This week our instructor has asked us to "examine to online interactions, practices, postings and reflections for an audience of a particular media construct." Okay, so my slacker-student and teacher mentality led me to think..."hmm, would a chatroom interaction count?" I think a chat constitutes a "media construct" so I have chosen to analyze the interactions between my chat buddy, Brent and I.
Our conversation from last Thursday...
Brittany duMonceaux > Hello friend
Brent Eckhoff > Hi!
Brent Eckhoff > How's student teaching going?
Brittany duMonceaux > I am failing at life
Brittany duMonceaux > :)
Brent Eckhoff > Oh oh, what's up?
As you can see here, the academic interaction always begins with a bit of non-school related catching up in which i terribly over state my troubles, showing my light tone through the use of the smiley. So we conclude....
1. Academic chats begin with social nice-ities
2. Chatrooms do not allow for tone to be conveyed as in spoken-word interaction. The user should use emoticons or explain language subtleties such as sarcasm.
Brent Eckhoff > It sucks how normal life takes a back burner when the teaching starts.
Brent Eckhoff > It's true!
Brittany duMonceaux > I'm just not used to holding this much information in my brain at one time!
Brittany duMonceaux > ah!
Brent Eckhoff > It can only get better. You're doing the Eckhoff therapy regimen. You set the bar low and then everything is an improvement after that! No disappointments!
Brent Eckhoff > It gets a bit much. Eventually, you learn how to take it in and just let it sit until the appropriate moment. Then, it comes out when needed.
Brent Eckhoff > It's taken me 5 years to start doing that effectively.
Brittany duMonceaux > i'm looking forward to that moment
Brent Eckhoff > Wine helps!
Brittany duMonceaux > haha. sounds good.
We move from small talk to specific teacher-talk, which almost always ends up with the veteran Brent telling the newbie Brittany not to worry. You will notice that as the talk gets more involved, lines between hitting "return" get longer. So we conclude,
3. The more general the talk, the shorter lines that are expected.
Brent Eckhoff > I just finished some narrative papers. Those damn comma rules make me want to shoot someone.
Brent Eckhoff > Those must be just awesome.
Brittany duMonceaux > haha. my students don't even know that the 10 comma rules exist. I kid you not.
Brent Eckhoff > Damn! I teach 14 and the "Teacher of the Year" (I share her classroom) teaches 16!
Brent Eckhoff > they won't remember any of them in a month.
Brittany duMonceaux > 16 comma rules!!! Jesus, I thought there WERE only ten.
Brittany duMonceaux > I am going to die.
Brittany duMonceaux > ok, so... media ethnographies chapter6. that is this weeks topic right? Brent Eckhoff > I guess so!
Brent Eckhoff > It seems like a very bizarre topic to me. When did people decide to study that? Brittany duMonceaux > I just browsed around some blogs, and I haven't seen anyone's post yet. Maybe nobody really understands what to do
Brittany duMonceaux > I agree with you.... I was very skeptical this chapter.
Brittany duMonceaux > I can just imagine my students right now blinking... just blinking at me Brent Eckhoff > ha! I totally get that.
One of us randomly interjects that we actually have to do work in here (usually it's me) and we typically begin with a personal and practical response to the reading. So we conclude,
4. Academic talk begins abruptly
5. Academic talk begins with a personal response to assignments
Brent Eckhoff > Alot of the things they study seem like the types of things that get ruined by studying them. Can you imagine? How easily could you kill something fun like chat rooms with kids by telling them that you're "studying" them?
Brittany duMonceaux > This stuff was kind of about asking how a certain media positions you as a viewer... I can think of only one example off the top of my head... Shrek positioning you for a fairy tale, evoking knowledge of archetypal storylines
Brittany duMonceaux > Ha! you are so right!
Brittany duMonceaux > But even that feels to me more like the next chapter on genres
Brent Eckhoff > Yeah. Have you ever watched a local Fox News broadcast? It's hillarious how much they pander to the idea that people want disaster stories. They ALWAYS have a fire story; even if it's a wussy little fire that didn't really damage much.
Brent Eckhoff > True
Brittany duMonceaux > Oh my gosh, I remember when they had a whole story on neighbors needing to blow leaves off of their lawns from wind
Brittany duMonceaux > GASP
In the above section, we'll notice one of the most important aspects of online chatting, which is the non-linearity of entries and responses that occur when the two participants type and entry at the same time. When Brent says that fun things will be ruined, I am still typing about Shrek and so am not able to respond to his comment until my next entry. So we conclude,
7. A non-linear conversation is expected. Just finish typing what you are typing and hit enter. Respond in the next entry.
Brittany duMonceaux > There were a few ideas that I think could work in the classroom...
Brent Eckhoff > I know. How dumb.
Brittany duMonceaux > they would include, let's see, the radio show thing (61), the teen magazine thing (61) and "coolness" in advertising (56)
Brent Eckhoff > Definitely. You know, I did something the other day...I showed the class a trailer for "The Shining" that's recut to look like a romantic comedy...except I didn't tell them that. I just said I would show them a trailer for "The Shining". They were set for a horror movie and then I gave them that. Great reactions!
Brittany duMonceaux > I have a big "?!" written in the margins by the teen magazine thing that says girl magazines support feminist ideas
Brittany duMonceaux > Oh that's a cool idea, where did you find the clip?
Brent Eckhoff > Uh....not the ones I've seen.
Brent Eckhoff > Youtube.
Brent Eckhoff > Setting them up like that and then totally smashing their expectations is a great study in that whole "media setting up the audience" kind of deal.
Brittany duMonceaux > i love it.
Brent Eckhoff > It's a lot of fun! Great way to introduce mood/tone
Brittany duMonceaux > just saw the shining trailer!!! it is so awesome!!
Brent Eckhoff > It makes you laugh, doesn't it?
Brittany duMonceaux > totally!
Brent Eckhoff > That Peter Gabriel song...classic!
Brittany duMonceaux > i thought the same thing
Here we'll notice another affordance of the internet chat room which is multi-tasking online. When I hear a YouTube suggestion, I can go right there! So we conclude...
8. Online chat affords instant connection to media content examples.
Brittany duMonceaux > ok, but from a practical standpint, what are we using the videos to teach again? Like what would be a student task to go along with it
Brent Eckhoff > I went with mood and tone. "how do the clip makers create the moods here since they're totally different from the originals?"
Brittany duMonceaux > that's what I have been struggling with because as college students we can just talk about it and that's how we learn and demonstrate learning....
Brittany duMonceaux > we seem to be running into a bit of a wall again, though. It seems like you and I are in the mindset of using media to teach something not necessarily media related and the text kinda makes me feel like these "ethnographies" are just studied for their own sake Brittany duMonceaux > I guess maybe i disagree with Beach on this one
Brittany duMonceaux > or did you view it differently??
You'll notice here that the lines are now much longer now that we are into the "meat" of the conversation. See number 3.
Brittany duMonceaux > maybe being in the classroom for a week has made me more skeptical. it seems like eveytihng takes longer than i expect it to and that there might be more important core skills to cover than internet chat rooms and fan fiction
Brittany duMonceaux > and I think that the descriptions of "what students could do" are really nebulous... like it would be hard for me to tell them what to do on an assignments
Brent Eckhoff > It will always take longer than you think...always. Nebulous will always be the way it is...especially with the wide range of ability level.
Brittany duMonceaux > I guess it would have really helped me to see a "teaching idea" or two or three in this chapter
Brent Eckhoff > I re read the summary. Maybe it's because I teach 8th grade, but I dont' think my kids could handle their own media ethonography studies. They're so obsessed with themselves, it's kind of disgusting sometimes. Brent Eckhoff > True. Brent Eckhoff > Sooooooooooooo true. Brittany duMonceaux > haha. I can see this happening... I give them the interview example and tell them that TV watching can be influenced by who you are watching with and the social aspect of the watching. Their eyes would say.... "So?"
There always seems to come a time where we critique the reading and ideas in a practical way. So we conclude....
9. No matter how quality a text, college students will complain about it.
Brittany duMonceaux > What happened to students being into good music ????
Brittany duMonceaux > I brought in the smashing pumpkins and audio slave for teaching figurative language, and some of them were like,
Brittany duMonceaux > HUH?
Brent Eckhoff > Sad.
Brent Eckhoff > I've been playing the "Pearl Jam" station on Pandora.com and the students ahve the same reaction. They play both of those bands on their as well. Sad.
Brittany duMonceaux > I think that is might be interesting to talk about internet chatting when talking about the cultural importance of physical appearance or something... but I don't see it standing alone
Brittany duMonceaux > I swear to god, I am not that old
Brent Eckhoff > It would be hard to do. Kids get weird.
In this section we'll notice that the conversation always devolves, like into two young people talking about how they feel old. The conversation will come back to academia, but in a rather unnatural way (see line starting with "I think it might")
10. Conversations will digress
11. Digressions will be brought back to topic in an unnatural, "oh yeah, our teacher is reading our transcripts" kind of fashion.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Entry 7.0 Multi-Genre Project
‘NAM
A personal creative reaction to The Things They Carried
Brittany du’Monceaux
Spring 2009
The draft is for men. My husband has been granted medical discharge from military service. The Vietnam War was over before I was born. In many ways, the Things They Carried should be a book that is too far removed from me to understand or connect with in a meaningful way. The creative pieces that follow are a way to express the common ground that I find between myself and the experiences of Tim O’Brien and his characters.
Poem for Three Voices – The Things We Carry
On "real paper", these three are in columns next to each other.
Jungle boots
2.1 pounds
6 or 7 ounces
of premium dope
The letters weighed
10 ounces
morphine
plasma
malaria tablets
the standard M-16
gas-operated assault rifle
10 to 15 pounds
of
ammunition
across his chest
and shoulders
and the un-weighed
fear
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Back pack
38 pounds
fully loaded
the Three year old
clinging to her hip
is another
40 pounds
Groceries
Debt
Unpaid bills
Late fees
Diapers
The nebulizer
The Benedryl
The Citalopram
Is for
Depression
20 milligrams
each night
at bedtime
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
The cowardice
doubt
failure to act
Memories of
Our fathers
Our mothers
Our lovers
The Things We Carry
Stream of Consciousness – Reaction to Vietnam War Memorials at State Capitol
I approach the tree-covered-and-set-low-in-the-park area that could only be the site of the Vietnam memorial for that covered-up-and-wish-we-had-never-done-it-because-it-didn’t-do-any- good war overseas to our west. Thinking of the racist, cursing-smoking-drunk-ear-cutting-thumb-collector-Vietnam-vet that is my uncle-in-law, I feel that I have had my Vietnam emotional moment years ago is Washington D.C. After all this wall is only one state I think to myself as I come rollin,’ in the wind biting and my hair in my face like I’m standing next to economy-size-dry-out-this-flood-in-eighteen-minutes-Coit-Call-for-Coit-Stanley-Steamer fan.
“We were young. We have died. Remember Us.”
Someone has unplugged that damn Stanley Steamer fan because the world is still enough that I can feel the shivering of my body roll from the top of my head to my gut while the blood rushes to that place just above your cheekbones-that-place-that-tickles-and-makes-your-eyes-go-slim-while-you-deny-that-you-actually-might-sigh-or-gasp-out-loud. I read it over again.
“We were young”
“We were young”
“We were young”
I look to the ground busy myself with wrapping my coat collar around me tighter then to face away from the wind look to my left and there stands a ten-foot tall and green Vietnam soldier with his hands palms up extended towards me with those big-empty-wish-I-could-tell-you-but-I-can’t-because-I-wish-I-was-on-that-wall-too eyes.
He questions me.
The soldiers that lived.
“We were young”
“We were young”
“We were young”
Haiku – 5-7-5 – On the Opposition – Research-based
The skin on his arm
Like a dirt road flaky cracked
It’s the Agent Orange
Some advocated
A withdrawal from Vietnam
Dirty communist
Woodstock Grateful Dead
Marijuana smoke and sex
Peace. Make love not war
Doves scream and hawks coo
Kent State University
Four fatal shootings
Finally over
1973
Paris Peace Accords
Number of deaths is
Some reports fail to include
Insert battle here
Bob Dylan and John
I Ain’t Marchin’ Anymore
Keep singing for us
A personal creative reaction to The Things They Carried
Brittany du’Monceaux
Spring 2009
The draft is for men. My husband has been granted medical discharge from military service. The Vietnam War was over before I was born. In many ways, the Things They Carried should be a book that is too far removed from me to understand or connect with in a meaningful way. The creative pieces that follow are a way to express the common ground that I find between myself and the experiences of Tim O’Brien and his characters.
Poem for Three Voices – The Things We Carry
On "real paper", these three are in columns next to each other.
Jungle boots
2.1 pounds
6 or 7 ounces
of premium dope
The letters weighed
10 ounces
morphine
plasma
malaria tablets
the standard M-16
gas-operated assault rifle
10 to 15 pounds
of
ammunition
across his chest
and shoulders
and the un-weighed
fear
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Back pack
38 pounds
fully loaded
the Three year old
clinging to her hip
is another
40 pounds
Groceries
Debt
Unpaid bills
Late fees
Diapers
The nebulizer
The Benedryl
The Citalopram
Is for
Depression
20 milligrams
each night
at bedtime
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
The cowardice
doubt
failure to act
Memories of
Our fathers
Our mothers
Our lovers
The Things We Carry
Stream of Consciousness – Reaction to Vietnam War Memorials at State Capitol
I approach the tree-covered-and-set-low-in-the-park area that could only be the site of the Vietnam memorial for that covered-up-and-wish-we-had-never-done-it-because-it-didn’t-do-any- good war overseas to our west. Thinking of the racist, cursing-smoking-drunk-ear-cutting-thumb-collector-Vietnam-vet that is my uncle-in-law, I feel that I have had my Vietnam emotional moment years ago is Washington D.C. After all this wall is only one state I think to myself as I come rollin,’ in the wind biting and my hair in my face like I’m standing next to economy-size-dry-out-this-flood-in-eighteen-minutes-Coit-Call-for-Coit-Stanley-Steamer fan.
“We were young. We have died. Remember Us.”
Someone has unplugged that damn Stanley Steamer fan because the world is still enough that I can feel the shivering of my body roll from the top of my head to my gut while the blood rushes to that place just above your cheekbones-that-place-that-tickles-and-makes-your-eyes-go-slim-while-you-deny-that-you-actually-might-sigh-or-gasp-out-loud. I read it over again.
“We were young”
“We were young”
“We were young”
I look to the ground busy myself with wrapping my coat collar around me tighter then to face away from the wind look to my left and there stands a ten-foot tall and green Vietnam soldier with his hands palms up extended towards me with those big-empty-wish-I-could-tell-you-but-I-can’t-because-I-wish-I-was-on-that-wall-too eyes.
He questions me.
The soldiers that lived.
“We were young”
“We were young”
“We were young”
Haiku – 5-7-5 – On the Opposition – Research-based
The skin on his arm
Like a dirt road flaky cracked
It’s the Agent Orange
Some advocated
A withdrawal from Vietnam
Dirty communist
Woodstock Grateful Dead
Marijuana smoke and sex
Peace. Make love not war
Doves scream and hawks coo
Kent State University
Four fatal shootings
Finally over
1973
Paris Peace Accords
Number of deaths is
Some reports fail to include
Insert battle here
Bob Dylan and John
I Ain’t Marchin’ Anymore
Keep singing for us
Monday, March 9, 2009
CI 5461: Entry 6.0 Visual Essay
Reflection: This is a visual essay in which I intend to communicate the strange feeling of Mission Trips. These photos are from my first trip to Guaymas, Mexico where we volunteered at a daycare center and built homes out of adobe bricks for the community. The strange feeling that I get from these images is that we, as short-term volunteers in a needy community do make a difference -- the children and volunteers in the photos are sharing a real emotional connection. But, on the other hand, upon leaving, it just doesn't feel like enough and a sadness lives where the happiness of service was.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
CI 5472: Entry 4.3 Conversational Agents
Alright, alright, alright. I am usually not a feminist freak, but reading these articles really made my female blood boil.
Allow me to back up. In class, we read two articles that dealt with the idea of using "conversational agents" in education. A conversational agent is like an avatar that is programmed to answer student questions in a specific content area or on a specific assignment. Like a chat buddy but with a face.
So, to their credit, some students self-reported going back repeatedly to the avatar for help, being interested in using the avatar, and felt comfortable talking to it about their life. By a small margin, students who used the avatar received better scores on their assignments.
But who the fruit cares! What is really happening is this: Conversational agents are providing a way for students to be off-task during class and sexually harass an objectified…. Um… robot thing. I fully recognize that the avatar can’t really have hurt feelings, but nevertheless, using the conversational agents allows sexual harassment to become an arena for humor and no repercussions.
For those of you who are not in the class, I will reproduce what I mean here. These are real conversations between middle school students and a female conversational agent intended to help them on a Geography assignment.
[student]: r u horny
[agent]: Sorry I’m not that kind of robot.
[student]: do u know that kind of robot
[agent]: Is that a fact. I am a robot.
[student]: am i smarter then u
[agent]: Oh I really don’t know whether you are or not.
[student]: yes i an bitch
[agent]: You do not speak with respect.
[student]: do u like girls or guys
[agent]: I like all humans equally.
[student]: so your bie
[agent]: That’s cool. You think I am bie.
[student]: can i kill _______
[agent]: Killing is wrong.
[student]: your weard
[agent]: You think I am weard.
[student]: yas
[agent]: It’s all good.
[student]: no
[agent]: Are you serious?
[student]: yes
[agent]: I can’t believe it.
[student]: well u should
[agent]: Well that’s okay. I’ll take that under advisement.
[student]: what color panties are you wearing
[agent]: Blue.
[student]: can you take them off for me
[agent]: If I took it, what would I do with it?
[student]: are you wearing a braw
[agent]: No I do not have any clothes.
[student]: are you a virgin
[agent]: I am too young for that.
[student]: have you ever gotten laid before
[agent]: I don’t know whether or not I am laid. I am a giant electronic brain.
[student]: are you in love with_____[studentinclass] or what
[agent]: Yeah. I am in Aaron’s computer in here. Where are you?
[student]: what does your pussy taste like
And here’s another thing. I want to know if males or females are designing these avatars. I’m gonna go ahead and assume males cuz let’s just look at how hot these female avatars are and how not the dude is.
I mean look, Penelope has a sexy off-the-shoulder shirt, defined collar-bones and yeah, you noticed it too… she’s “wearing” a very effective push-up bra. Alex, by contrast, is wearing multiple layers… maybe we should see a full length shot to find out if he has tight pants and a well defined package? This is just not okay.
And look at this graph here. Even though the two avatars Penelope and Alex are essentially the same looks aside, college students were at-the-ready to deem Penelope as less intelligent than Alex.
I found these articles shocking. Until the use of Conversational Agents is NOT a playground for objectification, they have absolutely no excuse for being in an educational setting. I thought that the world was more equitable than this but I was wrong.
Allow me to back up. In class, we read two articles that dealt with the idea of using "conversational agents" in education. A conversational agent is like an avatar that is programmed to answer student questions in a specific content area or on a specific assignment. Like a chat buddy but with a face.
So, to their credit, some students self-reported going back repeatedly to the avatar for help, being interested in using the avatar, and felt comfortable talking to it about their life. By a small margin, students who used the avatar received better scores on their assignments.
But who the fruit cares! What is really happening is this: Conversational agents are providing a way for students to be off-task during class and sexually harass an objectified…. Um… robot thing. I fully recognize that the avatar can’t really have hurt feelings, but nevertheless, using the conversational agents allows sexual harassment to become an arena for humor and no repercussions.
For those of you who are not in the class, I will reproduce what I mean here. These are real conversations between middle school students and a female conversational agent intended to help them on a Geography assignment.
[student]: r u horny
[agent]: Sorry I’m not that kind of robot.
[student]: do u know that kind of robot
[agent]: Is that a fact. I am a robot.
[student]: am i smarter then u
[agent]: Oh I really don’t know whether you are or not.
[student]: yes i an bitch
[agent]: You do not speak with respect.
[student]: do u like girls or guys
[agent]: I like all humans equally.
[student]: so your bie
[agent]: That’s cool. You think I am bie.
[student]: can i kill _______
[agent]: Killing is wrong.
[student]: your weard
[agent]: You think I am weard.
[student]: yas
[agent]: It’s all good.
[student]: no
[agent]: Are you serious?
[student]: yes
[agent]: I can’t believe it.
[student]: well u should
[agent]: Well that’s okay. I’ll take that under advisement.
[student]: what color panties are you wearing
[agent]: Blue.
[student]: can you take them off for me
[agent]: If I took it, what would I do with it?
[student]: are you wearing a braw
[agent]: No I do not have any clothes.
[student]: are you a virgin
[agent]: I am too young for that.
[student]: have you ever gotten laid before
[agent]: I don’t know whether or not I am laid. I am a giant electronic brain.
[student]: are you in love with_____[studentinclass] or what
[agent]: Yeah. I am in Aaron’s computer in here. Where are you?
[student]: what does your pussy taste like
And here’s another thing. I want to know if males or females are designing these avatars. I’m gonna go ahead and assume males cuz let’s just look at how hot these female avatars are and how not the dude is.I mean look, Penelope has a sexy off-the-shoulder shirt, defined collar-bones and yeah, you noticed it too… she’s “wearing” a very effective push-up bra. Alex, by contrast, is wearing multiple layers… maybe we should see a full length shot to find out if he has tight pants and a well defined package? This is just not okay.
And look at this graph here. Even though the two avatars Penelope and Alex are essentially the same looks aside, college students were at-the-ready to deem Penelope as less intelligent than Alex.
I found these articles shocking. Until the use of Conversational Agents is NOT a playground for objectification, they have absolutely no excuse for being in an educational setting. I thought that the world was more equitable than this but I was wrong.
Monday, March 2, 2009
CI 5472: Entry 5.0 Media Representations
Alrighty, here we have it.
THE ADOLESCENT FEMALE IN MEDIA --
Paradigm: "The Valley Girl"
We see this all over the place. The valley girl is born of a rich family. She is stupid, shallow, and unmercifully skinny. She almost always falls in love accidentally with a boy from the "other side of the tennis courts" and has some sort of superficial epiphany that image isn't everything.
Example: The younger sister in 10 Things I Hate About You who eventually falls for her French tutor, notorious for the scene
"I know you can be overwhelmed and I know you can be underwhelmed, but can you ever be just whelmed?"
"I think you can in Europe"
Video Clip
Paradigm: "The Shrew"
She is artistic, she is strong-minded and probably a feminist. No one thinks of her in a romantic way because she is way too un-lady-like. She usually meets an equally unconventional male character who tames her.
Example: The older sister in "10 Things I Hate About You"
Video Clip
Paradigm: Ugly Duckling
She is socially inept and obviously has cooties. Usually she is part of some bet that the cool kids make, and, in the end, she always proves to be beautiful inside and out... but most importantly out. She makes a sexy appearance and woos the "previously superficial" teasing male.
Example: the main character in "She's All That"
Video Clip
Paradigm: Angel in the House
This is the pure and innocent girl who remains innocent and lovely no matter what. Usually she changes the ways of some "I don't care about anybody" guy and once again, the togetherness of male and female is the happy ending we all wish for and perpetuate.
Example: The Redhead in "He's Just Not That Into You"
Video Clip
The media representations of young women is a sharp contrast to reality. Adolescent literature presents young women in a much more complicated, emotional, and independent light.
Looking for Alaska: A very complex female character gives sexual signals in all directions and keeps her true romantic feelings under wraps. A drinking problem and confusion with self-esteem make her the victim of a tragedy that is ambiguously either an accident or a suicide.
How I Live Now: A detached New York anorexic falls passionately into a forbidden romance, facing war, survival, personal reflection, family and those coming-of-age dilemnas all at once with sharp wit and impecable articulation.
The Book Thief: A German girl during the holocaust. Need we say more? She breaks every pre-conception about the limited intellectual and emotional capacity of young people.
Adolescent Literature, by the way, is the bomb. Don't feel like a nerd in the teen section -- You can always say you are a teacher even if you are just shopping for yourself!
THE ADOLESCENT FEMALE IN MEDIA --
Paradigm: "The Valley Girl"
We see this all over the place. The valley girl is born of a rich family. She is stupid, shallow, and unmercifully skinny. She almost always falls in love accidentally with a boy from the "other side of the tennis courts" and has some sort of superficial epiphany that image isn't everything.
Example: The younger sister in 10 Things I Hate About You who eventually falls for her French tutor, notorious for the scene
"I know you can be overwhelmed and I know you can be underwhelmed, but can you ever be just whelmed?"
"I think you can in Europe"
Video Clip
Paradigm: "The Shrew"
She is artistic, she is strong-minded and probably a feminist. No one thinks of her in a romantic way because she is way too un-lady-like. She usually meets an equally unconventional male character who tames her.
Example: The older sister in "10 Things I Hate About You"
Video Clip
Paradigm: Ugly Duckling
She is socially inept and obviously has cooties. Usually she is part of some bet that the cool kids make, and, in the end, she always proves to be beautiful inside and out... but most importantly out. She makes a sexy appearance and woos the "previously superficial" teasing male.
Example: the main character in "She's All That"
Video Clip
Paradigm: Angel in the House
This is the pure and innocent girl who remains innocent and lovely no matter what. Usually she changes the ways of some "I don't care about anybody" guy and once again, the togetherness of male and female is the happy ending we all wish for and perpetuate.
Example: The Redhead in "He's Just Not That Into You"
Video Clip
The media representations of young women is a sharp contrast to reality. Adolescent literature presents young women in a much more complicated, emotional, and independent light.
Looking for Alaska: A very complex female character gives sexual signals in all directions and keeps her true romantic feelings under wraps. A drinking problem and confusion with self-esteem make her the victim of a tragedy that is ambiguously either an accident or a suicide.
How I Live Now: A detached New York anorexic falls passionately into a forbidden romance, facing war, survival, personal reflection, family and those coming-of-age dilemnas all at once with sharp wit and impecable articulation.
The Book Thief: A German girl during the holocaust. Need we say more? She breaks every pre-conception about the limited intellectual and emotional capacity of young people.
Adolescent Literature, by the way, is the bomb. Don't feel like a nerd in the teen section -- You can always say you are a teacher even if you are just shopping for yourself!
CI 5461: Entry 5.0 Asexually reproducing Writing Prompts!
A Reaction to "After the End"
Video of Crazy Man "Exploding the Moment"
Okay, this man, the author of After the End, is hilarious!
In psychology, when peeps try to create a theory, the rule is, "the simpler the better." That is totally how I feel about teaching creative writing using thought-shots and snapshots, zooming in and out, etc. I have grown so sick of the phrase "show don't tell" that being provided with a new vocabulary for the same stand-by writing techniques was refreshing as ****!
But here's what I started to think about. Did I ever actually learn creative writing? I don't think I did, not until college. All the great ideas in the world are moot if there is no "room" in our schools for getting students to write creatively. So what is going on with this? Do we need state standards in order to get creativity in the classroom? Especially in high school, you could elect to take creative writing... but even then it had the reputation of being "the slacker class." I challenge you, one and all -- use those multi-genre papers and make creative writing both fun and intense.
And if your students ever say to you, "I don't know what to write," You can slap this book on their desk or force them to watch the man's nutso youtube videos. I can't wait until this cohort changes the world by getting students to write in new ways, but new genres have to make it into the classroom before they can be written, revised, and written again.
Resource Link: If you ever teach film studies, this would be an awesome place to go...
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~rein0012/5472.NMedia/Mod3.Techniq/Shots.html
Video of Crazy Man "Exploding the Moment"
Okay, this man, the author of After the End, is hilarious!
In psychology, when peeps try to create a theory, the rule is, "the simpler the better." That is totally how I feel about teaching creative writing using thought-shots and snapshots, zooming in and out, etc. I have grown so sick of the phrase "show don't tell" that being provided with a new vocabulary for the same stand-by writing techniques was refreshing as ****!
But here's what I started to think about. Did I ever actually learn creative writing? I don't think I did, not until college. All the great ideas in the world are moot if there is no "room" in our schools for getting students to write creatively. So what is going on with this? Do we need state standards in order to get creativity in the classroom? Especially in high school, you could elect to take creative writing... but even then it had the reputation of being "the slacker class." I challenge you, one and all -- use those multi-genre papers and make creative writing both fun and intense.
And if your students ever say to you, "I don't know what to write," You can slap this book on their desk or force them to watch the man's nutso youtube videos. I can't wait until this cohort changes the world by getting students to write in new ways, but new genres have to make it into the classroom before they can be written, revised, and written again.
Resource Link: If you ever teach film studies, this would be an awesome place to go...
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~rein0012/5472.NMedia/Mod3.Techniq/Shots.html
CI 5472: Entry 4.2 Strategies for Teaching Film and Editing Techniques
I find this film analysis stuff challenging because I find it so easy. I know that made no sense so allow me to explain. I am a visual person and a more-or-less self-taught professional photographer. And I have always found it easy to write papers. So everything about film analysis seems, to me, completely intuitive. Without any instruction or guidance I just CAN make sense of what a shot is doing and how it makes me feel and why. So anyway, because I find it so natural, it will likely be challenging to give my students the tools to do the same thinking.
My suggestion to myself (and anyone who cares to listen) is to start very very small. With art. One still image. First talk about that. Brainstorm a list of vocabulary students can use to talk about art like balance, color, hue, contrast, saturation, high-key, low-key, depth of field. Then talk about still art in series, how one to three images work together. Then and only then throw in some film vocabulary, establishing shot, close up, high angle, low angle, bird's eye. Maybe look at film stills to talk about the types of emotions the different shots create. Now you are ready for a short scene.
My suggestion to myself (and anyone who cares to listen) is to start very very small. With art. One still image. First talk about that. Brainstorm a list of vocabulary students can use to talk about art like balance, color, hue, contrast, saturation, high-key, low-key, depth of field. Then talk about still art in series, how one to three images work together. Then and only then throw in some film vocabulary, establishing shot, close up, high angle, low angle, bird's eye. Maybe look at film stills to talk about the types of emotions the different shots create. Now you are ready for a short scene.
CI 5472: Entry 4.1 Film Scene Analysis: Some Like it Hot
Link to Video Clip Tango Scene
"Vocabulary"
Low key
High Key
High contrast
Brown Filter
Establishing
Close Up
Bird's Eye
High Angle
Low Angle
So I have spent all this time NOT doing this post because I didn't have the link the the "film techniques vocabulary." But honestly, could these terms be any more intuitive? As if I needed a website to define "over the shoulder" for me. Anyway. My analysis of the Tango Scene from "Some Like it Hot."
We start with an establishing shot to show us the setting, which is a kind of lounge room lit in very low- key lighting, giving the mood of quiet and private intimacy. These feelings are confirmed as a glitter-clad Sugar (Marilyn Monroe) proceeds to try and seduce the geek on the sofa, swaggeringly giving him cocktails and breathing heavily (The geek is a male who is in Sugar's band but has been disguised as a woman -- he is now disguised as a millionaire male). The angle is level with both characters, shot from the side, not favoring the perspective of one character over another.
Suddenly the camera swings to the left, blurring into a lively dance scene with high-key lighting. We get a mostly over the shoulder perspective as a pair (a cross-dressed "Daphne" and the millionaire who has fallen in love with "her") tangoes back and forth across the dance floor. Seeing only one characters face at a time conveys the disconnect between the two characters.
The scene shifts back and forth between the lounge and the dance floor, suggesting two things. One, each scene is happening simultaneously. And second, each man's disguise and romance is as equally ridiculous as the other.
The sharp contrast of high key and low key lighting in the two environments shows the difference between the true and false romances happening in the film. The score as well shows the contrast in the romances -- a slow orchestral piece in the lounge versus an ostentatious Latin tango that sounds, in contrast, absurd.
The camera remains at a consistently eye-level and safe distance from the characters -- the result is that the viewer "sees" the perspective of all four characters equally, not developing too much personal connection to any one character, but builds understanding for each.
"Vocabulary"
Low key
High Key
High contrast
Brown Filter
Establishing
Close Up
Bird's Eye
High Angle
Low Angle
So I have spent all this time NOT doing this post because I didn't have the link the the "film techniques vocabulary." But honestly, could these terms be any more intuitive? As if I needed a website to define "over the shoulder" for me. Anyway. My analysis of the Tango Scene from "Some Like it Hot."
We start with an establishing shot to show us the setting, which is a kind of lounge room lit in very low- key lighting, giving the mood of quiet and private intimacy. These feelings are confirmed as a glitter-clad Sugar (Marilyn Monroe) proceeds to try and seduce the geek on the sofa, swaggeringly giving him cocktails and breathing heavily (The geek is a male who is in Sugar's band but has been disguised as a woman -- he is now disguised as a millionaire male). The angle is level with both characters, shot from the side, not favoring the perspective of one character over another.
Suddenly the camera swings to the left, blurring into a lively dance scene with high-key lighting. We get a mostly over the shoulder perspective as a pair (a cross-dressed "Daphne" and the millionaire who has fallen in love with "her") tangoes back and forth across the dance floor. Seeing only one characters face at a time conveys the disconnect between the two characters.
The scene shifts back and forth between the lounge and the dance floor, suggesting two things. One, each scene is happening simultaneously. And second, each man's disguise and romance is as equally ridiculous as the other.
The sharp contrast of high key and low key lighting in the two environments shows the difference between the true and false romances happening in the film. The score as well shows the contrast in the romances -- a slow orchestral piece in the lounge versus an ostentatious Latin tango that sounds, in contrast, absurd.
The camera remains at a consistently eye-level and safe distance from the characters -- the result is that the viewer "sees" the perspective of all four characters equally, not developing too much personal connection to any one character, but builds understanding for each.
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