High Fidelity

I think that High Fidelity is a great movie! It is a great movie that can relate to all kinds of people. Everybody has gone through or will go through a break up like the main character, Rob did. The way that he rates all of his break ups to musical songs shows a great metaphor. Music is has become such a big part of our lives. There is great humor in the plot that makes fun of a situation that can have little humor. I wish that we could have seen the end of the movie because I am dying to know if Rob ends up with his ex-girl friend. I think that he should just move on and fall in love with the musician girl!

Should couples live together before they are married?

In today's culture, more and more people are living together before they are married. Most give the reason that they are testing the waters, trying to see if they can really spend the rest of their lives with this one person. The problem with this outlook is that no can truly know if they are going to have a successful marriage because the only way to know is if you are married and they are not married. Living together is about building compatibility not testing your compatibility. When they start having problems, someone leaves, they have failed the test. When married couples have problems they work through them because they know that they are bound together by a special bond that they both value. Unmarried couple are playing house. This all stems from the "hook up culture" of the college life. It is easier to have sex or move in together than to get married and make a commitment.

The Perfect Wedding

By definition a wedding is a ceremony that celebrates the marriage or civil union between two people or a social event at which a ceremony of marriage is performed. In today’s culture people are spending more and more money on their weddings. They are trying at achieve the perfect day, which is emphasized as the most important day in a person’s life. Over time, the idea of marriage and weddings has become a fairy tale illusion for women. More commonly women are planning the weddings by picking everything out, coordinating, trying to make everything perfect for their perfect day. Men have taken the seat on the sideline. They are there for support but not picking out table cloths and flowers.

In 2007, the average cost of a wedding in America was $28,850. On average a couple is engaged for 17 months before they are married. Out of the 2,290,578 weddings that were performed last year 77% of those weddings were paid for by the bride and groom. Only 58% were paid for by the parents. This goes to show that the even though people are spending more and more money on their weddings, it is coming out of their pockets. In the “Here comes the Bride, All Dresses in White” section of Aims, the author makes the reference to the film, Father of the Bride. He makes suggests, “The ideological work of this film is to delineate the heterogendered division of labor portraying Dad as successful factory owner and Mom and daughter as women who spend his money frivolously.”

The more extravagant a wedding is contributes to the extravagance of the American culture. People are obsessed with living a glamorous, over the top lifestyle starting with the wedding. Some use the ceremony as an excuse to show off how successful they have become. If Mom and Dad can’t foot the bill, they the bride and groom will pay for it, anything to get that perfect day, even if that means going into debt at such a young age.

My Favorite Song

My favorite song is Carolina Girls by General Johnson and The Chairmen of the Board. This song always puts a smile on my face wherever I hear it. I love that he describes Carolina girls as sweet southern pearls and that we are the best girls in the world. If someone was to tell ask me what a good song to shag to, I would defiantly say that this song is perfect. This song makes me think about the beach and shagging at my hometown's annual debutante ball.

Proofing Clemson Printmakers

Recently I visited the art gallery in Lee Hall. The work that is on display there is absolutely amazing. The piece that I found to be the most moving was done by, Jennifer Stoneking-Stewart, entitled, Inner Child. The art work consists of an old black and white photograph of a class of elementary school kids and their teacher. Under the portrait are three drawings of microscopic pictures of bacteria and virus. Over the photograph of the kids there is a red disease that wrapped itself around the kids coming from the three drawings of this disease. The bacteria looks deadly and seems to be unknown to the happy children. There are three black boxes around three different children symbolizing the target of death for the bacteria. The picture is black and white and the only color is the red bacteria and the cultures under the photograph. This shows that the only life left after this epidemic is that of the disease, not the people. Overall, I think this image is speaks volumes about what a bacteria can do, emotionally and physically.

My Autobiography in Six Words

Gastonia

Faith

Orange

Laughter

Friend

Love

Persepolis

Satrapi's book conveys a complex political history stained with the national tragedy of Iran which was known then as Persia. The author shows through her visual rhetoric the intensity of the Islamic Revolution. The leaders enforced women to wear veils and outlawed bilingual schools. The veil created much turmoil in the country. The author centers in on the main character's family when she tells the reader about her mother being a revolutionary and hiding from the government because of a picture that was taken of her protesting. Later into the story, the girl turns her back on her strength in her God and puts her faith in herself. This shows the effect of the revolution. Even though this girl wanted things to change in her country, she still let it all get to her head and changed her motive. I would say that the author achieved her goals through the very simple graphic novel that gave a compelling story of a young girl.

In this story the use of color is key to completely setting the tone. The harsh black and white set the stage for the harsh reality of the situation. There are no happy times in this story so there is no need for color. The absences of gray shows that there is no gray to the political system. The people of the nation where either for or against the government.

This frame has great visual rhetoric. In the earlier frames the author explains that the revolution is like a bicylce, when the wheels don't turn, it falls. This picture shows tons and tons of people trying to ride this larger than life bicycle. It takes great coordination and skill to keep your balance and everything in check with that many people. One person can make a wrong move and screw everything up for everyone. The background in this frame is completely black, which shows just how bad the situation is. The only white are the people and the bike. These are the only symbols of hope, they are the only ones how can make a difference.

My Most Memorable Image

My most memorable image is this picture of the cross in the Grand Teton Mountains. I went on a summer trip 3 years ago called Teens Westward Bound. We traveled on a bus for 23 days across the country and back. It was the trip of a life time. The stopped at all the tourist attractions across the country, including the Grand Cannon, New Orleans, Mount Rushmore, the Alamo and many more. Here in this image is the alter in a church that we named the TWB church. All there is is a glass window behind the alter. The visual rhetoric shows that there is nothing more beautiful than nature. You could not put an stain glass behind the alter that would be as moving as the natural beauty as the mountains. The cross is the first thing that you see and is the most important symbol in this image. It shows the Lord's grace and beauty.

Movie Review - The Other Boleyn Girl

This weekend I went to see The Other Boleyn Girl. It was a fabulous movie with a great story line. The movie compares the two Boleyn sisters, Mary and Anne. Everyone has heard of Anne Boleyn, the woman that married King Henry, making him annul his marriage to Queen Catherine of Spain. Anne also gave birth to Elizabeth who went on to become the longest ruler of England. This story of the sisters shows the how Anne managed to ruin her family. The girls' father wanted the Anne originally to be the Kings mistress but she lost her chances when she they were on a hunting rid and made the king fall of of his horse, which greatly embarrassed the King. Soon Mary became the apple of the King's eye. They entire Boleyn family went to court to try and raise their standings and power. The story goes on to explain how both of the girls had love affairs with the king, both giving him children. The story ended on a very serious note when both Anne and her brother were beheaded on charges of incest, after she miscarried the king's child. Overall, I think that the movie was great and was very effective in comparing Mary and Anne Boleyn.

Editorial Cartoon - Visual Rhetoric

This editorial cartoon is criticising the sources of the New York times. The artist is claiming that the paper gets their information from people that are highly unqualified and uneducated. They make reference to a man that believes that Elvis Presley still lives, which is completely untrue and shows that this man in the cartoon is crazy. The man in the cartoon is wearing a lamp shade on his head, has unmatched shoes and is carrying a fishing pole with a light bulb on the end of it. He says, "I give them my gossip and they print it...cool!" Clearly this man has no idea about what he is talking about and should have no business writing for the New York Times. The visual rhetoric used is very simple but it gets the point across. The black arrow is the first thing that the eye sees, this is the most important information.

Strawberry Fields

In the movie, "Across the Universe," many bold statements are made through visual symbolism. The main themes throughout the clip that we watches were the Vietnam War, art, and the TV. The main character is an artist and seems to be having trouble drawing his sketches. His girlfriend interrupts him bringing in a TV since the War is now televised. He goes into the other room and begins using strawberries to symbolize his emotions about the war.

Strawberries are red and when squeezed or punctured they spew red juice, which can look similar to blood. The main character uses this to show how destructive the war has been in his personal life. He seems to be very angry and sad as he throws objects at the strawberries making them burst. This symbolizes the blood shed in the war and the mass killing that is taking place overseas. The song lyrics and connected to his art because he is singing about strawberry fields and that he is taking you there. These fields symbolize the war. All the death that is taking place and how it is now incorporated into their everyday lives through the TV. There is no way to escape the violence. Also, through the clip all of the important symbolze are red, the strawberries, and the blood shed. Red is a prominate color that symbolizes anger, fear, and death.

Spring Cleaning

So today I procrastinated! Instead of writing my paper I decided to clean my room. Not just straighten up but sanitze everything! I pulled everything off of my shelves and swiffered and then cloroxed. I then proceeded to vacume the entire room, even under the rugs, and windexed the mirrors and window! The desk was next. I organized everything, filled papers, threw away, and straightened everything. Needless to say, I did not get much school work done today, but I did get a head start on my spring cleaning.

Academic Integrity Pledge

I think that having us write our own academic integrity pledge was a great idea. It reminded us, as students of Clemson University, of the reason of why we are here, to expand our knowledge. All of our professors tell us that we should read the the academic intregrity policy, but we never do. This made us really analyze the policy and think about what we believe as students. Cheating is just a bad idea, not for the reason of getting caught, but for the sole reason that we are not learning. This is the reason why we pay thousands of dollars each year to be here, to better preare ourselves for the real world. Overall I think that that writting out own academic integrity pledge was a great idea.

Julius Caesar

Brutus and Antony both give public addresses to the Romans about Caesar's death. They both heavily rely on ethos support to make their claims about the death. Brutus aims his speech to the people making them think about themselves and where their loyalty lies, in the state. He makes sure to show his love for Caesar. He asks the people if they would rather have died in Caesar's place, making the assertion that his death was for the good of the nation. This makes the crowd go crazy. They then want to crown Brutus as king. Then Antony comes up while the crowd is wanting to take Brutus away to become king. Brutus makes then stop and listen to what Antony has to say like any fair politician he wants them to make a fair judgement on both parties.

Antony shifts the focus from the crowds to Caesar. He speaks about all the sacrifice Caesar endured and the ultimate sacrifice that he made for them. He makes sure to mention that Caesar was killed by his best friend, Brutus. This makes the crowd forget how loyal they are to Brutus and begin to hate him for his personal attacks on this great leader.

Both speakers did an excellent job of conveying their message to the public and convincing them of their opinion on the situation.

English 103 Lab

Currently, I am enrolled in the English 103 Lab. During this semester I would like to accomplish many things. I know that English 103 teaches us to write using argumentative support. I hope that lab will be a fun tool using the ideas and techniques that I will lean in English to be used in new and creative ways. I am not a fan of writing so I hope that English Lab will not be much writing but fun creative projects.
From reading the syllabus, there will be a photo essay and a sounds track to our lives project. I am so excited about these. These projects sound like great ways to incorporate what we have learned in English and putting our knowledge into something other than a paper. I am also so excited about using technology! I think that the projects will be a great way to utilize the media that is available to us. I hope that this lab will teach me how to become more computer savvy and that I will be able to better prepare myself for the technology needs of my other classes. Also, through this class I hope that I will gain great knowledge from my classmates in peer evaluation. I know that if I am going over someone else’s paper I will be extra careful and really think about what I am doing. Overall I am very excited about English 103 Lab!

Punctuation

I feel that punctuation is the glue that holds together any language. Without punctuation all there would be were meaningless words run together. I completely agree with Lynne Truss's argument about what punctuation means and how important it is to language. I quote, "The reason to stand up for punctuation is that without it there is no reliable way of communicating meaning. Punctuation herds words together, keeps others apart." She refers to punctuation as the stitching of language and the traffic signals of a sentences. This is so true!

"Language: The Power We Love to Hate"

Lakoff, Robin. "Language: The Power We Love to Hate." The Language War.

"I am suggesting, then, that language not only has the ability to allocate political power for all of us as a society, but also is the means and the medium by which we construct and understand ourselves as individuals, as coherent creatures, and also as members of a culture, a cohesive unit."

This quote says it all about what language means and its infamous ways to be studied and interpreted. Language is what defines our lives, without it we would not be able to function. Our souls would have a huge void if there were no language in the world. It is true that because of language all of our thoughts and ideas are formed and constructed. Some people have abused the beauty of language and have turned it against our own good. Language has the power to change the world and everything in it. Without language the world would be meaningless.