a win we would need the vast majority of the grade to dress up. This year I really got into the whole dress up thing too, I went as far as buying costumes and accessories from the dollar store so I would look perfect on the dress up days. My favorite part of spirit week would have to be Thursday though. Thursday is field day and it is when you get to represent your class and wear your class colors. Students cake on face paint, and tie rope bands all over their heads and arms. The last 2 hours of the day are reserved for the games. Each grade competes in special games on the gym floor in front of their whole class. The gym is so loud from chanting and screaming that you can barley hear the person next to you. That is what makes spirit week so fun, what makes it even better is when your grade wins the bucket and gets to celebrate in a huge mob on the gym floor.

SuperSize Me!

I admire Morgan Spurlock's courage and dedication to his idea. Seeing how a one month McDonald diet will affect your health. But what good will come of it. Obviously the outcome is going to be you becoming rediculously unhealthy, hating your life, and regretting your decision. You dont need a medical degree to see that an all McDonald's diet will negatively affect your health. Why would he go through with it? There's no myth to test out, so why would he go through with such a crazy idea. Is 20 years of your lifespan worth making a video essay? To me it's not, but what do I know? All we need is a little logic to see that the concept of Super Size Me is a bad idea. On a side note, it's amusing that shortly after supersize me hit theatres, the super size size at Mcdonalds was removed. Maybe that was Morgan's goal. Showing the country what eating McDonalds actually does to your health may scare people away from fast food and they'll eat a little bit healthier. His movie didn't have too much of an impact however, as I ate McDonalds for lunch today. I had a 10 pc large McNuggets meal because they have little monopoly stubs. I could win a car, or a guitar, or a million dollars. I even won 2 free breakfast sandwichs (excludes egg McMuffin).

E-TRADE COMEERCIAL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4GZfvXx9Js

E-Trade commercials have become very comical and popular ever since they aired the commercial involving a baby talking about stocks during the super bowl about 2 years ago. The commercial that I have chosen was the first commercial they aired involving the “famous” baby with an older man’s voice. This baby talk to us about how it is easy to buy stock and he shows us how fast it can be to buy stock off of Etrade.com. This commercial in particular hits the buttons for very elementary skills. It shows a baby buying stock off of the internet so it shows us that if this child can buy stock so can we. It also hits the buttons for wealth. It hits the hot buttons for wealth because it shows us that the baby just bought stock and became wealthier at that moment. This definitely hits Americans in the heart because almost everybody in America wants the opportunity to become rich and have lots of money. This commercial may have been able to persuade lots of Americans to invest in stock off of Etrade.com. Not only will this help E*TRADE get business but it will help Americans become more satisfied.

Allstate "Mayhem"

Allstate is heard all around the world, and now is getting very comical lately because of “Mayhem.” Mayhem is your worst enemy because it does the worst things for you in every situation. In this commercial Mayhem is your blind spot, covering you from getting hit, but Mayhem doesn’t always look where he is going and lets the car ram right into the back of her car. These Allstate commercials are showing people that if you don’t have to right insurance you may be paying the damage yourself, which no one wants to do. Mayhem shows you all the bad things that could happen to you if you’re not covered. But when you’re covered none of this will happen and if it does you have Allstate to cover it for you. Allstate is trying to prove that they are the best insurance company in the world, and Mayhem helps them prove that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osPQhrnzNYk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4GZfvXx9Js

E-Trade commercials have become very comical and popular ever since they aired the commercial involving a baby talking about stocks during the super bowl about 2 years ago. The commercial that I have chosen was the first commercial they aired involving the “famous” baby with an older man’s voice. This baby talk to us about how it is easy to buy stock and he shows us how fast it can be to buy stock off of Etrade.com. This commercial in particular hits the buttons for very elementary skills. It shows a baby buying stock off of the internet so it shows us that if this child can buy stock so can we. It also hits the buttons for wealth. It hits the hot buttons for wealth because it shows us that the baby just bought stock and became wealthier at that moment. This definitely hits Americans in the heart because almost everybody in America wants the opportunity to become rich and have lots of money. This commercial may have been able to persuade lots of Americans to invest in stock off of Etrade.com. Not only will this help E*TRADE get business but it will help Americans become more satisfied.

The Man Your Man Could Smell Like

Old Spice appeals to a wide variety of people, and that is because of the commercials. This particular commercial hits on all of the things that make americans american. A handsome, muscular man talks about how your man could be like him. This man claims that all your man needs to do is use Old Spice body wash. The commercial hits the buttons for wealth. Diamonds come out of his hand "Anything could happen...". It also hits on the sensative man. Riding a horse, buying two tickets for "that thing you wanted to go to". It also hits the button for insatisfaction. A woman may be unsatisfied with her man simply because this commercial points it out. "Your man could be like me". You'd never think there were problems before, but now you're told there are problems because your man doesn't provide what this man does, a good time, wealth, and good looks.

Reptilian Hot Buttons

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v5HSdiyNbg
This ad for Cheerios features a caring grandmother and adorable baby. It makes consumers associate eating Cheerios with a sense of warmth, and long for a connection with family, which they think they can only achieve through buying and consuming the cereal.



This ad does not stimulate my reptilian brain, but I find it humorous all the same.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNDfreK0Yno

So It's Spirit Week...

What the hell is going on? People are wearing strange colors, ripping their shirts, painting their faces, yelling and screaming, and basically raising hell. What's causing this chaos to happen? Oh wait, it's spirit week. A week where people show their support for school by dressing up and support for their class by competing during field day. That's pretty cool, what are they competing for. A bucket?  That's it? hmmm, that seems pretty dumb. In all honesty, spirit week is kinda dumb. Logically, it makes zero sense. Dressing up is fun, i'll grant spirit week that, but the rest just seems dumb. Thursday is a mix of fun and confusion. Everyone dresses up in their class's color. That makes sense. Ripping shirts, painting faces, and screaming? Minus the screaming, that seems weird. How does ripping my shirt and painting my face show support for my senior class? Outside of showing my enthusiam for spirit week, it doesn't seem to support much because now I have a useless shirt and I have to a shower to get the paint off... Anyway, on to the games. The games are a fun way for the classes to compete, so that makes sense, but why are we competing for a bucket. Why not a giant trophy or a prize? There would certainly be more incentive to avidly compete. But now spirit week is over, and it's friday. The bucket has been won, and the class with the most spirit has been announced. It was fun, and being a senior, I'm glad to say that it's finally over. No more getting yelled at for not dressing up, and no more stress about winning a stupid bucket.

Spirit week 2012, SENIORS!

Craziest week of my life, spirit week. It’s my senior year and my last spirit week I am ever going to attend for a school. Seniors have the most spirit out of any other grade in the school. We have won 3 times in a row dressing up, and now we are in the lead coming up to win the bucket. Seniors always win the bucket. The bucket is like a trophy, the biggest prize during spirit week. Spirit week also consists of field day, a big events filled with many little events. Winner of field day is the winner of the bucket. And every year the seniors win it. There has only been one year where the juniors won and that was a couple years ago. My favorite spirit week dress up is toga. All the seniors every year have a day dedicated to wearing a toga to school. Since I was a freshman I’ve always wanted to wear a toga to school, and now I have.

College Life

           So I visited Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) over the weekend. It was an awesome school. Very intelligent people, distinguished professors, and many many fraternities. I stayed one night on campus, in an apartment specific to a fraternity. Despite the almost overpowering feeling of intellect coming from everything on campus, fraternities will be fraternities. People were drinking, they were 21 of course, but still. People were smoking pot, people were partying. And I didn't expect it. I expected a more tame college atmosphere from such a prestigous university. It certainly wasn't a party school, but it was still noticeable. I never mentioned anything to anybody, and i took everything from my experience in. Thinking about whether or not i would like to go their. I know I wouldnt get involved with the college party life, or atleast illicit party life. But i can't be sure. I expected everyone to be "clean". But people will be people I guess, and know that I think about it, I'm not surprised. People will always be people. People will drink, people will smoke, people will have sex. It will never change. I know that college is supposed to be the most fun time of your life, but stilll, i expected a cleaner experience from Carnegie Mellon

Tennis State Championships 2011

At the end of this week my high school tennis career will be over. I have been on the varsity tennis team at groves for 3 years and all of the years I have been on it have been very fun and interesting. Our coach is an ex-marine so it has gotten me in great shape. Our summer workouts are very intense and pay off during the season. Each year I also get to meet new teammates and compete against new players around the state. This year is the most enjoyable year by far because I got to play 1 doubles with Calvin Greer. We have had an outstanding season and have set ourselves up to be the # 2 seed at states. We have only lost 3 times this season so I am very happy with how far I have come since last season when I was playing 4 doubles. I am definitely sad that the high school season is going to be over but at the same time I am ready to start playing indoor USTA tournaments and looking into possibly playing college tennis.

Cultural Influences on Gender Identity

Society exerts great pressure on both men and women to conform to its standard of how they should look, live and act. Men are generally expected to be strong, confident, tough workers, while women are assigned the role of nurturers, and weak, emotional sexual objects. To an extent, these gender roles stem from natural characteristics found in each sex, but popular culture has greatly exaggerated them. Nature has hardwired men to be hunters, protectors and physically strong, and women to be nurturers, physically weaker and thinkers. However, their exaggeration in society can be potentially damaging. Boys try to prove their worth through being tough and unessescarily aggressive, all the while being rewarded by society for their negative behavior. This leaves us with legions of angry, potentially violent males, who have been wrongly influenced by our ideal vision of them.

10 years later

Since 9-11 happened 10 years ago I do not remember many of the events that happened during that tragic day in American history. I have gone throughout my life not thinking about the events that happened on that day because I know if I think about them they could possibly interfere with my life and give me a false mindset on what may happen in the future. I do not let these events get to me and I don’t try to think about them because they could prevent me from doing such things as riding on an airplane and going in skyscrapers. This year I did watch a bit of the anniversary and it was one of the few times that I got to see the images and videos of the world trade center collapsing. I am glad that I was only in 2nd grade when this happened because I think if I was older it would have affected me much more.
I agree with my other group members, I don’t think our culture has changed too much. The airline security and building security have become more picky and strict but other than that I think that America goes about its day as it usually does. Watching “On Native Soil “made me angry because I saw how poor the airline security was and how poorly the government dealt with the situation.

Cultural Influences on Gender Identity

Male and female are more of a person's description as opposed to their sexual designation. The words "man" and "woman" carry many more meanings to them than the parts God gave you. Men are tough, violent, and perform more physical jobs while women are sensitive, frail, and they work with cosmetics. Or so the stereotypes say. Everyone feels the need to attain one of these labels, regardless if their actual gender matches the label. The media instituted these labels. Movies, music, television and other forms of visual entertainment associated the qualities displayed by "men" and "women" with actual men and women, and because everyone blindly accepts the media's word, these stereotypes stuck for the worse. The notion that everyday people worship these ideals is disturbing. I dont know why women feel the need to look like Angelina Jolie on a magazine's cover page when they really have no chance in hell of doing so. The media set the stereotypes, but America's people implanted the idea that they have to look like "men" and "women". It cannot be done, and many people have hurt themselves trying to achieve these impossible standards. Steroids, plastic surgery, botox and many other appearance altering procedures have become the coveted thing to do these days. And it's very concerning. When people confine themselves to a certain idea, they fail to see the value of other ideas and ways of life. If a woman is devoting her entire being to looking like a super model, she will fail to see that she, herself, is pretty, has value, and has a place in society.

Gender Identity

The Media and the news have a big influence on the gender identity in many ways. Men have high expectations in the world. Men have to be “American”, they have to be bulky, good looking, big muscles just like all the guys in a magazine. Women think they have it hard on themselves of being skinny but it’s the same to guys we have to be held at a standard also. I’m not saying women have it easier because they don’t; women have it just as hard. Women in magazines like the magazine “People”, the women on the front are perfect. Perfect body, perfect face; perfect everything, and when women think they are not like that they become emotionally unstable. This is a problem in our society because this can hurt our country, people will judge people on how they look and that’s not how this society should be. But in this world men and women are going to have stereotypes no matter what, and we have to just face it, it’s going to be there.

Gender Identity

I think that the media, television, and the news influence our gender identity in a major way. I think that they influence our gender identity because in the media they always depict men and women the same way. No matter what news source it is coming from they always picture the “American” man as tough, and athletic. They always picture the “American” woman as an emotional person who is very into fashion and social life. I think that when citizens see these videos and images in the news it puts them in the mindset that if they want to be a man or woman they have to act like the people in the news. Sources like People Magazine thrive on gender identity because their magazine features all of the celebrities that people in the country want to be like. I think that this depiction of men and women in the media can hurt our country because it may make people feel like they can’t act like they truly want to while they are in public. I think that if the media were to cut back on the men and women stereotypes people may start acting differently in society, maybe men will show more emotion, and maybe women will be less emotional. But no matter what, in the end there are always going to be stereotypes in society so we just have to learn to live with them and express ourselves in our own ways.

Michael Moore Video

I do not think Michael Moore was too critical toward George W. Bush. Mr. Bush did not do anything when the first plane crashed into the twin towers at 9:00 AM on September 11, 2001. What he was doing when the plane had crashed was reading to a public school during all of this. People knew and they did not say anything to Bush while he was reading. I did not like Bush very much when he was in office; all he was doing when he was in office was going on vacations over and over. He was in the white house then later he was on vacation for 3 weeks. In the movie he had gotten interviewed and someone asked what he does when he goes on vacation, he could not respond to that, he was stuttering, not knowing what to say. I feel like Mr. Moore did not take this movie to the next level, he had to be the one to show everyone, and wake them up, to know what Mr. George W. Bush had done while in the oval office.

Michael Moore video

I first want to start off saying that I am a moderate conservative. I did support bush when he was in office as president. Now, I didn’t support every little thing he did, but overall it think that he did a good job in office. What most people don’t understand is how stressful the job running a whole country is. It wears down on you physically, mentally, and emotionally. I think that Michael Moore took this documentary/video essay he made way too far. I think that he was basically trying to destroy George W bush’s career in office and he was trying to make the public despise him and all other republicans that were running for office. I think that Moore portrayed the events of 9/11 and how George bush handled them wrong to the public. He said that bush was just reading to children even though he knew that national icons were being attacked. I am positive that even though George bush wasn’t in New York he was trying to handle the situation as best as he could. Moore’s video is an uncalled for attack on the former president.

A Misunderstanding or a Misrepresentation?

Despite being a very liberal liberal, I did enjoy seeing the most recent GOP president defamed on the Big Screen. First off, I'm not fan of our Ex President Bush, I did not agree with his platform and his way of operating the White House. However, producer Michael Moore took his anti Bush campaign a little too far. Running a country is a very stressful job, and it is taxing on anyone who takes up the job. President Bush had the courage to take up the job and he deserves a lot of respect for doing so. Michael Moore shows George W. Bush no respect. He pays no attention to the work that Bush actually accomplished, instead only focusing on his failures. Michael Moore isn't displaying his discontent of Bush's presidency, He is attempting to destroy Bush's career. Michael Moore presents no logical argument for Bush's failures, he instead seeks to present Bush in a very moronic and situational light. "For seven whole minutes, Bush read My Pet Goat to the children" and many such quotes litter Michael's film. Michael focuses on situational news clips that by themselves make Bush look bad, but Michael deliberatly leaves out the larger picture of Bush's presidency because the larger picture reveals Bush to be a competant president. Bush wasn't just vacationing in the South, he was working. Bush is also correct in saying that work doesn't need to be conducted soley in the White House. Michael's Ad Hominim attack on Bush is disrespectful and innaccurate. Michael disregards the challenges of the job and the fact that sometimes mistakes are made. Where Michael could have filmed a movie that logically and accurately showed the failures of the Bush administration, he instead chose a disrespectful attack on Bush's character, which had no impact on 9/11/01

The years to come...

I agree with Lucas and Sydney. I think that the only way that people are going to be able to become successful in the future will to be familiar with technology. If social networking websites are already booming in today’s world, think of how prevalent they will be in the future. In order to be successful in the job field you choose to have in the future, whether it is in the medical field, the business field, or the teaching field you will need to know how to use a computer to the fullest of its ability. The world will not stop progressing in terms of technology so it is essential that we keep up with it and educate ourselves about it. In the future I believe that computers will be able to run almost anything in the job field, this will help out nation succeed even more because we will be able to be more efficient and advanced. I think that if technology does not keep advancing yearly our nation could be headed toward a downfall, that is how important technology is in our lives.

The Years to Come...

     In order to be successful in the years to come, everyone will need to be familiar with technology. Particularly communications media. Systems such as twitter, facebook, and skype are easy ways to communicate with people all over the globe, and they won't be dying off any time soon. Businesses use facebook and twitter to advertise and give information, classrooms can use skype to communicate across the country. Technology is becoming more prevelant in today's society and in order to succeed, everyone will need to be adept in the use of technology. We live in the era of information, where computers control almost everything. The skills of the mechanical age are becoming less useful in today's world. People don't need to work on assembly lines anymore, they need to be able to run the computers that manage the assembly lines. People need to be able to troubleshoot their computers and know how to fix rudimentary problems. Our generation is certainly adept in the field of technology. Most teenagers know more about computers than their parents, and a good portion of teenagers have built their own computers. Outside of being taught how to type and run the Microsoft Office programs, most of the knowledge to run and fix technology comes from experience. Reading the wikipedia page on how to program a certain function is the way of learning. Sooner or later, everyone will need to be able to understand their computers, because they are becoming the backbone of our world.

10 Years Later

I had always stayed away from 9/11. I was too young to remember it when it happened, and since then I never really looked into it. I know what happened, and I'm aware of the communication failures that led to this disaster, but I never watched a program about it. I didn't watch the commemorations yesterday, on the 10th anniversary. I guess I never wanted to get involved with it, or think about it. I was perfectly content going on with my everyday life. I had other concerns: School, friends, that new videogame coming out. This may be because I was 7 years old, but I'm sure that others older than me felt the same way. No one wants to stay focused on disasters and depressinge events for long periods of time, and as tragic as 9/11 was, it is no different.
As for changes since 9/11, I wouldn't say there has been a huge culture change. Comedy remains the same, music remains the same. There may have been a rise in patriotic media for several weeks or months after the disaster, but there has been no cultural change that has lasted these 10 years other than security. I can no longer go to Canada without a passport. I must remove my shoes when I go through airport security. The elderly and the youth of our nation are subject to pat downs, and there's no need to go into the controversy behind that. Our security has been drastically improved. Such a tragic would surely spark such change, but why was such a tragic event necesarry to cause change? Why did 3,000 people have to die for airports to develop efficient security measures? Why was an attack on the world's superpower necesarry to get people to do their jobs properly?