Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Chapter 5 Exersice 1

Julie Charlip refers to the views of another writer right off the bat in the passage. She refers to Marx and Engels when they said "Society as a whole is more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two greater classes directly facing each other - the bourgeouisie and the proletariat." Then she goes into her own views by talking about how easy it would be if that were true. Now there are tons of different social classes, and that makes it even more difficult on people. Then she goes on to use her sociology professor's view about the working class. He stated that everybody is middle class, there can be many different situations that classify people as the same class. So Julie Charlip uses a combination of both her own words and views, and the views and opinions of other people in her passage about economical classes.

Chapter 4 Excersise 1

She first talks about the issue that is on hand. Then she gives two separate examples to sort of combine her idea of summarizing and disagreeing. She talks about Bowles and Gintis, and she also talks about Basil Bernstein, Pierre Bourdieu, and Michael W. Apple. She gives examples of each, and explains. This is why she is somewhere in the middle of summarizing and disagreeing with the article.

Monday, March 16, 2009

7.j What Difference Does Design Make?

1) What kind of writing does this paper most resemble - in terms of layout and design?

This papers layout looks the same as a newspaper or an informative paper would be layed out. It has a bold heading at the top of the paper, the words are carefully arranged in colums on the page, and there is usually a picture located in one of the columns with a caption under it.

2) How might the appearance (layout or design) of this paper influence the way an audience reads it?

The appearance of this paper affects the way an audience reads it in a major way. Since it has a lot of pictures many people might only skim over the words, and look at the pictures. Where if it were a formal paper with no pictures, people would have to read it more carefully.

3) How would the paper change if you removed the images and re-formatted it to look more like a typical college research paper?

In my opinion the paper would not be as interesting. It also wouldnt grab the reader as much. With its big bold titles and pictures, the article gets the readers attention and makes them want to read it. If it were formatted to look like a typical college research paper many people might think that it is boring, and not even want to read it in the first place.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Persepolis Movie Review #2

After watching Persepolis I have a completely different view on comic book movies. I was never very into comic book type movies, but this one was unique. It wasn't flashy, fake, or completely unrealistic like superhero comics. The main thing that made it unique was that they didn't cast real actors to play in the movie. The same comic book characters that were in the book, were in the movie. They were just animated. Also the setting was very plain and basic. This added to the movie, because I felt like I already knew the characters, and it made the setting easier to comprehend. A.O. Scott agrees that the characters and drawings of the setting added to the movie when he writes, "Its flat, stylized depiction of the world - the streets of Tehran and Vienna in particular - turns geography into poetry."

The one thing that this film could do a little better would be to have a better transition between slides. Especially at the beginning. The slides at the very beginning of the movie seem very choppy and fast. However, there could be a reason that they were like this. At the beginning of the story, the main character, Marjane Satrapi is very young. She is only six years old when the story starts, so the choppy slides could symbalize her not remembering or recalling her childhood now that she is much older.

Overall, the story is a very good one. It informs people of the horrible regimes and wars that were going on in the Middle East. As much as this might sound like a documentary on the Middle East, or sound extremely boring, it't not. It has just the right amount of information, comedy, romance, and just about everything else someone could think of to make it interesting. It tells the story of Marjane Satrapi and her journey through life. She has been through a lot of hard things, and this movie summarizes them really well. This was definatley a great movie, and I would recommend it to anyone. Regardless of if they like comic books or not.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Persepolis: Movie Review from class

In my opinion “Persepolis” is what an informative movie is supposed to be. It gets the information to the viewer, but it keeps the audience interested by using comic relief. I have never really been interested in politics, global issues, and especially the wars going on in the Middle East. However, “Persepolis” got me interested in how these things really do happen, and how terrible wars like this can be on a country and it’s people.
Marjane Satrapi depicts what life is like in Iran during her life. It shows how her family, friends, and the general pubic react to all the events going on in their lives. The characters are depicted very well in the movie. It shows how much her family really does care about her through all the things that they do. They buy her all the books she could ever want so she can be knowledgeable about the events that are happening in her life. They also eventually send her out of her home country of Iran, because that is the safest thing to do, and the best for Marjane.
Another reason that the movie was good is that is depicted the original “Persepolis” book very well. Not only did it have all the same characters, but they were in the movie exactly the way that I saw them in the book. Usually when I read a book I have an imaginary picture of what the setting is, and what all the characters look like. However, every time I go see the movie I am disappointed because the characters are nothing like I imagined them. That’s what set “Persepolis” apart. The movie had the same comic book characters as the book, but they were animated. So I already had a picture in my head of what was going on.
After reading the book and watching the movie I instantly became a fan of “Persepolis.” I would recommend the movie to anyone, even if they aren’t into comic books. I never really liked comic books, or animated movies, but this one was different. It had just the right mixture of information and comedy to make a very good movie.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Suggestions for Writing #2

After reading both of the reviews for Spider-Man 2 it was interesting to see how much detail people really do pay attention to in a movie. Both Gilchrist and Ebert agree and disagree about things throughout the movie. Many options come to play when reviewing a movie, and a lot of times it comes down to personal preference as to whether someone is going to like it or not.

One thing that they both tie their reviews into is how closely depicted Spider-Man 2 is to the original spider man what was created by Stan Lee. Todd Gilchrist compared Spider-Man 2 to the first Spider-Man movie that came out. According to him, the first Spider-Man was depicted more the way that Stan Lee created him. Another thing that Gilchrist and Ebert agree on is how well the visual effects are. In the movie Spider-Man swings from building to building with such realism, even though everyone knows this is impossible. Another thing they talk about is the tentacles that look so real on Doc Ock.

The biggest and most important thing that Gilchrist and Ebert disagree on are the movie in general. Gilchrist says that he would not recommend the movie to anyone that was not into comic books, or that did not already enjoy the adventures of Spider-Man. However, Ebert said that the overall movie was great, and that he would recommend it to anyone. Other things that they disagree on are how confusing the plot is, and how well the story moves. Ebert says that the story flows smoothly and sets up for a good movie. Gilchrist says that the plot is confusing, and hard to follow.

Persepolis: Movie vs Book

On Wednesday when we started watching Persepolis in class I was very surprised by the film. I already knew that it was going to be in French, but I thought that it was going to have French actors and be in a real place. However, it was the actual comic book figures being animated on the screen. I thought this was really cool, and I had never seen that done in a movie before.
It was also interesting seeing how much different a book can be from its movie. There were many parts left out, just like it is with any book that is made into a movie. The main difference is that while reading the comic book you have to imagine what is happening between the boxes. The book tells you most of the information, but some of it is still up to you to decide what is really going on. You cant do this in the movie. It shows you exactly what is going on all the time. This is why I think I personally liked the book better than I liked the movie.
One cool part about the movie was that we got to see what happened in the second book in the Persepolis series. This book shows what happens when she comes back to Iran, and how things have still changed even more. The movie was very interesting for this book, but I would still like to read the second book. That way I could compare and contrast what happens in the movie and what happens in the book.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Persepolis

After I finished reading Persepolis I had a completely different view than I expected. Not just on the book, but on what the book was about in general. I though the book was very informative and showed something that a lot of people don't know much about in an interesting way.
When I was told that we were going to be reading a comic book, I must say I was a little skeptical. I thought comic books were about ficticious, unrealistic characters, and superheroes. However, I could not have been more wrong. Comic books are a good way to relay a message other than using the classic form of writing. I think they are a little easier to read, and there are pictures to look at. This helps from getting bored very fast. Whenever I usually read, it seems like books make me sleepy. But the comic book version made it much more interesting.
The topic of Persepolis was also something that I was skeptical about. The war in the Middle East has always been something that I wasn't very interested in. I also always saw the perspective from one view. Just as Marjane does in the beginning of the book, I find myself believing everything that the media says.
Since the story was told from a childs perspective, I think that it helped me understand it a little more. Even though Marjane was younger than I am, her point of view is better than an adults view on the war. I also never realized how much the public people suffered in a war like this, or under a regime. After reading Persepolis I feel more informed on some things going on in the Middle East. I also found that comic books are a great resource for numerous types of stories, not just fictional ones.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

"They Say, I Say" Chapter One: Exercise 1

a) It is often said that there are dangerous levels of chemical x in Ohio groundwater.

b) I've always believed that this novel has certain flaws.

c) Although X does not say so directly, she apparently assumes that football is so boring.

d) Many people assume that male students often dominate class discussions.

e) Although I should know better by now, I cannot help thinking that the film is really about the problems of romantic relationships.

f) At the same time I believe templates could help me in my writing, I also believe that templates like the one in this book will stifle my creativity.

Friday, January 30, 2009

1/30 Homework: Eisner and McCloud

After reading the McCloud articles on comic books I feel like I know much more about comic books. I was never really into comic books when I was a little kid, so all of this is new to me. However, I never realized how much actually goes into a comic book. How our eyes change to see different symbols and faces. I thought it was really interesting about the faces. We respond better to simple faces. If all the faces were very detailed we would have a hard time reading the material, and instead we would focus on the detail. You also have to read between the lines. This makes sense, but I had never thought of it that way before. Once you see a drawing in one slide, and then it skips right to the next slide you have to use your mind to invision what actually happened in between. After reading this article I am more excited about reading graphic novels in class, and writing a paper about them.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Exercise 4.m Exploring Your Own Writing Process

When I am getting ready to write I usually try to be by myself at my desk where I can focus. Most of the time I put headphones on listen to some sort of music. Instead of writing with a pencil or pen I always type it on my laptop. Not only can I type faster, it is also easier to make revisions to mistakes I make. Before I actually start writing my paper, I try to brainstorm and write my ideas down in some sort of web on another piece of paper. After this I go into my drafting process. I usually try to make the first rough draft as good as I can, but still leave room to change a lot of things. Once I start the revision process I first revise it myself, then have a fellow classmate look over it for me. Revisions play a big role in my papers, because most of the time I cannot find all of my grammatical errors on my own. Other people can also give me better ideas of how to improve my paper, and the "flow" of all the words. Finally I go over the paper again or get someone else to revise it again. This is always helpful, because no matter how many times you revise it, it can still be better. I think my writing process is similar to most of my classmates. The only exception is that some people may have a looser or less organized rough draft. However, I am willing to try this strategy to see if it can make me a better writer.

Monday, January 26, 2009

1/26 Homework

As a genre a workshop draft would look like a rough draft, but more unorganized. It is more like a lot of brainstorming ideas, all placed into a very quickly written paper. The purpose is simply to get lots of ideas on what to write about, and how to organize them to make a better paper. The audience of a workshop draft is the small group you are working with. This way they can look at it and give advice on how to make it better. This differs from a final draft because the final draft needs to be flawless. The final draft is often going to a professor or someone important.

If I was doing a workshop draft for Essay "R" about pro wrestling I would give several forms of advice. I would correct all the grammatical errors, as well as the organization of the paper. The writer needs to explain in more detail for readers who don't know much about the WWE. They also need to make the paper "flow" together better.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Grading Essay "R"

While I was reading essay "R" about the WWE I noticed many things wrong with the paper, and many changes that could be done to improve it. While it was not a bad paper, it still has several changes that need to be made. If I was the instructor grading the paper I would most likely give it a C+. The main changes that need to be made to the paper are the amount of gramatical errors throughout it. However, grammatical errors are not the only problems that need to be fixed in this paper. It talks a lot about the wrestlers and the types of things that they need to do. Its ok to talk about things like that if you understand the WWE or professional wrestling. But for the people reading the paper that don't understand professional wrestling, the author needs to explain in more detail what is going on for the reader to completely grasp an understanding of it.
With some work to grammatical errors and the different usage of words this paper could easily become a very good paper.

First Homework: 2.h

1. I imagine the rhetorical situation of which this text is to try to persuade readers against the Clintons. The main purposes are to show how Bill Clinton was a dishonest president, and to try to prove that Hillary would do the same types of things. The audiences that the writer is trying to reach are his class mates and other individuals that are going to be voting in the election.

2. In this text I recognized a editiorial genre that the author used to talk about Hillary Clinton. I have written a paper in this type of genre in the past to prove why one presidential candidate was a better choice than another.

3. The author could have also used rhetoric to analyze Hillary Clinton and show why or how she woulld be a bad president. The advantage of writing the way he did was that it was more effective because it shows how he feels strongly against the Clinton's.

4. the author could use an informative genre to tell people higher up than him this. These people could be bosses or even other co-workers.

5. Many different jobs could use different forms of rhetoric or genre. For example someone who works for a newspaper would often use the informative or editiorial genres. The same as a teacher who would most likely use an informative genre, to teach students.