#10: Final Blog!

When I chose to take this class I pictured it so different. I thought we would be writing a lot more and not be able to state our opinion so much. I liked being able to say what we thought about a certain text, but it made me mad throughtout the entire course how we talked about the same things. Every book and article we read somehow came together and tried to say the same message. I don't know about everyone else but I get bored when someone keeps talking about the same thing over and over. However a few of the books and articles did spark my interest and made me really think into them. For example, when I first started reading Feed I thought it was dumb and had no point, but as I went on it was actually really easy to understand and get involved in it. On the otherhand reading "The Dumbest Generation" really angered me and just stero typed our whole generation.
I like how we were put into groups right from the beginning and were able to stay with them throughout the whole semester. It gave us a chance to talk and share our opinions with other people we don't know. My group got along right from the beginning and always worked well together, so i'm glad I was given the opportunity to work with them:) One thing  I didn't enjoy too much was the whole class discussions. I liked hearing other's opinions and what they thought about a text, but when people starting saying the same things in just different words really annoyed me. I guess that was the whole point of this class, for everything to come together somehow.
Overall i'm glad I took this class because it taught me how to think critically and analyze literature. It showed me that there is more to just reading a book and knowing what it's about. I never had a class where I could just state my opinion and not be told I was wrong. Also engaging with other students helped me understand the material better and made me think differently about some things.

drama drama drama

Why do we love violence and drama so much? I feel like we can watch it on tv whether it's real or fake and enjoy it because it's not something that happens to us in everyday life. We don't find two people fighting or someone getting seriously injured to be something bad, infact we find it funny and entertaining, why? I think when we see it on tv even if it's reality tv we don't find it to be real, just because it's on tv and we don't think stuff like that really occurs in people's lives. This connects to the hunger games because even though its mandatory everyone still had to watch the games and found them entertaining and actually enjoyed them. It's not that they really wanted to watch people die, but kind of like they had no choice to enjoy them because it was something that kept occuring. Today we find it exciting to watch on tv because most of it we know isn't real, but we are more sympathic to serious things that happen right before our eyes.

blog #7: Reality tv

So of course my hour of reality tv I watched would be jersey shore because it's the show i watch the most. The "hostages" on this show are Mike "The situation", Nicole "Snookie", Jenny "JWow", Sammie, Ronnie, Vinny and Pauly D. They are all italians that live in Jersey and consider themselves Guidos and Guidettes. They always have tanned skin, go to the gym, are always drinking and going to clubs. The things they do in this show may be completely crazy and dumb at times, but to me I think that's what makes the show good. I like how it is a bunch complete strangers that are all so different from one another that get together and live in the same house. It is all drama, but that's what reality tv is all about isn't it? There is really no point to this show, but the fighting, drinking and just overall how they act is what makes people want to keep watching it. For some reason people love to watch other people fight and most of the time think its funny when someone gets hurt. On this show there is a lot of fighting, and I admit I do find it very funny and entertaining. I think this show is so entertaining and always makes me laugh just by the dumb things they do. They come up with funny phrases that are catchy and are used by many of the viewers, sometimes without them even noticing it. It's really never a dull moment on this show and whether you like it or not I think people will find it funny because they will either think its so dumb that it's funny or actually enjoy it. My role as the viewer is to experience how the characters in jersey shore live. What it's like to live with strangers, to party all the time and to experience how guidos and guidettes act. Even though it is just a show and people say that some of reality tv is still scripted, it still shows the viewers how these people go about their lives and act.

Blog #6: "Big Brother is watching you"

Who is big brother? I believe him to be the government, the people who hold all the power. They dont exactly say who "he" is but everyone is being watched through the telescreen. The government is trying to control society and make everyone live the way they think they should. For example they have the thought police, where they cant exactly tap into your head but can tell what your thinking by your facial expressions and emotions. Big brother exists today everywhere. Even though people don't know what your thinking, they still judge you and "think" they know what your thinking. Also by people having a facebook or some other site or blog, they are putting information out there that is visable to everyone and once you put it up it's out there forever. Some people put very personal information about themselves, that ends up with complete strangers knowing those things. I know a lot of people that "creep" and if they don't like you, they can find something to use against you and bring you down.
I don't feel like in today's society we are willing to give up "basic freedoms" in order to feel safe, but in the book they certainly are. I think today people are very careless of of how much other people actually know about them. Back then If I lived in that time I would be afraid 24/7. How could someone live knowing they could be punished for feeling a certain way?

Blog #5: No Way!

Do I think I can live there? Absolutley not! I would not be able to give up technology, not be able to be around anyone or have no toilet or plumbing for a whole year. I may sound like I am very into technology and to an extent I am. I could live without it though, maybe not for a year, but I could not be alone for a year with no face to face interaction. I am the kind of person who loves to be around people, even if we are just sitting there not saying anything. Don't get me wrong I do love to have alone time every now and then, but no way could I do it for an entire year. I would be bored out of my mind and wouldn't even know what to do with myself. I do believe it is possible with other people though because some people are content with just being left alone.
I kind of do agree a tiny bit with Baurlein about how we are so focused on technology and would not really be able to survive without it, but just because we are into it doesn't make it our whole life. Technology is something we were introduced to when we were young and just adapted to it very quickly. Is it really our fault that we are so wrapped up in it? If today's society wasn't so into it, i'm sure a lot more people could care less about it.

Blog #4: Dumbest Generation?

Bauerlein's book, "The Dumbet Generation" I believe is completely stereotypical. I know so many very intelligent people around my age and some that are not so bright from the generation before. I'm not saying anyone is dumb or not intelligent, but this generation knows many things the generations before does not know and vice versa. Just because some people don't know the answers to questions right away, for example in the clip "jaywalking" does not mean they are dumb. I saw a few people that were clearly over the age of 30 and did not know the answers. Some people need time to think about things, where others can just think of something right off the top of their head, but whose to say those people are dumb?
I like how we were given the quiz in class as a deminstration and i know some people including myself did not feel to confident about the second part, but it does not mean that if you didn't know the answers you are "dumb". After we were told what the answers were, many people realized they in fact knew the answers, but couldn't think of them at the moment. Bauerlein said, "This generation is lazy and trys to find the easy way out" he acts like there was no lazy people in the generation before. Yes, i do agree with him on one thing that our lives or as he says our bedrooms are a "media center", but that is what we are use to. I know many people who are very wrapped up in the media and technology and many others who are not. I believe it is just because we grew up around the media and adapted to it so quick that we are just use to living our life around it.

Blog #3

I believe that indentities we have "virtually" do have a significant meaning for some people. Some people allow themselves to get so wrapped up in the virtual world they forget about their lives and whats really important in the real world. Many of the gamers feel like they can be a completely different person in the virtual world and no one will judge them. They look good, have friends and can be something that they can never be in real life. For example people in the film actually formed relationships out of playing the game. Someone who fell in love with their personality, looks and charm in the virtual world without even truely knowing who they are. I personally feel like that is just plain creepy, but for some people gaming is their life and shows their true personality. The media puts in our head what they think we should look and act like, not who we really are. Although some of these people do have an addiction, they also have the choice to stop and change it.
Lasn believes that our emotions have become emtoicans. I'm not sure if i completely agree because you can feel a certain way but an emoticon can be seen in a different way in someone else's eyes. But also if you didn't feel a certain way why would you put the "emoticon" in someone's head that you are for example sad. I think it really depends on how into the virtaul world and the media someone really is. I just hope our economy starts to realize how the media is really effecting people's lives and people don't let it take over completely.