Select any exhibit and analyze it with 150+ words. Use the "Critical Lenses 101" handout. Use at least three terms/words from the "Critical Lenses 101" flexbook that you haven't used before. Look in the EXACT way the "Critical Lenses 101" handout tells you to as a critic. Ask the EXACT questions the "Critical Lenses 101" handout tells you to ask. Have the "Critical Lenses 101" handout with you as you study your exhibit and as you write this blog task. If you do not refer to the "Critical Lenses 101" handout enough or effectively, your grade will be cut in half because you are not following directions and are not thinking in the directed way.
Also, add 150+ words response to Professor Patrick Hicks's presentation today. Did you learn? Do you look forward to college more now? Will you use critical lenses in classes taught by Hicks and others? (If you do this blog task far in advance, type your predictions for the visit by Prof. Hicks. What will professors be like? Heard a lot? Ready for them?)
“EXHIBIT” = novel, play, song, job, sculpture, film, poem, concert, painting, myth, sketch, poster, artwork, photograph, t-shirt, television show, biography, board game, military situation, college visit, speech, advertisement, event, place/building (school, office), game, brochure, practice, rehearsal, ritual, haircut/style, website, routine, suit coat, celebrity
This is a picture from Half Nelson, a phenomenal film starring Ryan Gosling (of The Notebook) about a great teacher who is also addicted to harmful, horrible narcotics.
105 comments:
Petersen_2
For my blog I will be analyzing a song by Dan Le Sac, “Thou Shalt Always Kill”. In the song the artist Dan Le Sac gives list after list on what a person should do such as this excerpt, “Thou shalt not buy Coca-Cola products. Thou shalt not buy Nestle products. Thou shalt not go into the woods with your boyfriend's best friend, take drugs and cheat on him.” He also mentions “Thou Shalt think for yourselves.” From what I picked up from this song and hearing other songs by DLS, and looking through a Freudian lens, I feel that he is trying to be his own person. He doesn’t like to do what his fans like or want, he does what he thinks is good what he feels is right to rap about. He doesn’t want to conform to the norm. In his music video he is in a formal suit and styling a full beard. In a sense he is mocking conformity. He mentions that you are to kill in this or kill that. Many kids are picking up that kill is not in the form of killing a person or a being of existence. They believe that kill is to excel in something. If I’m going to kill something, I’m going to do amazing in what I do. He tells you subliminally in his lyrics that you have to be your own person and go against what others want of you and do what’s right. Don’t do drugs. Don’t cheat on each other. Don’t buy products everyone else buys. Buy what you want, do what you want, do the right thing. Looking in the Marxist lens now, I feel that since DLS wants you to do well. Either he wants everyone to be rich and do well in society so we are all famous; we are all stars in our own lives. Or he wants a bunch of potential dictators running around. Seeing as he wants to go against conformity that would make sense he wants a bunch of Mussolini running around or Hitlers or other powerful, rich dictators. But I feel he is for the first bet. He wants everyone to be the star of their own life. It shouldn’t matter if others are wealthier than you. As long as you’re happy and win your own life then you are set on the pursuit of happiness. A Feminist might look at this song as being a tad sexist since almost all the bands he mentions in the song have all men members. Are women not important or good enough to mention in a song? All those bands in the song are amazing and well known all around the world. Women have made a huge difference in the world of music and in general. So why don’t they get credit. He talks like he was cheated on when he mentions that you shouldn’t go into the woods with your boyfriend’s best friend and take drugs and cheat on him. Does he have a grudge against women? Other than that fact there is not much to base on for the Feminist lens. To end this blog im going to use part of the song, “Nirvana...Just a band. The Pixies...Just a band. Oasis...Just a band. Radiohead...Just a band. Bloc Party...Just a band. The Arctic Monkeys...Just a band. The Next Big Thing..JUST A BAND.” The Next Big Thing? It doesn’t exist according to the lyrics because it’s just this or just that. But that won't stop us from looking for something greater does it?
Hanson 6
For my blog task this week, I am choosing to analyze the student presidential election that just took place within the school. I’m going to start by looking through a Marxist lens. I asked the question: ‘do any characters climb the social/economic ladder? Why? How?’ If asked who Jeff Maassen was, I can guarantee that about 95% of this school would know who he is and what he does. He plays football. Football is a very prominent sport here in Brandon, and Jeff is a good player; so people know who he is. For the other three candidates, that is not so much the case. They are not climbing the social ladder like Jeff is. They are consistently stuck at the bottom because they aren’t the star athlete or the most popular ‘plastic.’ People just don’t know who they are as well, but it is their job to get known. From the feminist lens, I asked myself ‘does gender affect how this election turned out?’ When we look at past student elections, there has only been one president that was a female out of many, many elections. Real presidential elections we have never had a female president; we have never even had a female that ran for president. What is it about girls that make us incapable to lead? Men just think they are the best; they are better at everything. That’s what they think and as a female I am ready to prove them so wrong. When we started this student election I was not one bit exited. I figured it would be one big popularity contest so it was not worth even trying to win against Jeff. But with a cardboard cutout and some funny commercials, I guess anything is possible.
As for professor Hicks, I have heard from my brother a little bit about how different each professor is. He says some our outgoing and blunt, but others are fairly conservative and must have it done their way, or no way. I have heard both bad and good about professors, and as much as I would only like to hear about the good ones, I must prepare myself for both. I hope that on Tuesday when Professor Hicks comes that he explains a little bit to us about what the book 1984 is all about. I am unfamiliar with it and I would love to have some background opinions, not background information. So many times teachers give us an overview of a book to inform us about the plotline, but I want to hear about what people thought of it and how they reacted when they read it. I think that Professor Hicks will do that and I am excited to find out.
Zins 7
For my exhibit I have chosen to analyze the State Cheer and Dance Competition. Looking through the Marxist Lens we see that the social classes are split up by the teams who win all the time and the teams who are good, but just not as good as the first place team. The teams that win all the time are snottier and more “plastic” to the teams who don’t win all the time. Teams climb the “social ladder” by winning more and more competitions and having clean, sharp routines. There are a lot of social tensions because the teams that don’t always win want to be the team that always wins. The ruling class is definitely happy because they are winning and that is what they come to do.
In the Feminist Lens we see that this exhibit is FULL of women. This is a role that our culture has put us in because women are not as “capable” of sports, when in reality, cheerleading is a very physical and challenging sport.
Many teams in the exhibit satisfy their id because they are cocky and bratty. Going through the minds of the people who participate in this exhibit we see that they are excited, wanting to win, and thinking of everything they can do to save their stunt, jump high, and land their tumbling.
I suspect that professor Hicks will talk to us about how college will be, how challenging it will be, and how important it will be to learn how to study independently. I have heard from my sister that all professors are different and they do not help you and hold your hand through everything. Most professors want you to think critically and do things on your own on your own time, not theirs. I have heard that professors can be very mean and they can be very nice. To be honest, I do not think I am ready for a professor yet. I am still a little hesitant of my work and do not know what to think of most of it when I am finished with it. I am shy when it comes to things that I do and that are important and are worth a lot of points.
Taylor Garner Pd. 2
For this blog task I am going to analyze the classic Disney cartoon Oliver & Company. This movie is about poverty and how the poor get into trouble while trying to stay alive. Oliver is left on the side of the street in a box in New York City with his brothers and sisters. The only problem with Oliver is that he did not win the genetic lottery. Oliver’s brothers and sisters are natural pretty colors while he is bright orange. This prevents Oliver from being taken home by an owner. While roaming the city he runs into Dodger who is a dog symbolizing a homeless man stealing food. This movie was written to be in modern times so there is no depression going on. It just shows how some people are not as well off as others. Oliver finds some place he fits in and is taken in by the rest of the homeless clan. He meets Fagin who is the homeless poor human that is taken care of by the dogs. Fagin made a deal with a very powerful rich man, Sykes, and cannot pay the price now. Sykes represents the big businesses that control and over powers the little local businesses (Fagin). Sykes had Fagin get himself in such a bind that he would never be able to get out. He likes the control he has. This shows how money equals power. Sykes is greedy and feeds off Fagin to get the fulfillment he desires. Fagin and the dogs are not happy where they stand. They live in an abandon boat shed and all their furniture is junk they found lying around. All of them have hopes and dreams and wish to follow a more successful path, but for the time being they are living their life to the fullest.
Brianna Bly Pd. 6
I will be analyzing the Disney movie Cinderella through a Marxist lens for my blog task. After her father dies, Cinderella is forced to work for her bourgeoisie stepmother. It is quite obvious that Lady Tremaine has no interest in her lovely stepdaughter after she loses all of her wealth. Cinderella is convinced by her oppressive system to keep doing the miserable work that she does for the system. She is led to believe that what is good for the system is good for her, which is definitely not the case. Her oppression gradually gets to the point where she dreams of leaving and knows the life she’s living isn’t for her. While her stepsisters get to sleep in extravagant bedrooms and have the finest clothes, Cinderella is situated in the attic and has one outfit. Though she lives in poverty, she is happy with what she has. Without even realizing it, she lives as if she is a superstructure. Is there tension between Anastasia, Drizella, and Cinderella? Does Cinderella climb the social ladder when her Fairy Godmother gives her the opportunity to wear a glamorous dress and to meet the prince? Are Drizella and Anastasia truly happy?
I have not had the opportunity to meet Professor Patrick Hicks’s yet, but I am looking forward to it and feel it will be an informative presentation. I have heard about several different professors, mostly about professors from SDSU. They are all brilliant and opinionated. I will have to adjust to each professor’s preferences, and I know I will enjoy taking classes from them. With the classes that I am taking this year, I feel I will be better prepared for college and what it has to offer. After reading through a few of Professor Hicks’s works, I can tell that he is passionate about what he does. I am sure everything he informs us about will be able to help us in the near future. Being thankful that we’ve been given the chance to learn about lenses, I know I will do well in college with the knowledge that College Bound has given me.
Phillips Period 7
I have chosen the book Elevenbane to analyze. It is a story told from a teenage girl’s perspective. She was to die because she was the daughter of a male elven overlord and a concubine. The ladies of the court are elves as well but are only used to produce heirs and live in loveless marriages. I don’t think it is fair that a man has such power over women let alone over the races of his own and human alike. The concubines are trained from birth for it is then that they give the most potential; Shana’s mother was trained and favored by her overlord, one of the rival trainees became jealous and sought to destroy the higher concubine by simply not putting the anit-pregnacy drug in the head concubine’s food. She became pregnant and fled after hearing that her overlord had sentenced her and their unborn child to death. After the half bred was born she was adopted into a family of dragons run by a female shaman. Its odd how the roles reverse so often in the story from man to woman and woman to man; why don’t the concubines just find the courage to fight against their lords along with the help of the severents, gladiators and all of the others in the house under the demanding eye of the elf? Why is it the id of the man or of the woman always end up seeking a way to destroy the other? Obviously women are prized and value while the human men are simply used as guards, halfbreeds are far more powerful then their elven sires and human mothers combined, on top of that the humans could just band together. No none of them do such a thing do to fear and “government” control. If they are loyal to the system, is said system loyal to them?
Brian Fickbohm Pd.7
Since the Freudian lens is my lens of choice, I will use the Freudian lens to examine 1984, the novel we are reading independently. I have not read exceptionally far into the novel, but I will theorize on what I have read so far. As far as I have read, I can easily observe that Winston is finally rejecting his Superego and giving in to his Id, when he starts to write in the diary, and when he starts to ask the old man at the pub about life before the revolution. He has realized that the rule of BB is not the cheery and happy life that the press says it is, though he already knew this, he was not making any form of acknowledgement until the point that the reader starts the book. Winston is always quoting what he wrote in his diary, “If there is hope, it lies in the proles”, it seems to me that he has an envy for the proles, for they have a simple life, where their only care in the world is the Lottery, if I was in his position, I guess I would too.
To answer the question, did I learn from Professor Hicks, yes I did. I have learned that George Orwell is not simply a learned author from a prestigious college in England. George Orwell truly had a life that gave him the knowledge that makes his books have proof and passion. He experienced cruelty, poverty, war, all of which he involves in one way or another in the books he has written. I can now say that I do look forward to college, I feel like I am already getting college experience from your classes, probably why the name of the class is College Bound English 12, and I think that by the time I graduate from your class, I will be ready for almost anything that college can throw at me. I thank you for your brilliant teaching ability and your concern for our individual thoughts and problems.
Austin Hanson
Period 7
I will be examining the silver back gorillas in nature. The silver back gorilla lives in groups with one leader, has the women take care of the children and is only used as property to mate with. The silver back gorilla has a definite class structure with the alpha male silver back gorilla at the head of it all. This gorilla will kill any baby that is not his to show dominance over the band (the group of gorillas). The use of money in the silver back band is that the stronger you are and the more you can fight for your food the more you get so in this instance food is money. To climb the “social/economic ladder” you must compete with the alpha male often to the death to claim your dominance over the band. In the band of gorillas the women play a vital role but also just play the “motherly role”. They just take care of the young and look after the young and are treated like property to the alpha male as he sleeps with many of the females in the band. The females often face oppression against the alpha male because if the child is not his child he will often kill it and eat it while the females just watch this happen.
Today in class I was greatly impacted by Prof. Hicks and did an insurmountable amount of learning. He taught us much of the background of who George Orwell, or Eric Arthur Blair, was. This is a crucial part of understanding 1984 and proved to spark epiphanies within myself on why this book was wrote and how it was written so intellectually. This lecture today made me look forward to college even more because I am now feeling confident about being there because he told everyone in the class that he was teaching like a college coarse and it was fairly easier than what I had expected. Also it was of great interest to me of how studying abroad was such a great opportunity because I have been to Barcelona, and stood at the George Orwell Plaza and there is a artwork piece in his name there, I am just that much more interested in going to a foreign country to study and explore this vast world. I think that while in Hicks class or any college Prof. class I will do much analyzing in a Marxist, Freudian, and Feminist lens whether I want to or not. Looking at objects through lenses is a crucial part of how humanity is so advanced because we do not just live in this world we dare to ask the question why and look at different exhibits through different lenses.
Koens
Pd. 3
I am choosing to analyze the Disney movie Aladdin. Through the Marxist lens you would see Aladdin, a street urchin who meets Princess Jasmine. They meet because she is in the city undercover, escaping her rich life. They fall in love with each other, but because of the ideology of this story she can only marry a prince. Aladdin is in a lower class of people than Jasmine so this makes it difficult for Aladdin to marry Jasmine. In this movie money is everything but freedom. Jasmine, because she has money, wealth, and is a princess, she cannot marry whoever she wants and has duties to fulfill. Aladdin finds a genie in a bottle and wishes to become a prince so they can have a chance. He wants to be “better” in a higher class to marry Jasmine. In this story social class is everything. A princess has to marry a prince. Any other man would not be worthy enough for the princess. Because of this Aladdin is “suffocated” and not able to marry Jasmine until the end when Jasmines father realizes they are in love and wants his daughter to be happy. This Disney movie demonstrates the Marxist lens phenomenally.
Today Professor Patrick Hicks spoke to our class. His presentation was very insightful to the book 1984 and what college will be like. I learned a lot from is presentation. He talked all about world war one and how important it was to the writing of 1984. He also mentioned dystopia and explained to us why many book in the 20th century were written this way. It was all the writers knew and saw for the future. They were warnings to future generations as to what could happen without any peace in the world. He made me think about the book 1984 in a different perspective, though I am only about half way through the book. This presentation made me very excited for college, not that I wasn’t before. I believe that all professors are look for critical lens uses and will use them throughout college. Overall I very much enjoyed Professor Patrick Hicks’s presentation.
Shabino pd.6
I am going to do my exhibit on the show the new adventues of old christine using a marxist lens. In this show a medium class single mom has her son enrolled in a high class private school where all the other moms are rich and don't have to work. The rich mothers are in power at this school. They don't have to work so they have time to take control of school events. They have all the wealth and power and flaunt it by making fun of christine. Cheistine is looked down upon by the rich and she envies them. But also the rich envie her "simple" life. She doesn't have to wory about popularity, looking good, or trying to be the best. She also doesn't have to worry about backstabbing and being careful what she says There are so called battles between christine and the rich moms in setting up school events. Or who can make it to all of the events.
I did learn a lot from patrick hicks. I am more interested in the concept behind 1984. Looking at it from a nazi power or a struggle between two bad people makes it greatly more interesting and the fact that goldstein is opposing the big brother program like the jews were though they should do against hitler. It maKes it a much more interesting story. Also george orwell is a much more interesting person than I believed. I learned that he was a police officer for 5 years and even joined the spanish civil war. Also that orwell was dieing when he wrote this so its believed he put his whole heart into this book. I am much more excited to go to college now after listening to patrick. The freedom the teachers get means it is a whole new style to get to know. Also the many oportunities available will be great. I am very interested in taking a quarter or semester in another country.
Mitzel pd. 6
I chose a Katy Perry album cover for my 'exhibit.' On her newest album is a picture of her sitting on a lawn chair with little clothes on. She looks relaxed but dangerous. Katy is sucking on a piece of straw making her look seductive and wild. She is also wearing a large, sombrero looking blue hat. At the bottom of her cover, it says, 'One of the Boys.' Feminist would analyze Katy's cover with grace and beauty. Katy looks relaxed and happy. She is enjoying what all girls love, a day out in the sun. 'One of the Boys,' makes me think of mud, sweat, and videogames but Katy is showing none of these things. Katy is showing poise, passion, love, and seduction in her album cover. How does gender matter/function in this exhibit? Even if you took away the name and her face/body, you would still know it is a girl's album. The fringy blanket, white picket fence, pink CD player, and flowers all give off a feminine vibe. Katy Perry is portrayed as rich and powerful. Her body language suggests that she wants to be playful but in a dirty way. Are there any sexual symbols? Yes, her body language looks seductive.
I really appreciated the talk with Professor Hicks today. I am into the book a little ways but some things still were confusing me. I now understand more about George Orwell and his message in 1984. Before 1948, the world had suffered many losses like WWI, Spanish Flu, Great Depression, WWII, and the holocaust. Each of these events led authors to write 'dystopian' novels. Novels about the wrong kind of society. What we did not want the world to become but we wanted a happier change. I learned that George Orwell was dying while he wrote this book. He knew he had to leave an impression and it would be his last chance. Orwell put everything he had left into making this book great. He wrote about his experiences in war and living in poverty. Professor Hicks stated, 'you learn something from failure unlike success.' I thought this was a great quote. You do learn so much more from a failure, you try to change your ways and grow to be a stronger person in life. I do look forward to college and more analyzing with teachers/professors help.
Logan p.6
I am going to analyze the ritual of Christmas. Christmas in my opinion is the best time of the year and I am very much obsessed. People all over the world celebrate Christmas but everyone celebrates it differently.
When looking through the Marxist Lens you notice that money does matter during Christmas. During December many company’s send out flyers and catalogues with all the new and favorite items. This is a big hit with children as they prepare to write their wish lists to Santa or their parents. When children and adults go back to school or work they brag and show off their new presents they have received. The better the present the higher on the social ladder they will be. Greed is a feeling many if not all get during this holiday, wishing you got what other people got. If you have a better job, you are going to give bigger and better presents therefore more people will like you. If your parents make more money you will get more expensive and better presents. When you have better presents more people will want to come to your house and you will virtually become more popular. These are the ruling classes, and because of it they will appear happier and well off. The lower classes that don’t have the highest paying jobs or the wealthiest parents don’t buy or receive the best presents. A big question to ask in this situation would be this: Does money create happiness?
When looking through the Feminist Lens you think about the character of Santa Clause and his wife Mrs. Clause. Santa is very popular and everybody likes him the most! He is the head of the workshop and deliverer of the toys. Santa is in charge of checking the list twice and making sure every child gets what he or she desires for Christmas. What about Mrs. Clause? What does she do while Santa is managing the North Pole? The natural role of men is to be the provider and head of the house hold. With Santa as the head of the house hold Mrs. Clause is portrayed as lazy and unnecessary. Santa subjugates Mrs. Clause and the elves at the North Pole; making sure everybody is doing everything perfect and how he wants it.
When looking through the Freudian Lens the id most definitely comes into play. Stores put out endless items that are too hard not to buy. Christmas just puts you in the buying mood with all the good deals and new items. Your ID takes over when shopping and tells you to buy this and buy that. Your superego says, “No you don’t need that, you need to save your money!” Presents can’t possibly make you happy; they leave you wanting more and more. People get all caught up in buying and lose the real meaning of Christmas.
I very much enjoyed listening to Professor Patrick Hicks today. I am not very far into the book yet and he gave me a better understanding about the background and about the author. 1984 will challenge me and make me think below the surface. George Orwell seams very interesting to me thanks to Professor Hicks. He talked a lot about Orwell’s life and why he wrote the book. Orwell wrote the book with the knowledge that this could be his last novel. I don’t think I personally could’ve found the words to say knowing that this would be the last. I am looking forward to college and the challenges it brings. I know classes will be tough but it will only make me a stronger writer and thinker. I know that professors will look for the lenses when writing different papers for classes. I am beginning to understand each lens and it has definitely improved my writing. Professor Hicks told us today that success comes from individual responsibility. Being responsible and trying my hardest will help me succeed in life.
Taylor Garner Pd.2
Response to Professor Hicks visit
I am extremely excited and nervous for college. Professor Hicks stated that in a college class the professors say their peace and then leave the classroom open for questions or discussion. If that is how all classes are than I feel prepared. I was nervous before, because when I imagine a college professor I imagine someone gruff and mean who throws an assignment at you and expects you to figure out a way to get it done. After meeting Professor Hicks I feel that my prediction was a little far out there. As long as all professors are nice and friendly I’ll be just fine. I want to be a frequent traveler and possibly study abroad so I thought that was interesting that he has lived so many other places and gone to different countries with students. From the way he described how he teaches it sounds very familiar to how Mr. C teaches. I imagine that yes we will be using all the lens and using different perspectives to look at everything in a variety of views. I am not very far in the book 1984, but from the background he gave and from little details he explained I think that I will understand the book better. I appreciate Mr. Hicks taking time out of his busy schedule to come and visit with us.
Mork, pd 2
For this blog task I will be analyzing Monsters Inc through a Marxist Lens focusing mainly on the scare monsters for instants Sully and Randall, and there assistants for instants Mike. In this movie the upper class is the “scare monsters” and the lower class is there “assistants”. The scare monsters get all the credit and attention in the movie and all they do is scare poor instants children. When the ones doing all the actual work like getting and activating the doors also doing the paper work are lower class. Therefore the question “are characters given more/less freedom by their class” the answer is yes because the scare monsters have way more freedom then their assistants in that all they have to say is boo and there assistants do their paperwork. Although when it comes to how do the social classes interact with each other they actually interact quite well.
Today in class with Prof. Hicks coming in and talking to us I learned a lot of stuff behind the novel 1984 for example why and when it was written so in studying a great English novel I also learned some history as he talked a lot about the war that was going on in that time period which was WWII. To answer the question of am I looking forward to College more then I was before my answer would be not really I do feel like I should be just fine and I’m not as worried but I still feel that College is going to be more then I am ready for. With your question of using the lenses I most definitely think that I will use them because I think just reading the 101 handout makes me think harder so yes I will use the lenses in college to help me view more things in different perspectives.
Halter pd. 2
For my blog I will be analyzing the begging of the movie The Princess Bride. This is one of my all time favorite movie. The feminist lens would look at Buttercup and see that she loved to torment the farmer boy at the beginning of the movie. Showing that see is in charge. She is also looked at as bossy, beautiful, smart, semi impatient and determined. The farm boy Wesley works for her and her father on her farm. He has lost the environmental lottery from being poor, but he has won the genetic lottery with his charming good looks and sharp brilliant mind. The Freudian lens would see that when buttercup bossed the farm boy around was because she had a strong attraction towards him. Wesley desire for Butternut is companionably deep and is poured out in those simple words, “as you wish” he would say. What he really meant was I love you and she soon came to realize that as you wish was actually I love you. The Marxist lens sees that the two come from a very poor environment, and no government but ruled by a sly, self absorbing, wicked king.
I enjoyed having Professor Patrick Hicks's as a guest speaker today. He was fantastic! I admired his passionate speaking and how he knew what he was talking about and could answer any question that was thrown at him. He helped me to further understand the book 1984 and really loved the background information on the author and what he has been through. I also believe that hearing personal experiences can really enlarge one’s mind on different aspects of life and the books that they read, and even give a clearer understanding. He was well prepared for the class and was very comfortable. I learned that researching an author and their experiences can help explain why he/she wrote some of their books and what their perspective on it is. I am in between about my emotion on going to college, an after listing to Professor Patrick Hicks I am pretty excited to go to college now and go thought the different kinds of classes and absorb the new information in. And I will definitely use my critical lenses in my classes.
Kramer pd.7
Today I am examining a basketball team in general through a Marxist lens for my blog task. When you see a team playing together fluently and knowing what the next move his or her teammate is going to make, that is when you know those five players on the floor are “one “team in a sense. Just like with anything in life it takes one to ruin it for the rest, that is when you ask, is this system oppressive towards its members? In basketball, you have to be, either you “buy into” the team and program or go home and let someone who wants to work hard for something bigger than themselves. How do social classes interact with each other? In this case, it would be the difference in grade levels, if you are a sophomore and you are good enough to play on the varsity team you still have to prove yourself to the juniors and seniors. By gaining the respect of your teammates you are seen as being a part of the team, you were a part of it before but now are seen as an equal at least as a player on the court. Last, can the upper/ruling members ruin the system for the up and coming members? If a leader or senior player wants to bring the team down eventually everyone will fall, it could hurt players and the team overall for years to come after they are gone. We all learn from those around us and when we see how someone else can get away with the least amount of effort possible why should not we be able to do the same.
With Professor Hicks today I learned a lot about all that Eric Arthur Blair went through and did in his life leading him up to his last book of 1984. I saw how George Orwell thought that the inheritance of money was the worst thing that could happen in a person’s life, he believed we need to have our own experiences either leading to our own wealth or getting by with what you have. Professor Hicks said in college we would be expected to do a complete analysis over 1984 in about a week, which blew me away. That did not make me look forward to college anymore hearing that but then seeing how everything would be more relaxed and on your own does not seem too bad either. Will I use critical lenses in classes like those that Professor Hicks teaches? You have to use the lenses to see how everything works for or against each other in a certain conflict, and since we are using lens to analyze and create epiphanies now it should just overflow to college.
Edwards 7
I am going to analyze the book 1984. In 1984 the social classes don't very rarely interact with each other. The people in general barely interact with each other. They are so worried that they will be turned in to the thought police that they are content with living dull boring lives. Occasionally the they will talk to each other during lunch breaks at work with other people from their own social class. But the only time that higher class people, the party, ever talks with lower class people, the proles, is when they want to buy something on the free market. In this book people don't climb the social ladder. Even Winston a very smart person who is good at his job does not climb the social ladder. The government in 1984 is very oppressive to its members. The members are constantly under watch and being listened to through telescreens everywhere in the city. Whenever someone says something bad about big brother or the party they cease to exist. All the documents that have their name on them are altered to say something else. Even though this happens there aren't many social tensions. People are so loyal and brainwashed by big brother they just think that all this is happening for the good of the country. This in turn causes the ruling class to be fairly happy. But they still don't like the fact that people commit thought crimes. They don't like this so much that they make the person change their ways before they execute them or send them to work farms. They say they have to "cure" the thought criminal to make him sane. I am still curious as to why they do this. I for one do not think it is necessary to make them change their thoughts about big brother if they are just going to kill them right away. Why go through all the trouble of doing that when they are just going to die?
I learned today that in college the classes will be mostly lectures. I also learned that I will have to think harder than I did in high school. I am still looking forward to college as i did earlier in the year. Patrick did not change my mind about anything. I will definitely use critical lenses in classes like the ones Mr. Hicks teaches. These lenses make it a lot easier to write essays and to go more in depth. I think that most professors will be strict but that there will be a few nice ones that are enjoyable to listen to. I believe that at the end of the year I will be ready for college. I will also be ready for the classes and their professors no matter how hard or boring the class is. I think that college will be an enjoyable adventure instead of the usual high school grind.
Bruggeman
I will attempt to analyze Jackson Browne's song "Lives In The Balance" with Marxism in mind. The song is about the fortunate exploiting the unfortunate.
In this song the upper class (wealthy=influential and powerful) seems to be so above the lower class that they (lower class) are viewed as dehumanized peoples, working for the greater good of few upper class individuals. There is no bourgeoisie, only far upper and extreme lower class. There is a considerable amount of greed, and it is a recurring theme throughout the song "There's a shadow on the faces of the men who send the guns to the wars that are fought in places where their business interests run" and "how the U.S.A. stands for freedom and we come to the aid of a friend, but who are the ones we call our friends? These governments killing their own?". The first example demonstrates how the lower class contributes to help fund our wars, except the war may be just to preserve crucial resources or businesses, and the public isn't told who is really behind the war. Is there a just cause? Or is it solely for business? Characters cannot climb a social or economic ladder, although if there was one, I think that it would be a one way, one option ladder. The upper class could only go further up, and the lower class could only fall lower, because the upper class reaches over such a vast spectrum of resources that they eliminate the opportunity that may otherwise be present for the lower class. The United States government in this exhibit is a system that is oppressive to its members. "You might ask what it takes to remember when you know that you've seen it before, where a government lies a people, and a country is drifting to war" and "I want to know who the men in the shadows are, I want to hear somebody asking them why. They can be counted on to tell us who our enemies are, but they're never the ones to fight or to die". The U.S.A. is being run by the upper class, if their "business interests" are threatened, they will pressure the U.S. to do something about it. Since the upper class holds the wealth who can support our elected peoples, they must listen to these upper class members if they want their support in the next election (wealth=more publication for candidate). Social tensions are very present. The ruling class is happy as long as they can keep their business interests safe. The lower class must feel miserable, and I'm positive they are sick of being oppressed and not heard "Or the people who finally can't take anymore and they pick up a gun or a brick or a stone". The lower class is definitely exploited and capitalism has no conscience concerning the citizens. Capitalism in this exhibit is definitely ruthless. There are no freedoms given by classes, although it is implied that the upper class has much power over government even to the extent of international affairs. The lower class is suffocated by oppression, they are ready for a change, there is almost an underlying theme of thoughts of a revolution (in my opinion). The upper class exploits their wealth and power by using their wealth as power over elected officials. Definitely an interesting song.
Bruggeman (continued)
I thought that Professor Hicks presented information that was quite interesting. I learned that George Orwell's real name is "Eric A. Blaire" and was born and raised in the British colony of India. He was born to a well to do family and went to Eton High School. He moved back to India to join the police force, but disliked what he experienced. He then moved to Paris and experienced poverty. He was known as the "Dickens of the Depression". Orwell joined the Spanish civil war and fought on the Republican side. George was shot through the neck. He wrote the book Animal Farm which attacked communism. He moved to northern Scotland as a doctor thought the freshness might cure him, but ultimately he died. I learned why dystopia themed novels were popular at the time (WW1, 1919 epidemic). The mix of history and english was very interesting.
Moschell pd 2
For this blog task I am going to analyze Finding Nemo. Through the Feminist lens, we see that the natural role of the male fish is to protect the eggs and make sure the family is safe. When the shark eats all of the eggs but Nemo Marlin becomes way over protective of him. This causes Nemo to get angry and get caught by a fisherman. Dory is shown as a person who has short term memory loss, but in the end she is the one who brings Nemo back to his father. Marlin is shown as the typical man; he doesn’t want to ask for directions when they are lost in the middle of the ocean. But Dory is more than happy to ask any one for directions. She sees the glass as half full where Marlin sees the glass as half empty. This is not the standard we are used to.
I thought Professor Hicks presentation was very interesting. He said at the beginning he doesn’t know how to be a high school teacher so our class would be like a college course for the next 50 minutes. We got a lot of background information behind 1984. I know see why George Orwell wrote about the book the way he did. He talked about World War I and other things leading up to World War II. I also liked how George Orwell actually went through all the things he writes about in his books. He has been through war, traveling and poverty. It was pretty much his whole life into this book, 1984. I do look forward to college. I really like how its about what we want to learn and not the professor telling you his ideas so you can have the same ideas as they do. I think the critical lenses will help when going to college. I am still learning how to use these lenses but I am sure by the end of the year I will know the lenses like the back of my hand. I am sure after this class I will be using these lenses in college.
Sam Rall
P. 7
For this blog task I chose to analyze the movie Superbad through the Feminist lens. In this movie there are essentially two main characters played by Michael Cera and Jonah Hill. These characters are Evan and Seth, respectively. These two characters have one objective to accomplish. Sleep with the girl of their dreams. Then, when invited to a party where both girls will be, they are asked to buy alcohol. Seth sees the girl as such a prize that he is willing to go to any lengths in order to get alcohol just to impress this girl. He plans on getting ‘his’ girl Nicole, super drunk in order to be able to sleep with her. It is awful how Seth sees Nicole as such a possession to the point where he won’t consider her morals or beliefs. He feels that the female gender role or expectation is to make a man happy. He doesn’t see it as an actual relationship, but more of a ‘get what I want’ relationship. Evan, on the other hand, sees it totally different. He sees Jules as a beautiful woman with her own views and feelings. He only wants to sleep with her when they both agree that it is the right time and place. Ironically when the guys get to this party with the girls, the girls seem to be in the opposite roles. Jules is extremely drunk and her alcohol tells Evan that she wants to sleep with him that night. Nicole, though, ends up being the girl who doesn’t drink and doesn’t want anything to do with Seth. Jules is then portrayed as a slut while Seth is acting the same and is portrayed as more of a stud for getting the courage to talk to Nicole about what he wants. This movie shows how women are seen as possessions and how, in comparison to men, they are always judged slightly differently.
As for the lecture and time I spent with Professor Hicks, I am now significantly more interested in our novel 1984. I am about 100 or so pages into the book and even already he opened my eyes to thing that I overlooked and thought nothing of. He slightly hinted at some things that are coming up in our reading but gave nothing away and I am now hooked on figuring out some things. He explained the significance of the name Winston and how at the time people thought of Winston as a name for a savior as in Winston Churchill. He also explained the quote regarding who controls the past controls the future and who controls the present controls the past. It opened my eyes to much more than I had ever considered. I can’t wait to see where this book takes me; it has turned into a real page-turner for me. As for his talking about college, it made me all the more excited to open this new chapter in my life. Wherever it leads me I know that it will be a great experience for me and Professor Hicks also got me interested in studying abroad. Anything is possible and I’m ready to take that step.
Sorensen
Pd. 3
I am choosing the movie Twilight to analyze for my exhibit. Looking with the Marxist lens I ask how social classes interact with each other. In the movie the Cullen’s keep away from the humans because they are not humans. They stay away and don’t even try to interact with the others until Bella comes along. Then one of the Cullen’s is greedy and puts all the other Cullen’s in danger by falling in love with Bella. So when asked the question is there greed? Edward Cullen is greedy and thinks of only himself when putting the rest of his family in danger by falling in love with a human and sharing there secret. Another question asked by a Marxist critic would be do any characters climb the “social/economic ladder? I believe no one really does. You could say that Bella does when she first arrives in the school because Edward starts talking to someone and it is her so everyone wants to be her friend to get to him. I guess you could say that. Or because some of the guys are attracted to her and she gets the friends she has because they like the guys that talk to Bella on her first day. When you look at the Cullen’s house, it’s rich and enormous. This makes all the other girl characters want him even more. This movie makes all the teen girls want a guy like Edward. They want him for his house, for his masculinity, for his body, for his charm, for his strength and for his love to be blunt.
Professor Patrick Hick’s presented in my college bound class today. I feel like I learned a lot more than I thought I would have learned from one visit. He thought us a lot in just 50 min he was with us. He taught us about the novel 1984. The background information he gave us will help me better understand the novel. I believe help me when I read the novel 1984 and start with the questions and think in a critical lens perspective. I have to say because of his visit, it made me really nervous for college. It made me think of how hard it will be and how much studying. When I think about it having more than one class like college bound is going to be very difficult. I know I will have a hard time but it will pay off in the end if I work hard now. Yes I believe I will use critical lenses in classes like Hick’s. I think it is more fun and I get more involved when I think like that.
Trey Martin-Pd.3
The person that I am analyzing this week is Lemony Snicket, the author of the series “ A Series of Unfortunate Events”. Lemony is a very hard person to analyze though cause his writing style is very intriguing and interesting, yet the man himself is one of mystery and unkown. If you were to read the autobiography of Mr. Snicket, all you would find would be various newspaper clippings, articles, and pictures of randomness. Why is the man so unwilling to show his natural self, the person that he was brought up to be and gave him the success of his highly read and well known books. His books are an example of who he is, which I guess can give us some answers on this mysterious being. Why must his books be so unfortunate though? The answer could be simple to some; he had a bad upbringing and therefore chooses to revive his misfortune in his books, showing the world his disastrous and horrid upbringing that made him the depressing author that he is. Does he reach for narcissistic bliss, or does he just want his characters in his book to do it for him because he is too sad and oppressed to do so himself? But in the end none of the characters in his books achieve bliss, they actual receive the complete opposite, which leaves even more confusion and haziness for the reader and researcher. This also adds even more to the mystery and craving to know more about this author. It simply makes no sense that if he were to have a bad childhood that he would than writes books to wallop even more into sadness and misfortune, and not happiness and recognizing the goodness in the world instead of the bad. If I were this man I would want my true identity to be known for the success his books have reached, but yet he is comfortable with using a name to cover up his real one, and even include himself and his pen name in his books.
What I learned from Dr. Hicks is that 1984 is a history book full of things from the past that Mr. Orwell did not want to be forgotten for the generations to come. Dr. Hicks said that the past haunts this novel, and it cannot leave it. The book deals with the sayings, “Who controls the present controls the past”, and “Who controls the future controls the past”, meaning that we the people control the future because we are the future, and in controlling that we can also control the past. Dr. Hicks made it clear that college professors really like the input from students, and that a lot of college classes deal with dialogue and not a lot of slide shows and over boards. This makes me look forward to college cause though it is nice to have the teachers input sometimes to help, we as students also have our opinions and like to get them across as well.
Nick Karber, Pd. 7
For my blog task I am choosing to examine (using the Feminist critic lens) the mother in the film, Four Brothers.
Are there “natural” roles men and women fill?
Yes and no. Yes in the fact that four men are the main characters toting guns and taking revenge for their mother’s death. But when looking deeper no. The Mercer boys’ adoptive mother is seen as a sort of Virgin Mary. She never gives in to sin, and constantly gives kids lessons. Throughout the movie she is sort of spiritual guide as well, giving advice as they would expect had she really been there. The four brothers act sort of childish in certain scenes when given advice and willingly accept it. Though the kids aren’t necessarily “good” they do enact revenge when she is murdered, obviously showing her Queen like power.
What are the social expectations of men and women in this exhibit?
The role for men are the avengers of their God, or their mother. This women is a holy relic to these boys and they are expected to do what is right. Also Tyrese Gibson’s girlfriend in the film helps them to take down a dirty cop, giving her a more useful role in the movie.
Are the social norms different for men and women?
As with the first question yes and no. With the mother there is an entirely different almost saint like social domination. But with most other women in the movie they are treated like dirty hookers, which is where the story is placed so it’s stereotypical for the genre, however realistic to actual history dealing with gangs. So it really isn’t sexist necessarily as it is more factual. The only real exception here is also Tyrese Gibson’s girlfriend who is a typical latina itch with a B.
Professor Hicks was both inspiring and enlightening. After sitting there listening to him talk I came away with two opinions. The first was how wrapped I was in what he was saying. Not to say most speakers brought in by teachers are bad but they can be really, REALLY, dry. His little facts that crawled into his speech kept relighting the torch that keeps me in to what he is saying. The other was that I felt connected with him. Most speakers brought in all try to bribe you with candy or try to be all buddy buddy. Hicks was different. “I am not a high school teacher.” WOW. It takes a serious piece to say that. He reminded me of Mr. C too, with the way he taught. He listened to students and helped them justify what they were saying and let them interact as one body. I really would love to go to this guy and have him as a professor, however the fact that my GPA is only a 3.0 I doubt I would have the money to be able to go. All in all though it was a fantastic experience.
Herrman pd3
For My Blog task I choose to analyze the movie Dukes of Hazzard, the new one with Jessica Simpson, Johnny Knoxville and Sean William Scott through a feminist lens. There are two main gender roles in this movie. The men are reckless, funny and “cool”. The Women (Daisy Duke) is seen as a symbol for sex. She I s very attractive and uses that to her advantage throughout the whole movie. In this Particular movie I see the roles sort of being switched between Men and Women. Bo Duke and Luke Duke are reckless and care free. They do not seem all that smart and get in trouble quite often. Daisy Duke is yes portrayed in a sexual manner and is treated like a piece of meat. But she is smart and uses that to her advantage to get what she wants. She manipulates the men into thinking she is just some bimbo blonde but in actuality she knows what she is doing and is very intelligent. In this movie the Social norms are different because the Women are not necessarily looked at as just stupid and used. But the men are actually the non smart ones in this particular situation because they are careless and always getting into trouble. Which I find interesting.
Today Professor Hicks came and spoke to our class about the History of 1984 and college in general. I absolutely found his presentation intriguing. He explained to us all the history and importance of this novel. The points behind the story. He told us about the actual importance of WW1 and WW2 and how they play a big part in the book. I liked how he talked to us like college students because he said he did not know how to teach high school student. I found that fun. I felt relieved to have bee told by him that we are ahead of the game with our skills in writing by being in College bound. I know now that if I strive to do my absolute best in all my writing and in college bound period then I know I will be well off for College.
Aaron Engebretson Period 3
For my blog task I have chosen to analyze the show Two and a Half Men. This show is a comedy about a father and a son, Allan and Jake, living under Allan’s brother’s house and trying to go through everyday life. Allan’s brother, Charlie, in a view of a Feminist Lens is subjugated as a complete “Sleezeball”. He gets girls left and right, brings them home, has his way with them, and then the next day after the woman has left he never talks to them again and tries to ignore them. A Feminist critic may ask, “Why is it that if there is a show about a man getting girls all of the time he is listed as cool, and if there is a show about a woman having sex with a bunch of guys she is seen as easy or sluttish?” Although I have not seen the show Sex and the City, I know it is about women going through life and having sex with men. Complete opposites, or same plot with different gender? You decide.
I am more excited for college from the visit we had from Professor Hicks today. I figured he would just be like the professors in the movies and have no spark of life in him, and I also thought he might turn his nose to us as to say we are just high schoolers and he teaches a higher more educated class. One of the first things he said when he came in was, “I am not a high school teacher.” In my eyes he has a lot of courage to say that. Also, when he was talking about George Orwell, or Eric Blaire he made me realize that his teachings and Mr.C’s teachings are very similar in comparison. Professor Hicks teaches about every normal day things and looks at them from a completely different angle that I would never have thought of. He also talked about the first World War and 1930-1950. I like how he brought up those past events and how there were millions of lives lost from the flu and the war.
I can’t wait to experience college for myself and have my mind be stretched to capacity but I am also nervous. We may not like to say it and some may even not realize it right now, but we are taking a huge step into life. It is going to be scary but it is going to be a great experience. I realize more and more why College Bound English is a great class to take before college. I look back and read my past essays from years past and then I look at the ones we have down now. Although we have only done a couple, I can definitely see the difference in my writing. I can see more maturity in my writing and I’m not just rambling on anymore. I have also noticed that my vocabulary has also grown while I write these essays.
Drenth, Pd. 2
I am going to analyze the Harry Potter movies. Looking at the feminist lens, we see that Hermione Granger is not treated like she should be treated. She is one of the smartest wizards at the school and she gets mocked for being smart. This shows us that the role of women is not to be smart, just to be pretty. Also Harry Potter is the hero. He was born a hero. Using the feminist lens, we see that guys are supposed to be the heroes. Using the feminist lens, we see a “man” is brave, handsome, and the hero. Also using the Marxist lens, we see that Harry Potter has won both the genetic lottery and environmental lottery. He won the environmental lottery because he has tons of money. He also has won the genetic lottery because he has good looks, he is kind of smart, and he is popular. He didn’t have to do anything to be popular. Whereas, Ron, on the other hand, doesn’t have either of those. He didn’t win the genetic lottery because he is always made fun of because of his red hair. He also didn’t win the environmental lottery because his family isn’t that rich.
I like having Professor Patrick Hicks come today. At the beginning of the class, he said that he never taught high school students so the next 50 minutes would be like a college class. I was kind of scared at first, but in the end, I didn’t mind it. He helped me understand more about 1984. I found out some background information which helps explain some stuff about 1984. I thought it was cool that 1984 was published in 1948. Just like Professor Hicks, I also think that Orwell just switch the 48 to get 84. It also helped me experience what college English is going to be like. I won’t be so scared for English which I start college. I definitely think we will use critical lens in college. I am still having trouble with the lens, but I think by the end of the year, I will know them good. It was also nice to hear that all of the students from Brandon that had college bound were doing very well in college English.
Isaac Hanson, pd. 3
I am going to analyze the fans at a Minnesota Vikings game through a Marxist lens. Through the Marxist lens you are able to see that money does matter in this exhibit. The upper/middle class fans sit in the lower section seats that cost more money than the upper section seats that the middle/lower class fans sit in. Although the social classes are “separated” by costs of seats, they all interact in the same way; cheering for their preferred football team that they want to win. I would say that there is greed because if you were sitting on the very top of a football stadium, looking down on a bunch of ants moving around a green rectangle, would you not want to be one of the fans that has enough money to be able to sit closer to the action of the game? The middle/lower class fans try to climb the “social” and “economic” ladders. They do so by wearing expensive jerseys and other fan gear, and by buying outrageously expensive stadium food and beer to try and fit in with the upper class, “high roller” type of fans. The beer at the Metrodome costs $7.00 a bottle, yet no matter what “social class” you are categorized in, you still see people from all the “social classes” buying these ridiculously priced items. Does this really make you “fit in”? Does it make you feel good that you spend so much money on food and drinks? When I went to the Vikings game against the Arizona Cardinals I got a water and a hot dog. The water was $4.00 and the hot dog was $5.00, so good thing I didn't have to pay for it. However, this did not make me feel like I was higher up on any “social ladder”. This did not make me feel like I was “fitting in” with anybody/anything. If anything, it made me feel guilty. I HAD to finish that hot dog and water. If I had not finished it, I would have felt terrible for making the person who bought those items spend that amount of money, and then let it go to waste.
I enjoyed today's presentation by Professor Patrick Hicks. I was informed of a lot of stuff that I didn't know before today's presentation. I was a little skeptical at first because I wasn't for sure whether I would be interested in what he had to say. I made a mental image of what I thought Professor Hicks was going to be like, and thankfully I was incorrect. Professor Hicks explained that 1984 is a novel filled with history. He explained how important WWI actually is and that it's more important than WWII because without a first world war, there wouldn't have been a second world war. Professor Hicks taught us about George Orwell and gave background information on him and his life. Now that I know more about Orwell and the novel I am a little more excited to read 1984. Some of the things that Professor Hicks said today made me think, and I enjoyed that. I am glad that he spent the time to come and talk to us about 1984 and college. I am not so much looking forward to college more now, but I do know that I will be ready for what college has to throw at me. I know I can take on the challenges. College will definitely be challenging and I'm sure I will be thanking you, Mr. C, for teaching how you do and preparing me the way you are.
Groninger pd 2
For my exhibit I am choosing the tv show House. In this show their is a main character House (Hugh Laurie) who
has a team of doctors under him and they solve mystery cases that others cant figure out. Using a Marxist lens
you can tell that House has most of the power at the hospital and his staff has to play his games to appease him.
But Cuddy is Houses boss who has the money which is a way of controling him with threats of fireing or by giving him
clinic duty, although this rarly works since he avoids doing it and rarely listens to Cuddy so its a constant power
struggle throught the show. Also using the lens you can see that the doctors under House compete and try and gain
a higher postion then the others while trying to hold favor with House.
Professor Patrick Hick's presentation taught us a lot about the author George Orwell and the book 1984. We learned that Gearge Orwells
real name was Eric Blair and that he was born into the elite class and with lots of money. He attended Eton college
and then went on to become a police officer. He decided that he didnt like keeping people in line and he quit. After that
he lived in the underbelly of England with the poor and desolate and learned about their lives. He later wrote about these experiences and what he
saw which made him rich and famous. He later joined the Spanish Civil War and was shot in the neck which made him a hero
to the Spanish. We also learned that he wrote against soviet communism and that 1984 was written on his deathbed. Along with talking about how
1984 is called a negative-utopia or dystopia and we talked about why writers had such a negative view on life caused
from all the death that went on during the 20th century. Some examples of this would be WWI and WWII along with the Spanish
Flu which killed over 50 million people. In all this was a very enlightening discussion which has made me even more eager
to gain knowledge from college.
Amanda Batzler Pd. 7
I chose to analyze an H&M ad that I saw while shopping at Mall of America. I am going to use my feminist lens because the main picture is of two black women embracing each other, to me I first think of lesbians. Lesbians are usually thought to be butch and manly, which is not always true. These women are dressed very femalely, wearing dresses and ruffles. In this ad the women look very powerful because of their strong jaw line and cheek bones and because of their short dark hair. In these ads race is also represented, in the main ad there are two black women and in one of the smaller ads there are two Asian women leaning on each other holding hands very gracefully. One of the girls is wearing red which indicates power but she is smiling and looks sweet and innocent. These ads make it seem like they are only targeting the lesbians out there but in reality all they are doing is breaking the norms of society. We have been forced to think that people of the same gender do not belong together as more than friends, but if you are happy then you should forget about society thinks. This ad is extremely powerful and making it easier to subjugate making it easier for everyone to be their self.
I enjoyed listening to Professor Hicks lecture today in class. I have always been worried about college but I think that talking to a professor made it seem more real and knowing that what they do in college is not as different from what we are currently doing in English right now makes me feel a lot better. Before this year in College Bound I had never heard of Marxist and Freudian but now I hear them all the time. There are many movies and shows that bring up these lenses and I feel like I will be using them for the rest of my life, I know that my mom still remembers learning about these lenses. So I think that it is worth my time to continue learning about these lenses and using them in class and everyday life. Professors do not care as much about each individual student as high school teachers do but they still want their students to succeed in whatever they do. So they will push us hard and challenge our minds by asking thought provoking questions. By the end of this year I will be more prepared for college than I was last year.
Ellis Pd. 2
For my blog task I will be analyzing Girl’s basketball. I will be analyzing it through the Feminist lens. I believe there is a lot of sexist people in this world who believe girls basketball is just completely boring to watch. I know we can’t dunk and alley oop each other but we have very good defense have the basics down. I guarantee you we have more basketball skill then a lot of male players out there, half the time when I attempt to watch a NBA game all they do is travel and try to do “sick” moves that are pretty cool but really they aren’t even playing like they used to and play, such as defense and the basics of basketball. They are all just cocky jerks. They want to get some action out after the game so they will do anything to have the most points during it. Many of the females in this world get sick of the jokes such as want to hear a joke the WNBA like really how do you think that makes us feel? We have just as much as capability to dribble the ball down the court and put it in that little round basket.
The speaker we had today was great. He showed me how mature college will make all of us. It shows how independent we all will be and we wont be relying on our teacher all the time. Something that will make me change into a better student and also independent student. He had me thinking that I really should be read 1984 since there are so much hidden things in it, and we all love our privacy so it will be interesting to see what it’s like for those people who will be stuck in a home with cameras on them. Some of should think this can’t really be that bad since there would be a lot less crime in America. I believe I will enjoy 1984 and I really enjoyed the speaker since he taught us that we all will grow up basically, something we all need.
Selken
Pd. 6
For my blog task this week I’m going to analyze my own household using feminist lenses. Currently we are putting in new doors and trim in my house and we have to have them put in by Thanksgiving because we’re hosting it this year. So after dinner my mom tells me to start clearing off, and my brother to go and help my dad use a nail gun or something like that. My brother complained why I got to do the easy job and he had to do more of the manual labor. My mom responded by saying, “Well Mitchell, your sister is a girl and you’re a boy that’s why.” I thought that was absolutely ludicrous! My own mother is even a little sexist without realizing it. How does gender matter in this function? Gender accounts for everything here. Why is it that a strong empowered woman like my mom could succumb to such old-fashioned beliefs? Because my brother is the boy he mows the lawn, burns the garbage and helps my dad fix stuff. Since I’m a girl I clear off the table, do laundry, vacuum and other household chores. So last night I decided my brother was right. So I put in the trim and the doors and Mitchell cleared off and wiped off the counter. It was really eye-opening because even in my own home there are very stereotypical roles that we all naturally fill just because no one had challenged them before. Women are portrayed as nothing but house maids and the men are the fixers and bread winners. I really couldn’t disagree with these roles any more than I already do. When I have a family I really want to teach my girls to do “manly” things, and to instill in my sons to learn how to do housework.
When Professor Patrick Hicks came in today I began to really see what type of set up I would be learning in. He lectured a lot and then in the end asked questions. I didn’t love all the talking but I realize that’s what he has to do so we can all learn. So I guess he kind of scared me a little about going to college, but in a way empowered me a little because now I know what to expect. I really think that College Bound and the lenses that we’re learning are going to be so helpful in college and when we’re writing essays. Also he did say when he has students from your classes they tend to pick up stuff better and faster than most. That really put some confidence in my ability to be able to perform at a college level in less than a year.
Nicki Steffen Prd.7
For my blog task I chose to analyze the bowling team.
In bowling we all work as one. As a team. Our scores benefit ourselves and the team as a whole. There are social classes within bowling however by having a girl’s team and a boy’s team. Within those two teams there are three teams for each, two varsity teams and one junior varsity team. Each practice and game we keep track our scores and our averages. The lower class or the junior varsity team wants to do better to move up the ladder. By each match we earn “money” to climb that ladder. But we also get oppressed by the varsity one bowlers’, they don’t want us to climb the ladder because they have already obtained that spot and fear it could be taken away from them. When one teammate moves up the ladder it creates tensions within both the class/team they moved form and the team they moved to. The move disrupts the upper and lower classes by making them think that at any given moment they could be moved down or they could be moved up. They lower classes are at sometimes miserable because they know they have to work extra hard just to move up or just to stay where they are. The winners flaunt their wealth and power by being named number one varsity bowler, getting the highest score, and bowling anchor on varsity matches. The “losers” get oppressed by not having as high of a score as they do, by bowling first or middle during matches, and by not having a title at all like varsity number one bowler does.
From Professor Hicks’s presentation today in class I learned that college is the time of your life and it’s the time to be and have the most freedom of your entire life. I look forward to college more because of the way he taught and how he engaged us in his way of teaching as well as the high school and college setting. I believe that through the college settings and still remaining high school months I’ll be using the critical lenses in classes similar to Hicks’s. Not only in college will they be useful but outside of college they will be too. They will help us identify the deeper aspects of our everyday life and how it affects our thinking and without the lenses, life wouldn’t have much effect or meaning. Professor Hicks brought much enlightenment into going into a college English class and getting ahead of student that just learn about the lenses. And how we pull it all apart like college students do, and how we engage ourselves by speaking our opinions and risking criticism of others.
For my blog task I am going to analyze the Vikings game I went to the 1st weekend of Nov. Through Marxist lens, the fans hold all the power because they control the game. If the home team is winning, the crowd will go crazy. If not, they will be silent, as the case for the game I went to until the 4th quarter/overtime where the crowd lit it up. The players get “suffocated” by their coaches if they don’t perform up to par like Brett. Through a Freudian Lens, the concession stand is serving your id in a way because they are so overpriced, but you want something so bad, so you serve your id and actually get something for a bigger price like getting a bottle of pop for $4.50. So in the end, your id ends up winning the battle when it comes to the concession stand. Through a Feminist Lens, gender does matter in the game of football because they won’t allow girls to play the game. My theory for that is because the men will fear that the girls aren’t strong enough to play therefore more susceptible to injury.
What I learned from Prof. Hicks’ presentation today is that the first year of college will be filled with events but will be fun. He actually made today’s lecture seem like I want to read 1984 and actually had interesting things to say about the novel that I would of never thought of in a scholarly thought of mind. Now I look forward to college because I know now that College Bound class will better prepare me for college because Hicks said that graduates from Brandon have a lot better thought trend then the rest of the kids that he has in a class. I hope to use the lenses in the classes taught by Hicks and others because the lenses actually make you think about things in a critical mind of view and think in a scholarly mind of view. Also, I think lenses should be used in everyday life to look at everything then people will be able to analyze everything from a TV to just a human person if you just put on a lens.
Hansen pd. 6
I am going to analyze the new pop song, Whip My Hair by Willow Smith. I am going to use the Feminist lens. The song is by Willow Smith who is in fact, Will Smith's daughter. A feminist would ask how does gender play in this work? One might say that this is a girl song. It talks about "whipping your hair back and forth" something that in society would be much harder for most guys, for the fact that males hair is typically a lot shorter than females. If you watch the video and listen to the music it shows how youth are oppressed until this young girl comes into the room with a boom box and starts whipping her hair back and forth leading an uprising of fun and dancing. She dips her hair in paint and gives the crowd life and color. This song is unique coming from a young girl. This song and video shows how women are using the power of music to gain power and respect and to become leaders of youth.
I thought that is was very interesting to have Professor Hicks in our class to day. It was different than how I had expected it to be. He was able to fill up the class period with one lecture, and he knew his information very well. I would have thought that a College lecture would have been way over my head but really it was a lecture very similar to yours, and wasn't too hard to follow. I learned that Professors such as Hicks are not told what to teach their students. They are allowed to choose what they want to teach and really have full control of their class. If you don't want to show up for class you don't have to but it is recommended. I wouldn't say that I look forward to college more now, but I'm not as afraid. I thought that it would have been way over my head and very hard to understand but really it wasn't all bad. I will use critical lenses, whether it is subliminally or on purpose they will add a lot of meaning and power to my writing. Hopefully causing others to think harder and question what they believe and why.
Bachman Pd. 3
I decided to analyze body modification (specifically piercings) for this week’s blog task. Many people look down on individuals who get piercings. They believe they are just trying to stand out or seek individuality. For most people in western culture this is true. For some, they get these piercings for religious, ceremonial, or educational reasons.
First things first. Through a Marxist lens, the number of piercings a person has is subconsciously a mark of power over others who don’t have as many. This is also true with any stretched piercing, the bigger the gauge, the more hypothetical power. They feel they have more power because they have gone through more pain to achieve this size of piercing and have become stronger because of it. A Freudian lens would show that people who get piercings want to feel tougher, want to fit it in, or want to stand out from society. Others like the pain associated with piercings and stretching those piercings. This could be a chance to hide the pain of previous traumas in life, or get an adrenaline rush from the pain. Feminist lenses are great in showing that piercings need not be only for women. Many piercings throughout history have involved men a majority of the time. Pirates would get their left ear pierced with a solid gold ring because they believed it would help their vision and help them not to get sea-sick. Also, if their body washed ashore, the gold ring would pay for a Christian funeral for them. Men in the times of Athens and Sparta used nipple rings/bars to clip their capes to instead of attaching them to a shirt. Men in hunting tribes in the Amazon would hunt and kill wild boar and take the tusks of the boar and put it in their septum piercing to show what they had killed. The thicker the tusk, the more mature the boar, and thus more of a challenge to overcome.
Piercings in Christianity is bad because you are destroying the body god gave you. But in some religions people get piercings to show their love and the sacrifice of body they are willing to give to god. Some piercings also serve in ceremonial processes. In ancient Indian culture, a woman was to get her left nostril pierced the day before she was to be married, as they believed this would blossom her fertility. Aztec, Inca, and Mayan people pierced the tongue of an adolescent coming of age and took the blood onto a piece of wood and then sacrificed it in a fire to the gods. Piercings can also serve educational purposes. Although there are no historical facts on education of piercings, I personally have been educated further by them. The art of body piercing takes a lot of knowledge of the human anatomy. If nerves were hit by a needle, one could be paralyzed in certain areas. If a blood vessel were hit, major blood loss or death. Major things like the act of the piercing or little things like learning how metal gauges react with stretched ear piercings to create the morbid stench associated with gauges. Acrylic gauges, however, reduce the smell.
Some undereducated people might say that people who get piercings are trying to make themselves mechanized, or roboticized, by adding metal to the body. Some will say it is just teenage rebellion. But in the end, some of those people might have a point. People get piercings overall for their appearance, some piercings which not everyone can see also. Some hide piercings they have. It is all for a narcissistic bliss that makes ones self feel better or more attractive.
haase pd. 2
Is the photo for this blog from the movie half nelson for a reason? If a Freudian critic is so into thinking why people write the things they do then I inquire this. Why did MC post this photo on his school blog? Could it be that secretly he is expressing himself into his work. This movie is about a great teacher who is addicted to narcotics is MC trying to say something about himself here. This is for you to question or write on. Basically I have no idea on what to analyze for this blog task, as I am so preoccupied on my essay in which I have yet to begin due to the tolls of teenage jobs. Maybe this is what I should analyze I believe that the world is forcing kids to take on to much at once. Many kids these days are getting jobs at earlier ages in order to have spending money. In our cases though we are forced to have some sort of income in order to enter a prestigious school of our choosing. For what I ask, just so we can leave there with huge bills to pay by a different hopefully better job then we already had. A person’s social class only causes many of these actions. What persons have to work harder for every dollar they have, the lower middle class. Many of the older students who won things such as the genetic lottery and were born into money have very little need to work as hard. As their parents have plenty of extra dollars to throw their way when they need. They most likely will get their school paid for with a large contribution from the mom and pops foundation. Most likely to a much nicer school then may be needed. Things like this are sick the poor get poorer and the rich get richer. This is all I have time to comment on as to my essay is calling.
Bachman Pd. 3
(Patrick Hick’s Presentation)
I learned quite a bit from Patrick Hick’s presentation today. He told us some background information on the novel 1984. He also did this in a college style format. He told us he didn’t know how to teach high school and so he would teach as though it were a college class. He lectured, and I probably should have taken notes since I have not started reading the book yet, and when he was done lecturing asked if we had any questions about the book or college in general. Because he came and talked to us I feel I am going to be a little more prepared for college since he taught the class in a college format. I now know I have to take notes when the teacher is talking even if it isn’t on a slide or note packet. To answer the final question of this task, yes. I believe I will use lenses in college even if they are not required because they give you so many different view points on the same topic.
Hillary McNamara Pd: 3
I will be analyzing Julie and Julia for my blog task through the critical lenses. Julie Powell who is played my Amy Adams starts out as a young writer, who works at a call center. But her job at the call center was not satisfying her “id” it was only satisfying her superego. Her “id” finally prevails when she begins her life long dream of cooking every recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child and blogs in order to motivate herself and document her progress. Meanwhile Julia Child's story starts to unfold, which allows the viewer to closely relate the two women. Through a feminist perspective the cooking world is prominently were women are very highly valued, for their talents and expertise, making it the social norm for women to cook in the kitchen. Julie Powell also climbs the social ladder in this film because the hard work she put into her cooking and blog allowed her to be featured in the New York Times, and she also begins to receive interest from journalists, literary agents and publishers. With Julie’s new found fame she is able to flaunt her popularity and forget her days of being miserable. Julie and Julia is a type of film that makes viewers want to fulfill their goals in life. I like this film because it allows me to analyze on a deeper level, and to view a film that is based upon one of my hobbies.
I enjoyed Professor Hick’s presentation today. He allowed me to really understand what George Orwell the author of 1984 is trying to get across in his novel. I also learned many things today from his presentation that I did not know before. For example I did not know that George Orwell was actually his pen name. Orwell was also known as the “Dickens of the Depression.” He also died in 1950, which was seventeen months after the publication of 1984. Orwell also hated cruelty and poverty, but interestingly enough he practiced those traits while he was writing so he could get the full experience. Yes, I am looking forward to college, but I do believe that I still have a lot of academic polishing to do before I get to college. Yes, I believe we will use the critical lenses in college classes because he already discussed them today during his presentation. I also think that we will study them in college because this class preps us for our college English course, and if we need to analyze in College Bound then we will definitely need to analyze in college.
Flier 6
For this blog task I have decided to write about one of the most controversial and most argued about topics in the Gamer world today, the battle between the three major superpowers of gaming, Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo using a Marxist lens. Nintendo has been around the longest of the three, having some of the most recognized characters in the video game industry today. Sony has been around since the original Playstation, which came out in 1994. Microsoft is the newest of the three companies, but has the most advanced technology of the three. Every year the three companies meet along with many other small companies at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) to show off the latest and greatest products and releases. E3 quickly becomes a warzone of reporters, CEO’s and hardcore fans. Each company does everything to outdo the competition. When Nintendo came out with the popular Wii console, they dominated the sales during that holiday season. This past year Sony announced the Playstation Move which is essentially a different version of the Wii. Microsoft came around and outdid both companies by revealing the very secretive Project Natal, later called Kinect. During the time that the Wii first came out Nintendo moved way up the economic ladder whereas Microsoft and Sony lagged behind. The latter companies recognized Nintendo’s success and took the idea to make it their own. The entire system doesn’t oppress or exploit its members, but the companies do exploit thoughts and ideas of the members. These big companies will have surveys and think tank sessions to find out what the consumer wants. Nowadays Microsoft, being a superior system and company, is quite happy after releasing the most advanced piece of gaming technology out (Kinect) and by having the most exclusive titles (Halo series, Gears of War, Mass Effect, ect.). Sony is not as happy but still content that it is not on the bottom of the sales charts. The Playstation Move is much better than the Wii motion sensing technology and with their exclusive titles (Little Big Planet, Uncharted, ect.). Nintendo is the least happy of the three due to the low sales lately. The Wii is simply put an inferior system to the Xbox 360 or the PS3, with a slower processor, worse graphics and game play and few good exclusive titles. The lack of revenue coming into Nintendo has caused a drop in the production of games. To the hardcore fans of Microsoft and Sony, the Wii is quite simply a joke and sometimes as punishment we (the fans of Microsoft and Sony) are forced to play it. The Nintendo fans are truly loyal but are only rewarded with poorly designed titles and game play.
Bratland P. 3
My exhibit is going to be the television show “Everybody Hates Chris.” I chose this show because it is a show that is very stereotypical for the time it is set in. And also, because it is a very good Marxist critical television show. The “Critical Lens 101” handout asks, “How does money matter/function in this exhibit”? Throughout the entirety of the show, Chris, a young black boy, grows up in the ghetto of New York City and is poor. He asks his dad for some allowance. His dad’s response was a long list on how much “allowance” he actually gets. But his allowance isn’t the type of allowance kids these days may think it is. His dad “allows” him to sleep in his house, eat his food, and watch his television, etcetera, etcetera, and etcetera. The “Critical Lens 101” handout also asks, “How does a power system matter/function in this exhibit”? Well, Chris gets picked on by this bully everyday he goes to school. And also every time he happens to see this bully. This bully only picks on Chris because Chris happens to be black. Chris is also the only black boy in his school; besides his older brother, who is in high school, and his little sister, who is in elementary school. There were still some extreme forces of racism in the schools all across the United States at this time. They had a black school that Chris and his siblings could have attended, but it was way out of their way and their mom didn’t want them to have to travel and extra twenty minutes just for lesser schooling. So since Chris is the only black boy in the school, he not only gets bullied by his bully, but also gets treated worse by the faculty members of the school. The narrator of the television show “Everybody Hates Chris” is Chris Rock. This show is basically a documentary of his life. So all the social class issues, money problems, and racism that is in the television show actually did happen to Chris Rock when he was a young boy.
Nick Larsen Pd.6
For this blog task I will be attempting to analyze Thanksgiving as my exhibit. Thanksgiving is a tradition dating back to November 1621 when the pilgrims celebrated their first successful corn harvest, and invited Native Americans to the feast. This relates to most of our thanksgivings too. We invite or get invited to either a relatives for friends to share the tradition. First I will use a Marxist lens: well in my families thanksgiving we always have it at our house. Why is it this way? This could be because our house is the only one big enough to fit everyone into comfortably. I am not saying my relatives are poor, but just have smaller houses. This does transfer power to my father because it’s is his house and he is in charge. He is given the power to pick out the turkey and he is given the power to be the one to cut up the turkey which in my family is a privilege. It shows you’re the man for the day. In a feminist lens, the question rises how do women work in my thanksgiving? The women are the ones who prepare all the food and as bad as it sounds they do all the cooking, cleaning, and serving. If a man was to try doing one of these tasks they would kick them out of the kitchen because they feel that it is their duty to do those tasks. While the women clean the men simply sit on their lazy rumps and gossip. This is ridiculous! We could help them get done faster so they could relax too.
I enjoyed today’s class listening to Dr. Patrick Hicks speak about Eric Arthur Blair and his background. It is surprising to know how someone who goes to one of the most prestige high schools to living in a different country as a cop who absolutely hates his job because of the violence, and later willingly decides to live in severe poverty with the lower class. To most this was probably irrational, but in my eyes it would give you more experience with life than any other college or school in general could offer. He saw how hard life was through their eyes and lived like them to understand and think like them. Also I had no idea how the world was changed by such few events such as WWII, the Spanish Flu, the depression, and the Holocaust! If I do recall there were almost a combined 50+ million lives lost in 45 years! I am excited to dig into 1984, and Dr. Hicks just made it sound so much more interesting; but I fear that I will not pick up on most of the symbols in the novel. I am not the greatest with history and it sounds like this has a great deal of history worked into it. I just hope I catch symbols and make connections while reading. I am looking forward to college and the college life, but I am expecting that the courses will be rigorous and very intellectually demanding. Lectures can be ultra dull especially when analyzing literature your not interested in or connect to. I have faith in Mr. C that he will set me in the right direction and prepare me for college. I already feel like my thinking process is expanding when analyzing.
haase pd.2
I learned from Dr. Hick’s that Mr. Christenson hasn’t lost his marbles like many of us may believe. The teaching style between these two men of scholar is very similar. So it is much more apparent now that this English class for many of us will actually help us when we decide to pursue higher learning. From the class that I was in today I wouldn’t say that I am more excited for college, as to I am more nervous because the difference between one class like this now versus many of these types of classes next year may be to much to handle. I do enjoy these classes though because they really make you think in ways you have never thought before. The things I have learned so far have changed my personal view on many things in life. The way I see things, the way I make decisions, all the things I have learned seem to find their way to creep into these aspects of life. Hopefully this allows me to expand my ways of learning when I do reach college or even after that. So the question will I use critical lenses in classes is that I already do. I already use these lenses today inside and outside class. Sometimes it just happens even when you least expect it you begin to analyze things in life. Okay we may not all have this happen but I definitely use lenses in everyday life after all of these assignments and learning opportunities.
Jessica Peterson pd-2
My topic is women rights. I’m sick of girls getting put down and treated poorly. This world is a sexist place and should be viewed through the feminist lens majorly. When you go to the store to buy a magazine rarely do you see a guy with no pants on…. It’s always girls in provocative clothes or no clothes. Yes, women do have more choices now a day which is good but I feel we don’t get the respect we deserve from the males around us. Not only should a guy not be able to hit a girl but I don’t think they should be able to make fun of one either. When on earth did it become ok for guys to mentally abuse a girl? Guys go to jail for hitting girls, for example when Snooki got punched on Jersey Shore. So if a guy can’t physically hit a girl is it ok to mentally abuse her to the core that she becomes brainwashed and doesn’t really know how she should be treated by a guy? I think not. I always wonder what goes through a males mind. If anyone should be moody or be freaking out yelling at each other it should be girls were the ones who get our periods and have mood swings. We are the ones who go through labor to produce another generation. Why are we the ones getting made fun of? The worst joke I’ve ever heard was hey want to hear a joke? Women’s rights…. Not Funny! I almost through a right hook after I heard that one. Unfortunately not every woman like me has a backbone to stand up for themselves, have the confidence, or strength to put up with guys sh**. So in conclusion keep the females spirits up and kill them with kindness!
I thought Professor Patrick’s presentation was very interesting. The thing I liked about it was he had a lot of facts but he could back himself up on every one. When he speaks to a class he actually looks us all in the eye and doesn’t just stand there. He seems to know his topic very well almost like he’s telling a story about his life. He also has a broad vocabulary for example I learned the word utopia which I ended using later in the day in the right context and sounded scholarly even ask Taylor Garner. The downfall to his presentation was he talked so smart I realized I’m not ready for the rude awakening of college. Lastly I think he is a very good professor with a lot going for him. If I have him someday when I’m smarter I think it’d be very interesting to listen to him.
Jessica Peterson pd-2
My topic is women rights. I’m sick of girls getting put down and treated poorly. This world is a sexist place and should be viewed through the feminist lens majorly. When you go to the store to buy a magazine rarely do you see a guy with no pants on…. It’s always girls in provocative clothes or no clothes. Yes, women do have more choices now a day which is good but I feel we don’t get the respect we deserve from the males around us. Not only should a guy not be able to hit a girl but I don’t think they should be able to make fun of one either. When on earth did it become ok for guys to mentally abuse a girl? Guys go to jail for hitting girls, for example when Snooki got punched on Jersey Shore. So if a guy can’t physically hit a girl is it ok to mentally abuse her to the core that she becomes brainwashed and doesn’t really know how she should be treated by a guy? I think not. I always wonder what goes through a males mind. If anyone should be moody or be freaking out yelling at each other it should be girls were the ones who get our periods and have mood swings. We are the ones who go through labor to produce another generation. Why are we the ones getting made fun of? The worst joke I’ve ever heard was hey want to hear a joke? Women’s rights…. Not Funny! I almost through a right hook after I heard that one. Unfortunately not every woman like me has a backbone to stand up for themselves, have the confidence, or strength to put up with guys sh**. So in conclusion keep the females spirits up and kill them with kindness!
I thought Professor Patrick’s presentation was very interesting. The thing I liked about it was he had a lot of facts but he could back himself up on every one. When he speaks to a class he actually looks us all in the eye and doesn’t just stand there. He seems to know his topic very well almost like he’s telling a story about his life. He also has a broad vocabulary for example I learned the word utopia which I ended using later in the day in the right context and sounded scholarly even ask Taylor Garner. The downfall to his presentation was he talked so smart I realized I’m not ready for the rude awakening of college. Lastly I think he is a very good professor with a lot going for him. If I have him someday when I’m smarter I think it’d be very interesting to listen to him.
Wetrosky Pd. 3
For this blog task, I will be analyzing the directions for the blog task. Looking at it through a Marxist Critical Lens, it is much different than any of the other blog directions. First of all, most all of the directions thus far for the blog tasks have been pretty leniently written. In these directions, we are told specifically what we are supposed to use for our analyzing, kind of like how the population of a Communist state is told exactly what they must do, and when and how to do it. Most people right now are probably writing this blog with much consternation, but I am thoroughly enjoying it. These directions are not even directions, they are commands. I can just imagine Joseph Stalin bellowing these commands at me. Another way that these directions can viewed through the Marxist lens, is that they are like how people are controlled in the novel 1984. "If you do not refer to the "Critical Lenses 101" handout enough or effectively, your grade will be cut in half because you are not following directions and are not thinking in the directed way." It very savagely says that you must think in a directed way, and if you don't, the consequence is a slashed grade. The directions are very oppressive, and though you are able to pick anything to analyze, you MUST do it like a robot, and use the handout, and rules that everyone is given. There will not be true individualism with these directions, because when there is a rigid direction involved, everyone starts to get on the same road, so to speak, and think the way the leader wants them to think, not how the individual wants to think.
Today our class was visited by Professor Patrick Hicks, who is a professor at Augustana. I really enjoyed that his first comment about not knowing how to teach high schoolers, because he is strictly a college professor. A lot of the historical information given in his speech was knowledge that I have already gained through classes and extensive study, but nevertheless, I aqcuired a large amount of information that I didn't previously know. I am looking forward to college a little more now, at least on the English side of things. I usually hate English, but that is because we are normally doing something like grammar. I like analyzing infinitely more than doing something concrete like grammar, because it enables your mind to flow and form its own thoughts. I will absolutely be using critical lenses in college courses. I know this because it is entertaining to view the world in a perspective other than just myself, and because I already view many things through different lenses while doing everyday things.
Natalie Turner
Period 2
For my exhibit this week I am going to choose teenagers texting with their phones. This is something that all kids do and if they do not then they want to because that is the cool new thing instead of talking on the phone. Talking on the phone will one day be over because people would rather text someone than pick up the phone and call them. Texting is great because if you are completely bored and you want someone to talk to, you can text for hours on end to just say hey, but if you use a phone to call someone the conversation may end in just a matter of minutes and again you will be bored. Using the Marxist lens, you can relate texting to the context of social status of someone, because the wealthier people have texting and the poor just have to call the person that they want to talk to instead. One day we will be all roboticized and will only talk through writing a message other than actually speaking to someone. This also shows how much power people that do have texting have over the others who do no. Those who are always texting while hanging out with the people that don’t have texting make the other person feel bad because apparently they are not important enough to talk to which in turn makes the texter very powerful because the non-texter will try to gain the other’s respect and attention.
Professor Patrick Hicks's presentation today was very interesting because I never thought that college would be so interesting. Normally teachers talk about what is required to talk about but I felt that today we went way beyond what is required. I think that gives students a better understanding of what is really going on in life and how they will choose to live theirs. I look forward to college because now adults will start treating me and my fellow class mates like adults instead of children. In college I think you will be asked to analyze things with more than just the three critical lenses that we are learning. I bet college students have to learn at least a hundred different types of lens and will have to do papers on each one of them. College just seems like the next step I should be taking in my life and I cannot wait till I get there.
Bratland P. 3 (Professor Hicks)
I personally enjoyed Dr. Patrick Hicks’ visit today. I learned a lot during class today; not only about 1984, but also quite a bit about college in itself. I learned about how 1984 possibly came to get its name, and I also learned quite a bit about George Orwell himself. Like the fact that his biological name isn’t even George Orwell; it’s his pen name. I am quite a bit more excited for college after this visit by Dr. Hicks. I have heard a lot of things about college professors before this class, due to having friends and my girlfriend in college and telling me all about them. Some are super strict and give out a ton of homework and offer virtually no help to you. Some are quite the opposite; they will help you out as much as you can and are more lenient with the amount of homework you get in their class. Overall, I am much looking forward to college to start my own path towards the rest of my life.
moss-pd.7
I am going to analyze the cuckoo’s nest through the feminist lens. How does her female-ness influence our reading of Nurse Ratched? Nurse Ratched doesn’t show very much femininity. This shows that maybe she is trying to be more masculine. Would a man in the same position as Ratched be viewed differently by the characters, readers, or critics? A male would give the patients more of a challenge. Using a woman keeps it interesting though. How are women depicted in this novel? The women are depicted as powerless. Some are depicted as prostitutes and whores. How is RPM the ultimate “man’s man”? RPM challenges nurse and goes against what the ward patients usually do. How has the standard, unexpected American family structure oppressed the males urges? In one scene, one of RPM’s girls has sex with Billy Bibbit. They are not married, and that goes against the things some couples believe in. Is Nurse taking on a mans role? Yes, Ratched is not as powerful as a man, and a man should be handling other men.
I learn a lot about George Orwell today! I have been looking forward to college, so this presentation didn’t change my mind. I most likely wont use critical lenses. Hicks made many good points and definitely made me think. He had great theories and kept me interested.
Schlotman_6
When will the Vikings grow a pair and bench Favre? I am a Packer’s fan, but this is bad for our whole division and their whole franchise. As a rival, we want to beat a team both times we meet in the regular season, but there is no pride when you are beating a team that has psychologically beat themselves already before the game starts. They are shooting themselves in the foot by not having order in their system. I know why Childress doesn’t want to bench Favre on account he would look like a fool for benching a player who he begged to come back and lead them to the promise land. Favre will put himself first before his team by playing when he couldn’t even jump for joy when Harvin caught a touchdown against the Bears early in the game. They would probably have a better chance with Jackson who is a mobile quarterback and might, just might show some signs of being another version of Micheal Vick. In a Marxist view, Favre is obviously the top dog, over the coach, over the owner, over the franchise. I know he isn’t doing it for the money, but he is doing it for his records. A true Marxist critic would see this as a terrible choice on his part. Not only will his jersey sales go down, but all the Viking’s merchandise will suffer a huge loss. Why don’t the Vikings invest in the future and find a quarterback who could be with you for more than two years. Jackson was drafted to be that guy, but the Vikings have been messing around with him and a Freudian critic would see that his confidence in himself is going straight down. He will second guess himself on throws and be mentally unprepared for a whole season of playing. They have plenty of talent around the ball so why not use it. They arguably have the best running back in the league and one of the best receiving corps too. Their line is getting older, but still a solid line for any quarterback at any caliber. The Vikings need to view this team as a business since that is what it is, and invest! Buy stock (players) that will only improve your team’s value in time not right away and then stay there. Favre hasn’t even spent 1/10th of his career there, and already he is in charge of anything. If you won’t bench Favre, then get rid of Childress. He is obviously a push over that can’t show any discipline or make his own decisions. Learn from the Packer’s organization, which looks forward to the future. At least give Jackson some reps since your season is almost done so I can look forward to some great competition next year and make all four of the teams in the NFC North division better. C’mon man!
Professor Patrick Hicks is a brilliant mind and would be a pleasure for me to attend a class of his. He gives us lessons and breaks them down to their simplest form so no one is left confused. During class, I noticed that when someone responded to a question or made a statement, he would first ask for their name, then take her/his statement and add to it. We learned about the horrors of what wars do to our world and he taught us that between the ages 18-22 is the best time to travel to different lands and learn their culture and expand our minds to unknown territories. We learned some of the background of 1984 and what inspired the writer to create such literature. We learned some of the writers background and connected on how that effected the way he wrote the book. I found out that professors spend the most of their time lecturing the young minds of their class and left little time for questions. He apologized for that and made the most of the remaining 5 minutes for us to ask questions. You need to bring him in more often Mr. C, because he was simply brilliant and he also complimented you by saying that the students that you taught and then went to learn from him were one of the most open minded individuals he has ever had and hopes that we too will take after your view of art and look deeper into it.
Neuberger -- Pd. 7
My exhibit I’m choosing to analyze for this blog task is One Tree Hill. One Tree Hill is a television show on The CW. One of the main characters, Nathan Scott, definitely climbs the social ladder. He comes from a pretty well off family but after his father kills his uncle he moves out and has absolutely nothing. He was just a senior in high school living with his wife in a little grungy apartment. He will grow up to play basketball in the NBA and live in a mansion with the perfect family. Another main character is Brooke Davis. When she was in high school, she was the party girl, who had all the money. She has grown up having problems with love along the way. She used to own her own clothing company, Clothes Over Bros. Brooke also has now finally fallen in love, but her company is failing. They have to file for bankruptcy and she gives up all of her own personal belongings to pay back her investors. Nathan and Haley, his wife, have one son named Jamie. He is adorable; he is the comic relief in the drama filled show. Jamie follows his ID more than anyone on the show, granted he is like 8.
Professor Patrick Hicks was very helpful today. I learned a lot from him. Now knowing the background of George Orwell, I feel like I can read the book and have a sense of what was going through Orwell’s mind while writing 1984. The fact Orwell grew up in a world of so much torture, hatred, and disbelief made him a writer of negative utopia. I will now be able to understand where he is coming from and understand some of the things he is writing about. I also learned college will be very challenging class wise, but I also know I will have many different experiences I need to take advantage of, such as studying abroad.
Thelen-Period 3
As this is a truly magical week, for the part one of the final Harry Potter’s is released, I have decided to look under my Marxist lens into the magical world of Hogwarts and the magic that Harry Potter, the ginger, and the muggle get to experience. Living in a magical world where your wand can grant you almost anything you want, you would think that life would be perfect for these wizards and witches, ah but you are so wrong. J. K. Rowling has disguised the troubles of our muggle world with the symbols, characters and other literary techniques that young audiences might not pick up on, but older cultured readers might discover the allegories. There are two main classes in novel that are focuses on, muggles and pure bloods. The social classes are always at battle for the pure bloods do not think of the muggles as anything. . For instance our antagonist, the rich, blonde, pompous Draco Mulfoy represents the upper class of fortunate genetic winners. With his unwilling to accept others than the “pure blood”, the perfect race, he symbolizes the Aryan Race, the evil in the book. This brings us to “He Who Must Not Be Named”. Lord Voldemort serves as the basic symbol of evil. The suppresser. Much like Hitler, he leads the evil pure bloods, known as Death Eaters, (Nazis) in a revolution against muggles. He twists their minds to believe that muggles have no room on the social bar in the wizard world and should be eliminated. Voldemort could also be seen as a religious symbol, being Satan, the basic evil force with only good can over come. Bringing us to our much beloved hero that from a simple scar you can recognize, Harry Potter. Chosen from birth Harry was going to save the world from the evil Voldemort had been casting on the wizard world, it was in his genetics. Harry could also be looked as a religious symbol being “the chosen one” saving his world from evil. His destiny was chosen for him. Many readers don’t see that the witches and wizards have most of their future planned for them. The Sorting Hat is telling the children what they are not living much up for them. Slytherins are the pure bloods, the richest and privileged of Hogwarts, Draco never lets the rest forget. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff are like a middle class, while the Gryffindor are the prized group, the winners in Quidditch, wearing red and gold. They work for their money. Rowling shows the social classes of society just in Hogwarts alone. Ron Weasley falls into the Gryffindor category but by a hair. His father works for the Ministry of Magic and supports a large family. The Weasleys are a great representation of the middle class. Half of Ron’s “fame” comes from just knowing Harry, though Ron has done some important tasks in the book. The Weasleys support the muggles thus bringing the friendship of Hermione Granger. When something must be solved she is the one with the answer. Proving that the lower class can move up on the social ladder, Hermione uses her intelligence and wit to get herself ahead. I would agree that knowing Harry has helped Granger’s climb on the social bar. Connection is key. Dumbledore is a character that shows knowing people can help move you ahead. Harry’s special connection with the headmaster helped him in many situations and gave him more freedom than the other students may have had. The basic struggle between Harry and Voldemort is a reflection of the social classes and those above trying to suppress the rest. The constant battle itself can be with communism, overpowering governments, religion. All symbols J.K. Rowling has hidden in her novel with entertaining techniques to keep her stories as best sellers decades after they are released.
Angerhofer period 7
For this blog task, I will be analyzing our wrestling room through a Marxist lens.
Our wrestling room, like anything else in life, is split into distinct groups based upon certain criteria. You have the kids that are there because they fully admire the sport, the kids that wear TapouT and think they are the coolest thing since sliced bread and really are quit the opposite, the ones that don’t like the sport but are forced into it by parents and other role models in the attempt to keep family tradition alive, and lastly there are those that just wrestle to wrestle. Even though the social classes of the team “interact with each other” (handout) we are put into these different clicks by our choice of friends and other extracurricular activities we partake in. I myself do my best to not become fully engulfed in any groups because after all, we are all in it together as one team. We depend on each other to make not only ourselves better, but the team as a whole. I have noticed that coaches, even though they shouldn’t, for sure have players, or in this case, wrestlers that they admire or favor because they can afford to go to $3,000+ camps throughout the summer and off season and don’t have lives outside of the sport. This in turn makes the members of opposing groups “miserable”(handout) and jealous of the attention and praise that these “role models,” who often think they are better than others because of the attention they get. This then leads to revolt by those, like me, who don’t have the time to engage in camps. These “role models” are the ones that have climbed and will continue to climb the social ladder, or be placed high on the podium at the end of the season because of their over the top dedication to the sport. Really what it comes down to is how well you perform when you step out under that light, man to man, and battle it out. None of the above was meant to be offensive, just simply telling it how it is to me and many others.
After listening to Mr. Hicks I believe I am now more prepared than ever. With him lecturing to the class in the manner that he uses as Augustana, I was able to let that weight off my back about what college classes would be like! I was thinking that they would be more intense than Mr. Hick’s interesting fifty minutes he shared with us. I did not know that Orwell had his original name changed from Eric Arthur Blair, or that he served in the Spanish Civil War as a socialist. This new knowledge helped me understand more about the author and his scared past and made me realize that authors write books in the fashion they do based on their life experiences. The lenses taught by Hicks and the others help put things into perspective and makes them easier to grip onto. These lenses, as Chief Bromden would put it, help clear up all the “fog.” Professor Hicks cleared up many things not so much by telling me things but more so just in the way he showed how a college lecture would be held which makes me a lot more confident and excited for the future.
Thelen-Period 3
To be fully honest, as to not even reading the back cover of 1984 I found Professors Patrick Hick’s lesson extremely useful and most inspiring. After today’s class I now am excited to not only begin the novel, but begin my college life. Even in the hour that he lectured, I got somewhat of a glimpse at how college classes might be. Jotting notes left and right but at the same time enjoying what I was hearing. I liked being able to go at a pace where I could write down the information but not stop and go for everyone to keep up and the topic got dry because of it. He seemed so knowledgeable, not only about 1984 but about George Orwell and everything connected to the novel. Knowing all the background information is eye opening to why it was written and makes me actually want to open up the cover, instead of just the reason of it being assigned. With just an hour of a lecture like that college should be something interesting.
Flier 6
I quite enjoyed the presentation by Professor Hicks today. He has inspired me to dive deeper into 1984 and has provided wonderful background information for me. One thing that Hicks did today that irritated me in a good way is that he left cliffhangers today for 1984. I want to dive into the book and start flipping through the pages to find out what happens but I must do this blog task first. I feel as if I know the novel better now than I did before. When presented with the idea of studying abroad, I was a little hesitant but with this new information I look at the idea with an open mind, or at least more open than it was before. Also I am now even more anxious to go to college and be a more independent person and thinker.
Danielle Granberg Pd. 2
In the movie How to Train a Dragon there is an avid use of the Marxist Lens. There are a couple scenes in the movie referring to the power one of the dragons hold over all the other dragons. The Marxist Lens refers to power and money. This movie can relate to that because of how this dragon is viewed over all the other dragons. This dragon is giant, he is bigger then all the other dragons in the movie. He thinks being bigger gives him the power to over rule all the other dragons, and he can force them into bringing him food, exploiting his power. The big or more then likely referred to as mean dragon oppresses the other dragons in the nest. If he does not receive enough food the smaller or less important dragons suffer. They don’t get to eat or they get killed. The lower class dragons or the ones who bring the dragon its food seem to be unhappy. The only reason they bring the dragon its food is so they don’t get killed. The other dragons seem to fight each other because they do not want to be the dragon killed or sacrificed. In How to Train a Dragon capitalism isn’t even considered. If capitalism was considered the dragons that are a part of the nest wouldn’t be killed, if the main mean dragon wasn’t brought enough food. The main dragon is a bully to other dragons in this movie.
Danielle Granberg
Continued...
I really enjoyed having Professor Patrick Hicks come into our class today. It seemed like a totally different scene. He came in and told us we were in his college class for fifty minutes. This made me realize he was really expecting us to listen and pay attention. I learned a lot from Professor Hicks today. He talked to us about negative utopia, which was very interesting to me because I had never heard of anything like that before. He made me think about how Winston in the novel 1984 could be related to Winston Churchill. He also made me think about how the novel related to historical events that happened in WWI, WWII, and the Holocaust. Professor Patrick Hicks made me realize how writers incorporate history into their writing. I am interested in learning more about how other writers do the same. With the help of the critical lenses I have been taught, analyzing the points the novelists are trying to get across to me as the reader will be much easier. I am looking forward to college. I am excited for my English classes that I never knew I would have liked, but I am sure I will because of what Mr. C has taught me. I really enjoyed having Professor Patrick Hicks come into our class today. It seemed like a totally different scene. He came in and told us we were in his college class for fifty minutes. This made me realize he was really expecting us to listen and pay attention. I learned a lot from Professor Hicks today. He talked to us about negative utopia, which was very interesting to me because I had never heard of anything like that before. He made me think about how Winston in the novel 1984 could be related to Winston Churchill. He also made me think about how the novel related to historical events that happened in WWI, WWII, and the Holocaust. Professor Patrick Hicks made me realize how writers incorporate history into their writing. I am interested in learning more about how other writers do the same. With the help of the critical lenses I have been taught, analyzing the points the novelists are trying to get across to me as the reader will be much easier. I am looking forward to college. I am excited for my English classes that I never knew I would have liked, but I am sure I will because of what Mr. C has taught me.
Alec Hauck pd. 6
For my exhibit I chose to analyze prison in the United States through a Marxist lens. To society, prison is looked at as a place where scum belong, the people who should not and don’t deserve to be out walking on the streets with the rest of us but rather be oppressed in a cell for the next few years. These people are seen to by the broken down, low class citizens who cant hold a steady job, have little money, and their life revolves around committing crimes. America’s legal system today is more cruel, or harsh, and sentences are becoming longer, even with misdemeanor crimes. Now, although it might seem good that it’s easier to get these people off the streets, think about how prisons are becoming easily overcrowded these days. Most prison facilities are running at over one hundred percent capacity and rising more and more every year. To cope with the overcrowding, prisoners might have to be let out on parole even sooner than they should be, therefore causing the same social tensions to be even higher between this low class and higher working classes. Inside these overcrowded prisons, the ruling system, or the guards, may be less under control due to the excessive amount of prisoners that occupy that section of the prison. This can cause erratic prison riots and other similar types of things that wouldn’t be present if the population of the prison itself were less. Now, if you think of inmates as their own social class, you could say that they have the very least amount of freedom when compared to other classes in the world. They are confined to a building every day, and usually a cell the majority of each day. They have a huge list of rules they must follow or they will be condemned to be confined for even longer. You can consider this class the losing class when you think of the success rate of all who go in and out of prison.
Today in class, I thought Professor Patrick Hicks gave some new insight and points of view to even better analyze an exhibit, especially different possible symbols in the novel 1984. Like Hicks said, students that were taught by Mr. C. in this college bound class learn very much like how Hicks teaches his students. Although Mr. C. does a great job at preparing us for classes like college English and teaching us to be able to jump right in the mindset of the expectations of a college professor just like Patrick Hicks, Hicks gave some new interesting points of view to look at things. I think great English teachers like Mr. C. and Hicks do an amazing job at expanding your mind, preparing you to have so many different views and to be an individual out in the real world. I can already catch myself doing and looking at things differently, in a good way, outside of College Bound English in my every day life.
Mariah Nachreiner pd. 2
For my blog task I will be analyzing the girls and boys toy aisle in Target through the Marxist, Feminist, and Freudian lenses. The other day while I was walking around in Target I was draw to the little kid’s toy aisle; specifically the girls. Even as a Teenager, I was could not resist walking into the sparkly, pink, purple, and glitz filled aisle with Barbie’s and princesses swarming it.
Analyzing the toy aisles from the Feminist lenses shows how the boys and girls aisles have two different looks to attract opposite sexes. Showing exactly how boys and girls have separate natural roles and expectations in society. The boy’s aisle is decorated in blue and filled with cars, robots, and destructive objects. What is the social role of young boys in this exhibit? By decorating the aisle with such toys, is telling little kids that “if you are a boy you have to like robots, cars, destructive objects, and the color blue” or else you are not considered the typically normal young boy. The girl’s toy aisle is decorated in pink and purple with glitter; filled with Barbies, princesses, and other dolls. What is the social role of girls in this exhibit? This also is telling girls at a young age that you “must play with Barbie’s and dolls and feel like a princes” in order to be a normal social young girl. While looking around in the aisles, I noticed how the toys from each gender are so opposite; showing how the social norms are completely different from each gender. The boys are allowed to play with guns, G.I. Joe’s, robots, Transformers, and cars. All “cool dudely stuff”. The girls are allowed to play with Barbie’s, princesses, fingernail polish, and dolls. All of the following are “girly nonaggressive objects”.
Analyzing the toy aisles from the Marxist lenses shows how the social classes are divided. Do any characters climb the “social/economic ladder”? Yes, when I was younger the boys’ coolest doll to play with was the buff, hot Ken Barbie. There had always been the G.I. Joe, yet it really wasn’t popular. But now that the G.I. Joe is “buffer and hotter” than before, this doll is much more attractive. Also, since we had a war going on the young boys wanted to be like the soldiers or their own fathers and started to enjoy the G.I. Joe dolls more. Also, for the girls, the Barbie has always been popular. Yet, how do manufacturers keep young kids interested in their “same old Barbie”? They customize their Barbie. When I was in Target’s girl’s toy aisle, the newest Barbie has a video camera in her chest that video records you and you can see yourself of a screen. The more new customizations made to the Barbie the more popular and wanted the Barbie is.
Mariah Nachreiner pd. 2
Continued
Last, analyzing this exhibit through the Freudian lenses. Is the id winning in the exhibit? While walking down the aisle, your id may over take your superego. Your kid may want the most expensive toy/doll in the aisle and even though it is too much money, because it looks “sweet, cute and way cooler than anything you ever had as a kid” you will probably end up purchasing the item. Are there any sexual symbols? Of course, Barbie and Ken are the definition of the “hottest sexiest couple”. Barbie is dressed in skimpy outfits: dresses, short skirts, heels, and low cut shirts. She also has a un obtainable body figure. Ken is dressed in muscle emphasizing clothing: button up shirts un-buttoned, shorts, tight shirts, and swimsuits. He is giving off the vibe to young boys that they must “have buff arms, six-packs, and sexy shirts”.
Today with Professor Patrick Hicks’s presentation, I learn and understood much more about the novel 1984. He outlined Orwell’s life which explained a lot about the reasoning behind the novel. It was interesting finding out that Orwell basically wrote this novel on his death bed. With him knowing this, he knew he wanted to write something meaningful and extraordinary. Also, with Patrick Hick leading a discussion in class it gave us a taste of what college courses may be like. This was nice because in college I will already have had a “close to college experience”, making me feel more comfortable and less anxious. I was impressed that when he came to speak to us he also uses all three lenses to analyzing exhibits with. This gives me encouragement to continue using the lenses throughout college. I also am glad we are already introduced to the lenses so I have a much clearer understanding of this concept before I hit college and have everything thrown at me at once. Last, I would really enjoy more experiences like that in order to continue to get a feel for what a college course maybe like.
Nicole Zens Pd 2
For my exhibit I well be using the lens on Glee. How do social classes interact with each other? You have a little group that is a singing group called Glee, and they are the lower class among other activities in the high school. The cheerleaders have the most power in the high school and they bully, and even try to get the Glee club to quite because they get some funding from the high school but not as much as the football team or the cheerleaders. The football team pushes around the people that are in the club and throwing slushes at their faces. Do any characters climb the “social/economic ladder”? Finn the main guy in Glee club tries to the climb the social ladder by praying to god that the quarterback gets hurt so he can get his spot, and sure enough he gets hurt and Finn is the quarterback making him more popular at school. Arty tries to become more popular by hanging out with Puck, a very popular guy in high school, and also he joins the football team.
Patrick Hick’s presentation on the history behind the book made me more aware on how history is very much in the book 1984. Hick’s talked about how the author grew up during both World War 1 and World War 2. He also mentioned that there are meanings behind the names the author picked for the characters. He also talked about how the book is more like a dytopia than a utopia. The book is very corrupt; there society is crumbling to the ground. The Quote “who controls the present controls the past, who controls the past controls the future” That means whoever controls the past has the power to control the future and present. I am very much looking forward to college because it will be a challenge and will put me to the test.
Bryce Christopherson
Period 3
On this evening of November the sixteenth, the year of our Lord, two thousand and ten, I am feeling edgy and risqué. As such, I will, tonight, analyze myself; viciously and uncompromisingly and from a detached third person (as I am somewhat a coward and I feel as if it would be too awkward to write solely as myself).
Enjoy the public autopsy.
The etymology of a: Replaceable cog, Lover, and Starry-eyed young man in the sorrowful Midwest.
As a Marxist Critic:
A proletariat worker masquerading as a bourgeoisie heir to middle class utopia, Bryce is not unlike the vast majority of South Dakotan seventeen year olds, let alone seventeen year olds the country over. Paying (though not mindlessly, and only after great strife and rejection) into the ideological state apparatuses that surround him, Bryce perhaps falls towards the more productive end of the spectrum, though not perhaps out of want to perpetuate all aspects of the system in which he is a component. Upon further examination into the covert and recondite circumstances that led to the formation of said individual, it becomes quickly apparent that he is, in perhaps nontraditional ways of culture, keenly a product of the late ninety’s and early turn of the millennium. Growing up in a time of speculation-rooted economic prosperity and frivolity and coming of age during a time of national crisis and economic depression, like much of his generation, he quickly became disenfranchised to the systems that, having once provided so much to him, now seem to fail. This led to the ultimate rejection and metaphorical “jumping off” of the social ladder towards a bohemian lifestyle of freedom that soon became marred by enslavement to far more vicious systems (narcotics trade) than he had previously been a part of, subsequently leading to a newfound a fervent acceptance of the working class systems that surround him. Climbing tirelessly from his now fore-lowered rung on the social ladder, Bryce has attempted and continues to attempt entrance in the bourgeoisie proper through constant (and often shameful) consumerism, tenuous study, and earnest, minimum wage, work. While not a tribute to capitalism, nor the epitome of nomadic bohemia, Bryce has, through his life, tended towards the extremes of things, though not demonstrably more so than many others. Above all things, for all the pomp and circumstance he attempts to generate, the systems that he perpetuates would not skip a beat were he simply to vanish.
As a Feminist Critic:
As a male, and more so an American male, Bryce is inherently flawed. It appears that he strives against chauvinism and the oppression of predefined gender roles through his monogamous, exploitive and long-lasting relationship and decidedly frequent “unmanly” behavior (i.e. never watching a football game, wearing scarves and skinny jeans, loving the “Twilight” series unironically). However, in what he likes (books, movies, music), female representation is severely lacking. Unfortunate and biased cannon aside; Bryce seems to be keenly aware of his gender’s ability to repress and acts accordingly to prevent his person from engaging in such. Far be it from a womanizer, one could say that, as a gender, Bryce is a lover of women in platonic, pure and moral terms.
(cont...)
Bryce Christopherson
Period 3
On this evening of November the sixteenth, the year of our Lord, two thousand and ten, I am feeling edgy and risqué. As such, I will, tonight, analyze myself; viciously and uncompromisingly and from a detached third person (as I am somewhat a coward and I feel as if it would be too awkward to write solely as myself).
Enjoy the public autopsy.
The etymology of a: Replaceable cog, Lover, and Starry-eyed young man in the sorrowful Midwest.
As a Marxist Critic:
A proletariat worker masquerading as a bourgeoisie heir to middle class utopia, Bryce is not unlike the vast majority of South Dakotan seventeen year olds, let alone seventeen year olds the country over. Paying (though not mindlessly, and only after great strife and rejection) into the ideological state apparatuses that surround him, Bryce perhaps falls towards the more productive end of the spectrum, though not perhaps out of want to perpetuate all aspects of the system in which he is a component. Upon further examination into the covert and recondite circumstances that led to the formation of said individual, it becomes quickly apparent that he is, in perhaps nontraditional ways of culture, keenly a product of the late ninety’s and early turn of the millennium. Growing up in a time of speculation-rooted economic prosperity and frivolity and coming of age during a time of national crisis and economic depression, like much of his generation, he quickly became disenfranchised to the systems that, having once provided so much to him, now seem to fail. This led to the ultimate rejection and metaphorical “jumping off” of the social ladder towards a bohemian lifestyle of freedom that soon became marred by enslavement to far more vicious systems (narcotics trade) than he had previously been a part of, subsequently leading to a newfound a fervent acceptance of the working class systems that surround him. Climbing tirelessly from his now fore-lowered rung on the social ladder, Bryce has attempted and continues to attempt entrance in the bourgeoisie proper through constant (and often shameful) consumerism, tenuous study, and earnest, minimum wage, work. While not a tribute to capitalism, nor the epitome of nomadic bohemia, Bryce has, through his life, tended towards the extremes of things, though not demonstrably more so than many others. Above all things, for all the pomp and circumstance he attempts to generate, the systems that he perpetuates would not skip a beat were he simply to vanish.
As a Feminist Critic:
As a male, and more so an American male, Bryce is inherently flawed. It appears that he strives against chauvinism and the oppression of predefined gender roles through his monogamous, exploitive and long-lasting relationship and decidedly frequent “unmanly” behavior (i.e. never watching a football game, wearing scarves and skinny jeans, loving the “Twilight” series unironically). However, in what he likes (books, movies, music), female representation is severely lacking. Unfortunate and biased cannon aside; Bryce seems to be keenly aware of his gender’s ability to repress and acts accordingly to prevent his person from engaging in such. Far be it from a womanizer, one could say that, as a gender, Bryce is a lover of women in platonic, pure and moral terms.
(cont...)
Bryce Christopherson
Period 3
On this evening of November the sixteenth, the year of our Lord, two thousand and ten, I am feeling edgy and risqué. As such, I will, tonight, analyze myself; viciously and uncompromisingly and from a detached third person (as I am somewhat a coward and I feel as if it would be too awkward to write solely as myself).
Enjoy the public autopsy.
The etymology of a: Replaceable cog, Lover, and Starry-eyed young man in the sorrowful Midwest.
As a Marxist Critic:
A proletariat worker masquerading as a bourgeoisie heir to middle class utopia, Bryce is not unlike the vast majority of South Dakotan seventeen year olds, let alone seventeen year olds the country over. Paying (though not mindlessly, and only after great strife and rejection) into the ideological state apparatuses that surround him, Bryce perhaps falls towards the more productive end of the spectrum, though not perhaps out of want to perpetuate all aspects of the system in which he is a component. Upon further examination into the covert and recondite circumstances that led to the formation of said individual, it becomes quickly apparent that he is, in perhaps nontraditional ways of culture, keenly a product of the late ninety’s and early turn of the millennium. Growing up in a time of speculation-rooted economic prosperity and frivolity and coming of age during a time of national crisis and economic depression, like much of his generation, he quickly became disenfranchised to the systems that, having once provided so much to him, now seem to fail. This led to the ultimate rejection and metaphorical “jumping off” of the social ladder towards a bohemian lifestyle of freedom that soon became marred by enslavement to far more vicious systems (narcotics trade) than he had previously been a part of, subsequently leading to a newfound a fervent acceptance of the working class systems that surround him. Climbing tirelessly from his now fore-lowered rung on the social ladder, Bryce has attempted and continues to attempt entrance in the bourgeoisie proper through constant (and often shameful) consumerism, tenuous study, and earnest, minimum wage, work. While not a tribute to capitalism, nor the epitome of nomadic bohemia, Bryce has, through his life, tended towards the extremes of things, though not demonstrably more so than many others. Above all things, for all the pomp and circumstance he attempts to generate, the systems that he perpetuates would not skip a beat were he simply to vanish.
As a Feminist Critic:
As a male, and more so an American male, Bryce is inherently flawed. It appears that he strives against chauvinism and the oppression of predefined gender roles through his monogamous, exploitive and long-lasting relationship and decidedly frequent “unmanly” behavior (i.e. never watching a football game, wearing scarves and skinny jeans, loving the “Twilight” series unironically). However, in what he likes (books, movies, music), female representation is severely lacking. Unfortunate and biased cannon aside; Bryce seems to be keenly aware of his gender’s ability to repress and acts accordingly to prevent his person from engaging in such. Far be it from a womanizer, one could say that, as a gender, Bryce is a lover of women in platonic, pure and moral terms.
(cont...)
Bryce Christopherson
Period 3
(cont...)
As a Freudian Critic:
Bryce is a man ripe for psychoanalysis (as if he hasn’t gone through enough yet), and his actions reveal deeply into what compromises his perception of self and the world. To begin the most intriguing and telling analysis, one must go back between three and one years ago, to his phase of ever escalating drug experimentation, self-harm and degradation, fanatic writing and study, and suicide attempts. This would appear to scream of a deeply unsatisfied series of needs and a vicious self-loathing, attempted to validate through self-destruction and alleviate through false attempts at superiority to mask inward feelings of superiority. All of this, one can infer, stems from some sort of childhood trauma, as most behavioral aberrations tend to, though the nature of which eludes surface examination. One can extrapolate from his actions that he was: a) made to feel ashamed b) made to feel unworthy c) made to feel unwanted; and from this, one can further extrapolate that all above actions were the id’s attempts to remedy this interpersonal turmoil and void through the pleasures of the flesh or the attention of public self-flagellation. Though illogical in practice, the actions of humans such as Bryce are invariably logical at a personal level aiming to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. So, as such, every action Bryce has ever taken can be neatly quantified and categorized through the lens of psychoanalysis, leaving him entirely the same as every other living creature born onto this planet, and nothing more than another starry-eyed young man in the sorrowful Midwest.
A Response to Professor Hicks’ Presentation:
Professor Hicks was, as I expected, a brilliant man full of intelligent insight and avid, thought provoking discourse. However, I did not expect the comprehensiveness of his history lesson, and I was also pleasantly surprised by his emphatic, likable teaching style that involved the class. Verily, if this is what college is to be, then may the days go swiftly unto its coming, for I cannot wait for constant mental stimulation of this caliber. Certainly, Mr. C, your class will help me in whatever college English course I take to no end, and I feel that my critical lens analysis knowledge and practice will not go to waste in either the classroom or my daily life. Resolutely, I am determined to enter college with the knowledge to not only do well, but to excel, and honestly, I cannot wait.
Hallstrom
Pd. 6
For this blog task I am choosing to analyze my teammates on my hockey team. First you get the entire freshmen that finally have their chance to play varsity and junior varsity high school hockey. I have personally myself played since I have been 5 years old, and cannot think of a better sport that I would rather play. My teammates and I are very close as a team and most of us hang out together as pretty good friends. My teammates always somehow find a way to keep me entertained and lift me up when I do something wrong on the ice or if I am just having a really bad day. My hockey teammates are like brothers to me I cannot imagine playing with a better group of guys. And after last year I am hoping that my former teammates that I am playing with again this year have a better year than last year and hope we win state since this is my last year of high school hockey. And also the last time I am going to play hockey for awhile.
I really enjoyed having professor Patrick Hicks in class today. For me it was a little break from all of the thinking and it let me learn more of 1984. I really want to dig into the book of 1984 now more than I wanted to earlier. He also left a lot of cliff hangers that make the book a heck of a lot more interesting. He was a very good speaker as well and he is one heck of a professor. If I was going to Augustana I would love to have him as my professor. But I am going to the marines and I will not be going to college until my three years of off duty when I am going to college to be in law enforcement which is what I want to do. Patrick Hicks was an overall good break for me and I learned a lot from his presentation.
Nick Vigants
For my exhibit I chose to analyze the 2009 Doritos Super Bowl Commercial. In this commercial a guy has a bag of Doritos and whenever he eats a Dorito a wish or a thought happens. The first thing that happens is he sees a gorgeous woman, and the next second her clothes are ripped off leaving provocative lingerie for all to see. This is all happening in a big city environment perhaps New York. Then he walks by an ATM and eats another Dorito and money comes shooting out of the ATM all over the place. Then the police come and he eats another Dorito and the police man becomes a monkey instantly. Then after that he is standing in the middle of the road and he runs out of Doritos so he can’t make another thought come true and a bus hits him. From this I think a Marxist critic would say that if you have Doritos you can do whatever you please I also believe the winners flaunt their wealth and power up until the point when they can’t anymore and that point is when you run out of Doritos and don’t have any more, which in itself is implying never run out buy more, and more.
Also Professor Patrick Hicks’s presentation today gave me a lot more insight around the book 1984 and it was a great intro into the book, I think. I also love how he threw a lot of history into his presentation relating it to why the book is in a dystopia theme, he made this make a lot of sense by saying that all the wars and epidemics around the world made it a them very popular in the twentieth century. This not only got me exited on how college classes will be but how this book will be. Making me want to read this book right now, and making me even more anxious for college to start next year.
Johnston Pd. 3
During my College visit at Bethel University, in St. Paul MN, I sat in a “People and cultures of the U.S” class. Now, this class was rather boring, however it gave incredible insight on America today. Before I attended this class, a student that I had met the night before told me that the class was easy work wise because you already understand America, it’s the analyzing that makes it difficult. Really trying to understand why we as Americans do things just baffles the class. This got me rather excited. As I walked into the doors of the rather warm classroom full of ambitious college students, I was ready to open my ears, eyes, and point of view. He described ethnicity as this: “ a self conscious and vocalized identity which substantiates and naturalizes one or more attributes. Fore example, skin colors, language, religion, territorial occupation- attaches to collectives to innate possession and mythological legacy.” He went on by saying that ethnicity emphasizes spiritual purity, skin color and language. “How can we put these views into our every day American lives?” he asked the class. I, being a perspective student did not answer, but I thought. This brought on a very Marxist, yet Freudian perspective to my point of view on the matter of ethnicity. Being of Asian decent, it was interesting to think of how things in South Korea would also be different, but not different at all to those who live there. As we walk through the halls of our high school, and the walkways of our streets, we as common people tend to over look our surroundings, and how lucky we are to simply cross the street unattended, or unharmed. Our culture in America ever since the 1820’s - the 1850’s and before, has been trained to look down at different ethnicities. This is a form of Marxism. The main thing that triggers our government, and other governments. The main thing that triggers public relations, schools, jobs, households, absolutely everywhere. And the thought that there are dominant and recessive ethnicities in our nation shows a very Freudian perspective of our culture. “Who’s on the top of the food chain?” This has reflected through slavery, and genocide our nation, and other countries have been apart of throughout the years. Later in his lecture, he handed out a sheet of paper that had a physical assignment to do. Each student were to individually sit at either a Starbucks, or a McDonalds and analyze the way people acted around each other, the customer service of the corporation, and the setting in which they immersed themselves in. He mentioned “Starbucks isn’t trying to sell their coffee, they’re trying to sell the experience.” This definitely caught my attention. How brilliant was that statement! I spend so much time in coffee houses myself, and when I think about it I realize, I don’t go there for the coffee, I go there to study or spend time with friends. What an excellent revelation. Through a Freudian lens, our culture is trying to sell an experience. We like to take pride in our available freedom. That’s why, for example immigrants wanted to come here. Not because of the people, or because of the material goods that flourished, but because of the freedom, the: experience. Professor Patrick Hick’s lecture was rather eye opening to me. I thoroughly enjoyed the background not just with the book, but the little reminder of the devastation our country has gone through, and how that can effect our today. He mentioned a lot about the author also. Specifics of his life; where he was born, what he did, why he wrote about what he wrote, what the supposed theory was behind the scenes of his literature. I really appreciated another brain coming in and infusing our brains with knowledge. Even though the lecture was not that long, I felt I learned a lot more than I had anticipated toward the beginning of the class period. Professor Hick’s really cared about our future in college, and even though my class wasn’t particularly receptive to his comments and questions regarding the subject, he was a big help.
Erks p.7
For this blog task I’ve chosen to analyze the movie Mean Girls through a Marxist lens. In the beginning Cady moves to a typical high school of jocks, artists, Orientals, and the Plastics. In a school full of cliques Cady has to decide the type of person she wants to be in high school. The function of money in this exhibit decides your social class. The popular, plastics are all rich with genetic wealth; they’re rich and beautiful. A Marxists would ask “how do social classes interact with each other?” Well in the movie, they don’t. Everyone is afraid of the plastics because of their good-looks and money; they are at the top of the social class and everyone strives to be like them. For example, when Cady is trying to destroy Regina, she cuts Regina’s shirt; the next day all of the girls in school arrive with their shirts to match Regina’s. The system is oppressive to everyone in the school unless they were plastic. Being rich and beautiful is the only way to fit in in their school otherwise you don’t matter. Social tensions are present throughout the whole movie. In the beginning everyone is in their own clique and only talk to their friends. However when Cady shows up two clique intertwine causing disaster.
I thought it was helpful and entertaining having Professor Hicks in class today. He gave us a good incite to 1984. I learned a lot about the book and the author himself. It was more beneficial having him explain in depth the book; it will make it easier to read and comprehend. I like learning more about the author before reading the book. By learning about the conflicts of the author it helps give the readers an idea about why the author may have written the book. It was definitely a relief having him in class to learn that college lectures will be similar to high school.
Murtha period 6
I am going to analyze the book Brisinrgr. Looking through the feminist lens you would believe a feminist would be overall happy with this book. Nasauda, the teenage leader of the Varden (rebels) is not only a woman but also a young one. They would be content with how she defeats a warlord in the battle of the long knives which is a test between two contestants to see who can cut themselves the most times without fainting or giving up. This is a great way of showing that you care enough for the people you lead because you are taking the pain so you might still lead them well. They would also be happy that Arya, elven daughter of the elf queen, is not only strong physically but also holds a great skill with magic. She also is the defender and caretaker of the dragon egg the Varden stole from the evil king. They would also be thrilled with how she can stop the advances of the young Dragon Rider Eragon who holds much power for one so young. They would be mad however that every Dragon Rider shown so far has been male. Through the Marxist lens you see that Eragon climbs the social ladder because he starts off as a young farmer and hunter and becomes savior of the people, rallying them against the evil king. You also notice that the lower classes are fed up with the tyrant and they try to band together to overthrow him. The Varden also needs money to function so they magically fabric lace. This is to help the Varden to raise funds that if they did not have would be incapable of fighting the king’s forces.
I believe that Mr. Hick’s presentation was very helpful with my understanding of 1984. I found it interesting how vigorous he was with his knowledge of George Orwell. He seemed to have a great understanding of the man, and in turn the novel itself. If I had to say the one thing I took to heart the most it is that George Orwell wrote 1984 with the knowledge that he was dying so he had a bleaker outlook in the novel. It is also funny that he named his character after Winston Churchill even though they are completely opposite in comparison. I really appreciate Hicks for coming in today because it showed that our knowledge of the writer helps with the understanding of the book which in turn helps us to better appreciate the writing. I also look forward to more presentations such as this at college because it will help with what the author may have been thinking or the picture they are trying to paint for us as a viewer. It even makes me want to read the book faster because it left me with unanswered questions.
Schwarz pd. 7
Having Professor Hicks in the classroom today helped us learn what a college course of English might be like. The difference of having him or any High School teacher would be him talking non-stop without hardly pausing to have students catch up. By doing this, it showed me how paced a teacher can be with their time but also covering all the bases of that certain topic. I liked how he talked about World War I instead of World War II. Most people know more about WWII more than know about any other war the US has been involved in mainly because it impacted the lives of US citizens. But he didn't talk just about that one massacre of Europe. Talking about all of the difficulties that they have been through and adding them together can make you see clearer on how many lives were lost in WWI, WWII, Holocaust, and the Flu. Now seeing what a college course is like, I feel I am a little more ready to take on college. Using the critical lenses very often in Mr. C's class will help in so many ways that I don't believe other students going into college even understand what the critical lenses are.
In the exhibit of everyday life, men feel that they are better than women in everything they do. Their ego is much higher than the female sex probably because back in the times of Socrates and other such gods, only the boys went to school to get an education. But, once the women finally started to also go to school, the men became jealous and angry, thinking that women didn't have the brain power to even understand why they were going to school. Now that women are starting to receive better pay for jobs they are more qualified for, the men start to get envious of the money. In a house where the wife makes more money than the husband, the husband gets so angry that sometimes he decides to divorce her, just because of the pay, leaving the wife feeling guilty that it was her fault for making him leave her, all over who makes more and can provide for the family. So, the id is always the winning factor in the Freudian lens of the male species, always trying to do better than the female. Being better in their mind all has to do with narcissistic bliss, being self-centered with money.
Randolph period 3
I have decided that I am going to analyze Dazed and Confused, a movie made to show what high school life was like in the late 70’s or early 80’s. Throughout the movie the characters are doing the exact opposite of what we are frowned upon today in society. They smoke weed and drink a lot of alcohol. The movie is all about peace and partying together. All of the power is given to the seniors for they are the seniors. In the beginning of the movie the seniors express there leadership by initiating the new freshmen of the next year. In a freudian stand point I would analyze that because these teens are able to drink legally and barely have to put up with any of the laws grief, they party freely and enjoy there senior year the opposite of how we do it in the present.
Today in the speech we had from Mr. Hicks I learned a lot more than the message he was trying to deliver to us. I learned that the cover of the book definitely should not be judged on whether it is a good book or not. 1984 has a lot more to it than I thought. For example the history that is behind the book is very in depth. It deals with the major wars that made the world what it is today. How did the wars make the world how it is? More than 65,000,000 people were killed between the first and second World War. The true outcome of hate was experienced by the world and most have learned that it can cause catastrophes. The words of Professor Hicks really motivated me to be a true english scholar and complete the tasks that I am asked to complete. It also made me really want to dig into the book 1984 and learn what the book has to teach us.
Dylan Niklason
Period 6
For my blog task I will be examining the movie, Fight Club. In the movie, Tyler Durden, represents every part of Jack’s id while Jack mostly lived through his superego. Jack lived a very routine, robotic, and careful life until Tyler came into his life and showed him what he was missing. Instead of going home every night by himself and watching sitcoms on TV, Jack starts a fight club with Tyler because it makes him feel alive. Tyler does everything Jack’s id would want him to do and really expresses Jack’s true dreams and feelings; Tyler drinks, fights, haves sex, and has pretty much no worries what so ever. A Marxist critic would instantly notice that Jack’s life is much roboticized and zombiefied and Jack is not happy with his life; yet Tyler, Jack’s id, makes all the members of “Project Mayhem” dehumanized and mechanized. All the members strive to be part of something bigger than just themselves and want to feel like they belong and that’s why they join “Project Mayhem.”
I learned a lot from Professor Patrick Hicks about the life of George Orwell and I learned about how the world around Orwell and other dystopian writers was the reason for this type of writing during the time. Hicks explaining kind of the background of the book and the writer definitely makes me want to read the book more. Hicks also makes me look forward to college more because if I have a class like how he taught today I think I will be very interested. He was able to keep me interested and made me want to read more into the book. Hicks’s classes will require us to use our lenses because he wants us to find not only the overt content of literature but also the covert content.
Kendra Hatle
period 7
College, what is it more than a strive to earn more money. Analyzing college through a Marxist lens you can realize that all you’re doing is breaking others dreams to reach your own goals. Look at all the students on a college, they get together in groups and compete for the top of the “ladder”. During football season the players are on the top at campus, and then when a new season starts they go down a little bit and then new sport of the season climbs to the top. It’s a revolving circle, I say this because no one is ever always on top they will eventually get knocked down but maybe able to reclaim their names. There are tensions all around making this “ladder” making it sway also shorten and grow in length. There are teachers putting pressure on you, the requirements for scholarships, pressure in every individual group, and people from the community. At the end all you get it the graduation to into a bigger social ladder and better paying jobs.
Patrick Hicks seems like when he is put in his own element he would be a brilliant man and even better professor. I did learn a lot when he was describing the history of the book, but it seemed like there was too much focus on that and not about the analyzing of the book and different ways to look at it. It might have just been because he hadn’t enough time or that wasn’t the purpose of what he was trying to accomplish. It would have been very neat though to see how and in what perspective he took the book and the meanings he put behind it. After he was finished with his lecture I never thought that I wanted to go to college more now, but I am excited to see how different teachers teach in college. It seems to me that in high school no matter what class or teacher you have you get the same teaching ways in a roundabout situation. When analyzing anything for any class if you need a new perspective on it you can always just pick a lens and see what you find when asking different question, so yes I will use it in many different classes in college. Over all I thought it was very neat to see how he went about describing different things, just wish we would have had more time.
Sjoberg Pd. 3
For my blog task I am going to analyze The Secret Life of the American Teenager through the Marxist lens. The Secret Life of the American Teenager is a television series aired on ABC Family. The first season of the show focuses on the relationships between families and friends and how they deal with the unexpected teenage pregnancy of the character Amy Juergens. The show also shows teenagers being tempted and urged into things they might not want to do but everyone else is doing it during their high school years. You can analyze The Secret Life through the Marxist lens just by looking at what kind of an environment kids are raised. How they are raised affects how they behave and also affect the choices they make. The social ladder efficiently takes its toll during this series. Ricky, the “rebel” and the kid who is always known for having sex is low on the social ladder. He lives with a foster family; therefore he doesn’t have that family figure in his life. This causes him to rebel because he doesn’t think anyone would care if something happened to him. The only way of getting attention for him is through having sex so he doesn’t have to deal with his problems. Grace is another character in Secret Life. She is a devoted Christian. Her father is a doctor whose career she hopes to emulate. Her mother is Kathleen Bowman. She has an adopted brother, Tom, who has Down syndrome. Grace has a loving, respectful, and open relationship with her family. I would say Grace is the opposite of Ricky on the social ladder. She is high class and is being raised under a stable family; therefore her morals are going to be different. (Probably for the better). Being brought up by a well stable family her choices are different, she is waiting to have sex until marriage and stays away from things that wouldn’t influence her in a positive way. Grace follows the system, the system in which every parent would like the child to follow.
I very much enjoyed Dr. Patrick Hicks visit and lecture today. I thought it was very essential for our future and for the topic we are learning about right now. I learned a handful of stuff from his visit, not only from the topic of 1984 which we are currently studying, but also college itself in general. The feel of the college atmosphere in his lecture today definitely made me more excited for the upcoming future in my college years. Critical lenses are not only to be used in the classroom but are also used in everyday life this I have learned from you Mr. C and Dr. Patrick Hicks. Having heard Dr. Hick’s knowledge today give me a better perspective on how college professors present themselves. It will be a challenge to get use to them but I think they are only for the better and are there to help us succeed for whatever our future brings us.
For my blog task, I have chosen an everday part of my life that has become what we know as 'work'. I myself work at Pizza Ranch of Brandon. Upon working tonight, I have taken numerous notes on how Pizza Ranch can be examined using the marxist and feminist lens. How does money function at Pizza Ranch? I've taken into account that I did not win the enviromental lottery, and was born into a pretty ordinary family, normal house, three kids, and even a divorced mother. Now I look at the fact that I work 25-30 hours a week, also dealing with school full time. I bought my own car, pay for my own cell phone, and pay for my car insurance. This is because I've had to work for what I need. Others who won the enviromental lottery still work, but as I've noticed, it's only maybe one day a week. Also their parents may have bought them their vehicle and they've had everything handed to them so there's really no need for them to work. I think they have a job just to say they 'work', so kids like I can not say something to them about how they have had it easy.
How does feminism function in Pizza Ranch? Lets face it, you come to Pizza Ranch and who do you see behind the counter? A women! Men do all the dirty work back in the kitchen while women do the 'easy cleaning' like picking up dishes and vaccuuming. This is because it is a common misconseption that women can not work as well as men. Also you may see very beautiful woman at the counter of our store. This is because we use the genetic lottery to entice people to come!
I really enjoyed Professor Patrick Hick's presentation today. I fealt like an adult. Not just and adult, but and adult that had his own ideas and thoughts that nobody else had, and Patrick wanted to hear them. The room was placid till one brave soul broke the quitness which was holding us in, then we all let loose. Patrick listened to what we had to say in a way that fealt like we were high educated scholars. All he could say was, "From the students who've talked today, I can tell Mr. Christensen is one happy teacher to have students like you". The first thing Patrick asked us about, was how the marxist, freudian, and feminist lenses all played a part in the book 1984. It hit me then like a train. Everything Mr. Christensen has been teaching us runs in parallel with how a college professor would teach a class. I now know I can mold my ideas to be ready for college and I can not wait to take on the world.
Maassen Pd. 3
For my exhibit I am going to analyze the movie “Due Date”. In this movie two completely different men travel across the U.S. trying to get back to L.A. When you first meet the characters there is a very distinct line between the two. Looking through the Marxist lens, you can tell that Peter has more money than Ethan just by seeing what they are wearing and what luggage they have. Peter is dressed in a very expensive suit while Ethan on the other hand is in a vest with a scarf, cheep sunglasses, and a bad perm. Peter seems to be important in society while Ethan looks like a clown in society. Through a feminist lens, a feminist critic would see how Peter starts to think that his wife has cheated on him with his best friend and starts to believe that it is not even his baby. The critic would see that men always have that little suspicion that their girlfriends or wives could have cheated on them.
From Professor Hick’s presentation was very interesting. I found it to make the book a lot more interesting because now I can see what was going through the mind of this author, George Orwell. I found it interesting how the statement the present controls the past is so true, that’s how you get people to believe the things you are saying. You can cover up the past in the present so no one knows about what happened. I am excited to go to college because all the professors will have so much knowledge about everything. I can’t wait to get their views and their thoughts and mix them with my views and my thoughts. Yes I will use a critical lens in Hick’s class. He made some points that you also have made about things concerning critical lens. He was very happy to see how we all thought in so much depth using the critical lens and happy to see how well it is taught.
BRI MATTHIES .6
“I believe humanity was born from conflict, maybe that’s why in all of us lies a dark side. Some of us choose to embrace it, others have no choice, the rest of us fight it. But in the end it’s as natural as the air we breathe. At some point all of us are forces to face the truth, ourselves.” Garcia. This quote was used to open up one of the best episodes of Criminal Minds I have seen. I will use my Marxist lens to dig in to the meaning behind this great show. This episode is about a man that is kid napping women who he believes he can make famous. He picks out blondes with a pale skin tone that resemble his mother when she was around 19. He dresses them up in an outfit she wore in her only film and makes them recreate it with him. If they don’t do it well enough he usually ends up killing them but not after he takes a picture of them and sends it to the news stations to make her “famous”. So to the lenses, With the Marxist lens I saw how the only thing that meant anything to this disturbed man was the fact of fame. His mother had brainwashed him into thinking that he was only good if he was in the lime light. The first scene opens with a girl who is absolutely beautiful but she is crying, which I see as beauty isn’t everything. She is being tortured because she is beautiful but can’t fulfill a psychopaths fantasy. He comes from money and doesn’t have to work so this gives him all the time in the world to spend with his victims. He has more time to decide if they are fame “worthy”, and if not he just kills them like they are a piece of trash he can just throw away. To pick out his victims he sits at a train depot and watches for hours to find the right girl. As he is waiting he meets a little girl and is taking with her about how she needs the right walk to succeed in life and she asks if she can show him. He tells her she has a nice walk until his eye is caught by his “perfect” girl. Then he turns to the little girls and says your and ugly little girl who has nothing to offer. So if you’re beautiful you can’t do anything to help the world? As the team is investigating the scene where the body is dumped they come across a homeless man that just happens to be holding a bottle of alcohol. Talk about going with the stereotypes. The last scene is the most significant to the Marxist lens. The man is caught and the police are outside his house. He looks at his mother and says come on mother they are calling for us. He opens the door and sees a Hollywood red carpet which he is walking down with his mother when in reality he is carrying the rotting corpse of his mother in which he has draped in a fur coat and the best jewels in the house. He kept his mother alive in his mind and had to make sure that when she was seen that she was seen in the best light whether or not that light shined through her rotting corpse. This show lets you see the twisted life styles of the ones who can’t fight the dark side of humanity…
Skich P. 7
I had a good time in class with Professor Hicks. It certainly was a short period. I hope that all my college professors are like him. He was informative, had great confidence in the information he was providing, and he was very entertaining. I would like to read 1984 now more than ever. His visit did not change what I expect from my professors at college. Before his visit, I did not realize the amount of suffering that man kind went through during the early part of this century. I have always thought that those events were separate, distinct events. Now that I look at when the events took place, I realize that it was a short period that it all took place in. I can see how it all the men, women, and children that were lost are called the lost generation. I think that it would be nice for him to visit us again after we have taken the 1984 test to discuss the book in more depth.
Bakken 2
For this blog task I am going to analyze the movie Enemy At The Gates. This film is about World War Two and is about a Russia man that gets sent to Stalingrad to fight the Germans. This young man is from rural Russia where he was a sheperd and he lived with his grandfather and grandmother. He gets into Stalingrad and proves himself with a rifle and is made into a sniper and becomes a legend of Stalingrad. When analyzing this movie through the Marxist lens it shows that sometimes money and your social status does not always matter. He becomes one of the most important assets that the Russia Army has during the battle of Stalingrad, if not the most important. But on the other side of this the Russia mans largest enemy is a well educated, wealthy man that is also a sniper, if not the greatest sniper of the time. It show that money and wealth can help a person get to and achieve a certain postion of power.
I thought that Professor Patrick Hick’s lecture today are very interesting and well put together, but then again he is a college professor and has been teaching college for over a decade. I was personally very interested with what he had to say and the way that he said it. He kept my attention very well and always seemed to know what to say and how to explain his ideas so that the class understood them. Professor Hicks seemed to always explain all of his thoughts in fine detail and I feel I understood most of his major points/topics that he was trying to get across. He made everything he spoke on very interesting and I felt it was very easy to take notes while he spoke. I feel now as if I may be ready for college or at least I feel I will be able to keep up if I end up having professors like him.
Erickson-2
I’m going to analyze the sport of dance. Looking through a Marxist lens, social classes could easily be equal to separate dance teams. Every team is different in many ways. The teams climb up the social ladder by dehumanizing themselves by becoming robots. They do what the routine is supposed to be. Nobody can mess up. As they climb up, they climb up on the top teams list. Money can also cause a huge factor. The more money you have the better the choreographers you can hire. The best dance uniforms usually come at a higher price. The competitions where you can get world-wide attention do not come at a cheap price either. Proletariats of dance may do a lot of fundraising so they can become the best dance team they can be. Through the Feminist lens, women are considered normal to be in dance. Guys on the other hand are uncommon and it is amazing to see them do what girls can do. Hegemony may occur as women dominate over men in the dance teams. The Freudian lens may conclude that dance may influence libido. Some routines can be provocative. It catches ones eye as watching the routine on stage. The dancer may not feel that it provides desire to them but viewers may think so including the judges which may end up being a bad thing.
I really enjoyed having Professor Hicks in our class today. He seemed really knowledgeable to me. It blew me away about how much he knew about history when he is an English teacher. I never realized that World War I is way more important than World War II. If that war never would have happened, we wouldn’t have had World War II. The amount of people who died in that war was an indescribable amount. I was also amazed to know that the Spanish flu killed many millions of people right after World War I. I wish history classes would have covered this subject more. I surprisingly learned a lot today. After having Dr. Hicks here, college seemed a little intimidating, but the things we do in this class will help dim down that intimidation. In a way, I look towards to different teaching techniques that will appear in college.
I chose to analyze the movie Paranormal Activity Two. This movie is by far, the scariest movie I've seen in an extremelly long time. A feminist critic asks questions like what role do females play in the exhibit? The main girl is constantly pestered by some pesky poltergeist. He/she slams into the front door, one dark night while she's babysitting, she steps outside to see who it is, and the front door slams behind her. Also, she is dragged forcibly down the steps at one point, while screaming at the top of her lungs. Her husband ridicules her and tells her that she is freaking out over nothing. The night she gets dragged out of her bed, and down the steps, she suffers a severe bite wound. She starts acting very strage, and she creeps up on her husband, and forms her hands into little beaks, and slams down her husband's shoulders, and he jerks up into the air, and his neck snaps... It's one of the most disturbing parts of the whole movie..
Kendall Cressman
Period seven
Weatherford pd. 3 part 1
For this blog task I will analyze cheerleaders predominately in the Feminist lens. How many men cheerleaders have you seen in real life? I’m guessing not many. Here at BV we don’t have male cheerleaders. I’m not sure if we ever have. Is it because there are “natural roles men and women fill?” Do the girls have to cheer on the guys who are big and buff athletes? I mean are men and women essentially different when it comes to cheering? We may be different genders but is our makeup of biology or are they socially constructed different so they compare cheerleaders so only be girls. When you see a male cheerleader do you automatically assume he is gay? Well are we subjugating men as gay if they are cheerleaders? In Bring it On we here the term queer leader. When in reality one of the male cheerleaders actually was straight and as he said “got many chicks.” The question comes up to who made up these rules? Were they created by culture meaning it’s not natural for men to be cheerleaders so they shouldn’t do that. Who put the limitations on the gender roles anyway? Was it men or women? Since a man isn’t “naturally” a cheerleader it affects him in society. People usually think he is gay and may feel uncomfortable around him. He may be to joyous than others and it becomes obnoxious. Society values men as the one who brings the bacon to the table while women cheer him on and congratulate the men for their hard work. Men are big and tough and can do anything right? Well men are more complex. They do have emotions running through them they just don’t show it. There shouldn’t be any gender expectations. Women are valued as the ones who are pretty, and stand on the side line and never receive the credit they deserve. I mean who created these stereotypes of men being gay just because their a cheerleader anyways? Has anyone thought that maybe a man could achieve narcissistic bliss even though he is a cheerleader? Maybe this oppressive society shouldn’t put stereotypical ideas on male cheerleaders. They are good at what they are doing. They are strong and cheerleaders get lifted into the air and being a man helps because typically they do have bigger muscles.
Weatherford pd. 3 part 2
As for Professor Hicks’s visitation today I did learn more about 1984 and some about him. I learned the history to George Orwell (though its not his real name). I found out the details of what made people read more about dystopia writing. I do look forward to college more now because he showed us college is just a next step into our journey. It is much like high school or well your class and we just happen to go really far in depth. He told us that he devotes a semester to teaching World War One because he believes it is one of the most significant tragedies that happened and that is what changed the United States and the people all over. If we never had that war World War Two never would of happened. If I end up going to Augustana I know I will be using the critical lenses. We experienced part of that while in class through this presentation. We know that its not just about if you look at it this way you may see it in this view. We actually learn how to see and think and portray these views into life. Before taking this class I never thought much of the Lion King. When we analyzed it I was shocked. Now I can’t stop analyzing everything! I know when we go to college even if I’m not in his class I will be doing it because it has become a part of me. It is a great way to view life. It can make you see and approach things differently in different situations. It will always be a great learning tool. I am excited for college now. Hicks’s presentation was well planned and interesting. I analyzed everything about it. I know that is something we will end up doing in college. They want us to learn these ways you teach us. So for that thank you!
Henning pd. 7
I have chosen to analyze a Vera Wang perfume advertisement. Pictured in this advertisement is Camilla Belle, a well known actress. A Freudian would ask if there are any sexual symbols in this picture. I believe that Camilla’s hair and hat are references to sex. Her hair is wild and her hat is tilted which makes it look like she just got done having sex or something wild like that. A Freudian would also wonder what is going on in the mind of Camilla while she is in this picture. It seems as if she is thinking that she is ready to take on the world and whatever else gets in her way. She has a look of pure determination on her face. This advertisement is meant to make other girls envious of Camilla. A feminist would wonder about Camilla’s gender role in this picture. She has the hem of her dress in her hands as if she is prepared to get down and dirty. It also says “Born to Rule” across the advertisement which shows that just because she is a woman does not mean that she cannot take charge and do what she wants.
I really enjoyed having Professor Patrick Hicks in class today. He gave us a taste of what college would be like and I liked it. I was intrigued by his knowledge of George Orwell’s history. It was nice being able to just sit in class and listen to him talk about Orwell’s biggest successes. I am sure that I will be using the critical lenses in most of the classes I take in college. I use them in everyday life all the time. It was cool to see the difference between a high school teacher and a college professor. The teaching approaches are completely different and I am really looking forward to my college professors. When Professor Hicks mentioned studying abroad that caught my attention. I have decided to look further into that and hopefully I will get the chance to do that some day.
Hamrick pd. 6
Professor Hicks today said some things that made me want to read the book even more. I began reading, and not getting into it at all, but when he told the class a little bit about it, he made me want to read it a lot more. I feel like he told our class some valuable information. I would really like to study abroad now also. I would like to do so because I have been out of the country recently and I would love to be able to go back for a semester of college. Going back to England for school would give me a whole new experience to have under my belt buckle. Overall, I really enjoyed Professor Patrick Hicks. I liked how he treated us like college students. I also loved how he tied the book, 1984, to WWII because I really like learning about how different things have a connection to each other.
I chose to analyze the movie Anastasia. Anastasia is a poor orphan, who is clearly trying to reach narcissistic bliss by finding her grandmother. When she sneaks into the mansions she has a dream that she is reunited with her family and they are having a grandiose ball. She is wearing a beautiful ball gown and a shiny gold crown. She is dancing with her handsome father as well. Through dream interpretation I think that means that she is longing for things to be perfect again. The dancing with her father part means that she wants to rekindle her family relationship. I think she follows her id when she decides to leave the orphanage and travel to Paris. It seems like she is kind of in denial that she could possibly be the princess. When she finally meets her grandmother it seems as if she has reached her goal of narcissistic bliss.
Hauge p2
The exhibit i've chosen to analyze is a song by Rise Against titled "Rumors of my Demise have been Greatly Exaggerated"
This is one of my favorite bands partly because it's more modern rock but actually has meaning in their songs. The quote "rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated" is actually a quote from Mark Twain when he was accidentally written an obituary. From this event the song branches not off of Mark Twain but how we live and how we're perceived once we are gone. In the fist verse of the song it says "cause we're plugged into this grid. Don't pull this plug right now or then we'd really have to live" which is interpereted how we are all born into conforming to our local society and how deep down nobody wants anybody else to try and be different otherwise everyone would have to think for themselves and be brave enough to submit their own ideas to society. Next is the chorus which is repeated 3 times throughout the song "When i die, will they remember not what i did, but what i haven't done? it's not the end that i fear with each breath it's life that scares me to death." which is what Mark Twain saw after people assumed him to be dead. People didn't look at him for his accomplishments but at what he didn't accomplish, meaning after knowing what people already think of him, he doesn't want to go back to everybody thinking he's alive. Looking at this part of the song through the marxist lense it is talking about how he was so concerned where his standing as an author was as a white writer. The second part of the chorus is "when we built these dreams on sand, how they all slipped through our hands...The time that we kill keeps us a live." if viewed through the fruedian lense talks of the conforming superego and how we have the dreams that are expected of us but we don't have a basis or any means to build on the dreams and when we are let down. "The time that we kill keeps us alive" in the fruedian lense talks about how when we follow our Id that's when we as a whole are truly happy and that is what we should live for, to be happy doing what we want and not what society expects of us.
The presentation from Patrick Hick's was insanely awesome. I love every moment of his presentation and how similar it was to our daily activiities in our own college bound english class. I definately learned a lot about the background of 1984 and a lot of European background. I'm definately looking forward to college classes and feel that my interest in vast forms of literature will expand. I really liked how he just talked and expected us to listen, randomly called on people, regaurdless of whos hand was up or not and the participation of the class. I hope a lot of professors are similar to Patrick Hicks because that will make the college experience much more memorable.
Paul Menefee Pd.7
For this week’s blog task I am choosing to look at the movie exhibit Valkyrie through the three different lenses. The Marxist lens is very useful for this exhibit. In this movie Tom cruise plays as a man named Colonel Stauffenberg who is working with many others to over throw Hitler’s Germany. In this movie there are many systems such as Hitler and his close staff, the many people that want to over throw Hitler, the officers who believe in Hitler’s Germany, and most importantly the people. Hitler’s staff and supporters support him because they want power and want a lot of it, and the more loyal and closer you get to Hitler the more power you get. Also many fear that if they defy Hitler than they will be killed or lose power. From a feminist lens I would see that none of Hitler’s leaders were women which is saying that he thinks women are inferior to men, whereas on Stauffenberg’s side there is one woman that helps him and does a lot and this kind of shows that women wanted power as well but couldn’t do so with Hitler.
On the subject of Professor Hicks, yes I definitely learned a ton. Professor Hicks makes me very excited for college. I like the way he lectures a lot because I like hearing the historical facts and the way it relates to history as well as the symbolism. If I were to go to the school that Professor Hicks teaches at then yes I would love to take a class by him. The way he analyzed things and his knowledge of all he talked about was awesome. It seemed to me that he would be a great professor not only because he is smart but also because he challenges so many different points of views and is not afraid to offend people. He makes you think about hard topics and truly dig into who you are and what you believe. This not only makes you school smart but also life skills smart. I believe that if I or anyone else were to take his class it would make myself and all others think hard and would help us all grow intellectually.
For my exhibit I am choosing to analyze the childhood toy most girls in our generation played with, barbies. Nowadays, boys are playing with barbies just as much because being gay is something more common nowadays. (Not saying that boys that play with barbies are gay) If one was to look at barbies with a feminist lens, they would think it’s irritating how most people think barbies are a girls toy. Of course, in a way it is, because girls like dressing up dolls more than boys do, or society thinks, but at the same time feminists would be happy because when girls play with barbies it’s like they have their own thing- girls have barbies and boys have toy cars and such. If looking at barbies with a Marxist lens, they would think about how barbies were born into the genetic and environmental lottery (if you could say that barbies were “born” into the world.) because Barbies always have tons of clothes that you can dress them up with and cars and houses and all kinds of big things that would be expensive in real life.
Listening to Professor Hicks was actually pretty interesting. College is something that I'm excited but also scared for, but hearing what he had to say about college was kind of nerve-calming... (even though college is still kind of far away)
Joey Boy Pd. 3
Why do you smell like a girl? You are wearing a girls' deodorant? Even though it might smell good you must wear men's deodorant if you are a man, you must dress in a suit and tie, and you must scramble to your pitiful kennel of an office like every other black and white 1950's instructional video molds you into doing. Break out from those demeaning and mechanical clutches of conformist cuffs and douse your wretchedly dank underarms among some girls' deodorant. Teen Spirit is a women's antiperspirant that means more than the common reader can fathom. Kurt Cobain, one of the best anticonformists of all time, wrote a song entitled Smells Like Teen Spirit and first performed it in the early part of 1991. The song is perfection to a tee in the Freudian Lens, which I will be using to critically analyze this chaotic masterpiece of emotionally embodied lyrics.
The first lyrics of the song begin as so, "Load up on guns and bring your friends it's fun to lose and to pretend." Guns, the most powerful and the most accessible weapon of death on the market today. We sell death to others in society essentially.
That lyric exposes chaos at one of its highest levels of representation, also bring your friends because we want everyone out there to see death for what it actually is; no more hiding from human failure. "It's fun to lose and to pretend", embodies a maelstrom of hatred against big brother himself because the government does not want you pretending or thinking for yourself, and relating joy with losing is unheard of in a conformist society like the 1950's. The next line of lyrics include, "She's over bored and self-assured, oh no, I know a dirty word." The "over bored and self-assured " seemingly mocks a socially sound human being about having no fun in life, yet being okay with that decision. Cobain then seems to tear down the shielded doors of conformity, insert himself within its walls, and begin to tear them down by stating his knowledge of a profane word.
Now it is on to the chorus, which really slams conformity and all of its narcissistic bliss. The powerful messages are regurgitated as such, "With the lights out it's less dangerous, here we are now, entertain us. I feel stupid and contagious, here we are now, entertain us. A mulatto, an albino, a mosquito, my libido." When the lights are out it is actually more dangerous and more chaotic, yet in Cobain's view anarchy is less dangerous to society so he feels more comfortable. "Here we are now, entertain us" is a message that is taunting and provoking a conformed society to actually do something with its boring existence, to humanize itself. Kurt feels stupid and contagious? You mean he is actually not a smartly educated human that is always healthy and does everything nifty and swell? Golly-gee Mr. Smith, what a shame! The next line of words is simply diabolical in the minds of a perfectly constructed communist society. A mulatto. You mean to tell me that a black and a white person actually can fall in love and produce offspring? Anarchy! Albinos are outcasts in society because they look pale and demonic in ways, yet Kurt is mentioning them? Outrageous! Albinos cannot exist in our mindless and perfect world can they? Mosquitoes are literally blood suckers. They are parasitic and feed off of various mammals to survive, and on top of that they carry many deadly diseases. Diseases must be displaced and run out of town or else our Nazi-like views of a sustained world will be deceased. Finally, "my libido", which describes all of man-kind and their animalistic ways of mercifully giving in to their id instead of their superego. Society demands superego, yet Cobain coaxes us to anarchy and insists on deflecting the thoughts of our superego. There are more lines of the song that I did not exploit because
Joey Boy Pd. 3
Why do you smell like a girl? You are wearing a girls' deodorant? Even though it might smell good you must wear men's deodorant if you are a man, you must dress in a suit and tie, and you must scramble to your pitiful kennel of an office like every other black and white 1950's instructional video molds you into doing. Break out from those demeaning and mechanical clutches of conformist cuffs and douse your wretchedly dank underarms among some girls' deodorant. Teen Spirit is a women's antiperspirant that means more than the common reader can fathom. Kurt Cobain, one of the best anticonformists of all time, wrote a song entitled Smells Like Teen Spirit and first performed it in the early part of 1991. The song is perfection to a tee in the Freudian Lens, which I will be using to critically analyze this chaotic masterpiece of emotionally embodied lyrics.
The first lyrics of the song begin as so, "Load up on guns and bring your friends it's fun to lose and to pretend." Guns, the most powerful and the most accessible weapon of death on the market today. We sell death to others in society essentially.
That lyric exposes chaos at one of its highest levels of representation, also bring your friends because we want everyone out there to see death for what it actually is; no more hiding from human failure. "It's fun to lose and to pretend", embodies a maelstrom of hatred against big brother himself because the government does not want you pretending or thinking for yourself, and relating joy with losing is unheard of in a conformist society like the 1950's. The next line of lyrics include, "She's over bored and self-assured, oh no, I know a dirty word." The "over bored and self-assured " seemingly mocks a socially sound human being about having no fun in life, yet being okay with that decision. Cobain then seems to tear down the shielded doors of conformity, insert himself within its walls, and begin to tear them down by stating his knowledge of a profane word.
Now it is on to the chorus, which really slams conformity and all of its narcissistic bliss. The powerful messages are regurgitated as such, "With the lights out it's less dangerous, here we are now, entertain us. I feel stupid and contagious, here we are now, entertain us. A mulatto, an albino, a mosquito, my libido." When the lights are out it is actually more dangerous and more chaotic, yet in Cobain's view anarchy is less dangerous to society so he feels more comfortable. "Here we are now, entertain us" is a message that is taunting and provoking a conformed society to actually do something with its boring existence, to humanize itself. Kurt feels stupid and contagious? You mean he is actually not a smartly educated human that is always healthy and does everything nifty and swell? Golly-gee Mr. Smith, what a shame! The next line of words is simply diabolical in the minds of a perfectly constructed communist society. A mulatto. You mean to tell me that a black and a white person actually can fall in love and produce offspring? Anarchy! Albinos are outcasts in society because they look pale and demonic in ways, yet Kurt is mentioning them? Outrageous! Albinos cannot exist in our mindless and perfect world can they? Mosquitoes are literally blood suckers. They are parasitic and feed off of various mammals to survive, and on top of that they carry many deadly diseases. Diseases must be displaced and run out of town or else our Nazi-like views of a sustained world will be deceased. Finally, "my libido", which describes all of man-kind and their animalistic ways of mercifully giving in to their id instead of their superego. Society demands superego, yet Cobain coaxes us to anarchy and insists on deflecting the thoughts of our superego. There are more lines of the song that I did not exploit because
Joey Boy (page 2) I do not want to ramble. I think you get the gist of the message though. Do not judge a song by its rhythm.
Patrick Hicks was very well prepared and a very knowledgeable person. I like how he presented the information about George Orwell and his novel 1984 and how he let us respond and question certain ideas about what he vocalized among us. I personally enjoyed the facts he shared with our class about World War I and how it was so important to the world's history and Orwell's ideology. Professor Hicks was extraordinary at explaining things in a very comprehendible fashion. He made me feel majorly comfortable with the fact that I will be attending a college next year because he had a great attitude towards the students and wanting to know what we had to say on each matter. I know that every college professor will be greatly satisfied with any essay that would include any Marxist, Feminist, or Freudian Lens remarks. I will try to include many references to these lenses as I am introduced to collegiate-level essays. By seeking out different angles of interest upon every subject I encounter, I hope to navigate a road of constructive thinking.
Marso Pd. 3
For this blog, I chose to analyze the movie Miss. Congeniality. A Marxist critic would ask how do the social classes interact with each other, well I wouldn’t really say there is a fine dividing line between the social classes. I guess you could say that the pageant girls and the police/investigators are the different classes. To me, the two sides kind of get along during the movie. Gracie Hart and Victor Melling, Gracie’s coach throughout the pageant, kind of go head to head the whole time. Victor doesn’t want her to do certain things, but Gracie is just some hardcore FBI agent that doesn’t want to pretend and act like a princess. Which that then leads me to what a Feminist critic would ask, are there natural roles that mean and women fill? Absolutely not, Gracie is probably the one of the most masculine characters in the whole thing! In about the middle of the movie though, she almost goes through, I guess you could say, “the combine.” She is sent away to this big building and gets a complete makeover to look like a hot babe that everyone expects a girl to look like. During the movie, Gracie, definitely satisfies her Id the whole entire time. She does not care what she is going to look like her dress, and she does not care if she is going to gain weight by eating doughnuts instead of celery sticks.
When I first saw that Patrick Hicks was there to talk in class, I got excited! Soon to find out though, I was a little bored (just to be honest). I really did learn a lot though; he gave us some really good information. Learning from a college professor will really get some taking used to. If a normal college class will be like that, then that was a lot of talking from the teacher, and not a lot of doing from the students! I absolutely am looking forward for college; it will give me a lot more independence for a lot of things. But, I do not think I am quite ready to be sent off yet.
Wilson Trent
period 7
For my exhibit I am going to present a song entitled Stan by Eminem. Featuring Dido Armstrong, who sings the chorus from her song, Thank You, the lyrics tell of a fan of Eminem who writes letters to his idol. The fan's name is Stan. The chorus to Stan is as follows:
My tea's gone cold I'm wond'rin why,
I got out of bed at all.
The mornin' rain clouds up my window,
I can't see at all.
Even if I could it would all be grey, but your picture on my wall...
It reminds me that it's not so bad, it's not so bad.
These lyrics are powerful as they are symbolic. Anyone could recognize the struggles of Stan through his letters in the verses of the song. That is simple, however if one analyzes the chorus they find that "it's not so bad" at all (all puns aside).
It seems the rain is the gloom into which Stan has fallen, and the window is his letter to Eminem, who sees his anguish and tries to write him back, but the obsession that Stan has for Eminem is so great that "it would all be grey" even if Stan could see through to his hero. The picture on Stan's wall is of Eminem, who -- through his lyrics -- tells Stan that "it's not so bad," there is reassurance that the light will break the storm.
---Prof. Hicks' presentation ---
I took alot of notes when Professor Patrick Hicks lectured the class. The Augustana professor does appreciate Mr. Christensen for teaching us as not only a class, but a community including children, teens, and adults alike. He taught us about George Orwell, who -- surprisingly to myself -- was born in India under the name Eric Arthur Blaire. Of course it would be natural that Blaire would choose a psuedonym to write his works, as he despised what he was -- an heir. He inherited his wealth, contrary to his own belief in earning wealth through good work.
There is immense symbolism in all of Orwell's creations. His biggest writings are of Dystopia, or Negative utopias in which all live shackled to this overwhelming government,"the perfect world."
Professor Hicks told us a lot of interesting things about Orwell but the statement that resonates in my mind from his speech is this: History influences EVERYTHING.
Greenhoff Pd.3
For this blog task I will be analyzing the movie Moulin Rouge. I will be using all three lenses to help me analyze the film. The movie is a musical about a poet who falls in love with a beautiful courtesan. The story takes place in Paris, France at one of the largest and most extravagant brothels of it’s time. Through a Feminist lense I can easily conclude that all the women are stereotypical prostitutes. They wear way too much makeup and walk around in the sultriest clothes possible. The women are paid for sex, nothing more. They are used as tools to attract young and rich bachelors to come and see them sing and dance, and then maybe sleep with them for a price. The women in the movie really don’t have a voice, and almost never speak for themselves or their own personal rights. They do what they are told and sleep with who they are told. The women would rather sleep with a thousand drunk and disgusting gentlemen than be out on the streets trying to make it on their own. They are scared that if they try to leave the Moulin Rouge they will fail in society. The main character, Satine, wants to be a star. She is set on sleeping her way to the top and hopes to eventually achieve fame and make something more of herself. From a Marxist lense I look at the male role in the film, although everyone seems to be power hungry. The men basically have the power. They tell these women that if they sleep with them they will make them a star. If the women will fulfill their selfish sexual cravings they will pay them off and be gone with them. The man in charge of the brothel, Harold Zidler, wants the constant obedience of the girls and for them to rise in popularity to he can make more money. Although he seems to care about the women’s feelings, he is like a machine in that he is determined to make a bigger and better male entertainment center that will rise in popularity. Though a Freudian lense I observe that almost all the characters in the film are determined on satisfying their ids. They all want what makes them feel satisfied and hope that any action they take is the best for their financial state. There are so many opportunities to analyze from different lenses and different angles, but theses are a choice few that stuck out to me.
I got a more of a feeling about what college courses might be like. I find different styles of teaching interesting and I felt like I did learn something. I very much look forward to attending college and hope the experience is a positive one. I am excited to learn from different teachers on various topics that will apply to my future and my knowledge and make me a better a writer. I look forward to college more now because I realize that writing can be a more enjoyable experience. I have never really been a big fan of writing essays, but when I use the lenses to analyze different exhibits I feel like it’s opening my eyes more to what’s right in front of me. I will most definitely be using my lenses far into the future. I am impressed by how much the lenses broaden my view on various exhibits. I will keep my critical lenses handout and try to continue to learn from them in time to come.
Kalo pd.2
The exhibit I am going to do is the movie the Back up Plan. The back up plan has a lot of meaning, this movie is so interesting you don’t want to stop watching it, it makes you think about some people live and about some people still live and will always live or being treated, Sandra Bullock is a amazing actress in this film she really shows that she can make a different in a persons life, just from letting a random black man stay in her house and then become her adopted son, it’s amazing how this story can influence one family’s behavior from being a stranger and then being a absolute sweet guy living in there house , on there house. Wouldn’t u think he would steal something, but not him he couldn’t harm a fly unless it came to his family and then he would be right there willingly to fight them.
I learned from the professors talk today, is that you will have be ready for college and if you aren’t maybe you should take some time off. He really showed us what you will be doing in college and what some of his classes are like. We even had our own kind of class for the day, without having to pay for it. It was really interesting listening to an actual professor talk instead of our own teachers because you will actually know what they will say and what they want to say when it comes to college. I do look forward to college more, but at the same time I am very scared on what school will be like without going in the morning and asking question , and what will be on the tests and such. The other thing I am going to miss is extra credit , that is the only reason why I pass some my classes is because of extra credit, so college will definitely be a new experience. I will use critical lens in college because without them everything will be boring , so why not use them to help you understand your topic or book and such.
Engebretson, 7
I have chosen to analyze the Axe Ball Scrubber commercial through both a marxist and a feminist lens. First with the marxist lens. This commercial is protraying that if each individual guy goes out and wastes money on one of these ball scrubbers, than they will get the hot girl presenting it, and a freshly srubbed area. That is completely wrong. The guy will not get the girl and realize that he just wasted his money on a pointess "toy" that did nothing for his junk. The male that purchased the Axe Ball Scrubbed will feel oppressed because of his complusive purchase, and eventually lose his class mobility because of his id bought purchase. Now through a feminist lens. The fact that the hosts/stars of this commercial are two attractive women, one with an accent and the other an actress, gives off the impression that buy this product and get the girl. If the gender roles were switched, the male debating on purchasing this product would feel completely disturbed because of the gender expectations and turn away from the purchase. Thus, the reason the people trying to sell these products are attractive, young females. Also, if they just threw some normal "folk" girl on this commercial wearing jeans and a t-shirt, the guy would be disappointed, and that is why they make a hot brunette with an accent and a "famous tennis player" actress run this commercial.
I thought Professor Patrick Hick's presentation helped out so much! Hearing it from an actual professor from an actual college helps give the potential student the perspective they are lurking. I learned that a lot about why books during certain time periods are reflected by that era whether it is a depression or a baby boom. I also learned that anything that affects the whole country as a whole is important, and some people just shake that off if it doesn't effect them as an individual when they shouldn't be. I feel that from day one of learning criticial lens in Mr. C's class that i will continue to use them because even now i catch myself analyzing my normal tv shows and movies. I have always been looking forward to attending college and being that much closer to following my dream, but like previously stated, it helps the prospective college student gain information hearing interesting facts and stories from an actual college professor, and for that I thank you Professor Hicks.
Engebretson, 7
I have chosen to analyze the Axe Ball Scrubber commercial through both a marxist and a feminist lens. First with the marxist lens. This commercial is protraying that if each individual guy goes out and wastes money on one of these ball scrubbers, than they will get the hot girl presenting it, and a freshly srubbed area. That is completely wrong. The guy will not get the girl and realize that he just wasted his money on a pointess "toy" that did nothing for his junk. The male that purchased the Axe Ball Scrubbed will feel oppressed because of his complusive purchase, and eventually lose his class mobility because of his id bought purchase. Now through a feminist lens. The fact that the hosts/stars of this commercial are two attractive women, one with an accent and the other an actress, gives off the impression that buy this product and get the girl. If the gender roles were switched, the male debating on purchasing this product would feel completely disturbed because of the gender expectations and turn away from the purchase. Thus, the reason the people trying to sell these products are attractive, young females. Also, if they just threw some normal "folk" girl on this commercial wearing jeans and a t-shirt, the guy would be disappointed, and that is why they make a hot brunette with an accent and a "famous tennis player" actress run this commercial.
I thought Professor Patrick Hick's presentation helped out so much! Hearing it from an actual professor from an actual college helps give the potential student the perspective they are lurking. I learned that a lot about why books during certain time periods are reflected by that era whether it is a depression or a baby boom. I also learned that anything that affects the whole country as a whole is important, and some people just shake that off if it doesn't effect them as an individual when they shouldn't be. I feel that from day one of learning criticial lens in Mr. C's class that i will continue to use them because even now i catch myself analyzing my normal tv shows and movies. I have always been looking forward to attending college and being that much closer to following my dream, but like previously stated, it helps the prospective college student gain information hearing interesting facts and stories from an actual college professor, and for that I thank you Professor Hicks.
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