Extra Credit

Extra Credit:

Week 1: I donated 1000 grains of rice by picking the right meaning of words. It was kind of addicting and once you started it was hard to stop. This was a wonderful website, because not only was I expanding my vocabulary but it was going to a good cause. The more people that do this activity the more rice will be donated. It will also help expand people's vocabulary.

Week 2: Blink an eye, time speeds by.

Deciding what six words to use was harder than I thought it would be. I decided to talk about how times seems to be moving so fast.This activity forces you to really think about your life. It also helps you practice writing something that gets right to the point. Other people should do this activity because it is really interesting reading everyone else’s stories, and it is amazing how much can be said in only six words.

Week 3: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100296324

This story was about a girl that had trouble learning how to read because she had dyslexia. This story shows how sometimes learning something that is hard for you makes you want to teach it to other people. Also having different challenges throughout your life only help you in the long run when you learn to overcome them. Other people should do this activity because so many of them are inspiring.

Week 4-6- I’m using my get out of jail free card.

Week 7-9-I’m using my 2nd get out of jail free card.

Analysis

The four modes I choose were the movie: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the board game: Candy Land, the song Sugar Sugar by Archies and a photograph of a sugar cube by Uwe Hermann. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory relates to my topic because it is about a candy and how the most of the kids that want it are spoiled and don’t know how to control themselves. This movie does show the negative affects of candy (or sugar) on the kids if they don’t know how to handle it. The audience for this movie would be for children and it shows how the sugar industry targets children. This source uses both Ethos and Pathos by showing Charlie’s relationship with his family and Wily Wonka. When Charlie is offered his business he makes the right choose by choosing his family over owning the entire factory. By making the right decision he gets everything he wants in the end. The Chocolate factory and Wonka try to brain wash him but Charlie is strong enough to see what is right and that his family comes first. The other kids in the movie don’t listen to their parents and do not care about anyone but themselves and they are the ones that suffer the most. I also choose candy land which is a board game meant for younger kids. This game uses pathos by selling candy to children because it is something that appeals to them. This is another example of how candy and sugary foods is marketed to younger children.
The song Sugar Sugar shows how people call things “sugar” that they love or feel addicted too. It is usually more of an infatuation then “love” showing how sugar is not really good for them but just an indulgence. The audience for this song is more of teenager to young adult. The picture is an up close of a sugar cube showing nothing but white crystals. The viewer doesn’t really know what to make of it. The audience can be of any age or education. It could be used to show how this substance that resembles many drugs is what is consumed in such high amounts by Americans. It can also show how it has no nutritional value and if compared to picture of sugar cane the viewer could see how much purifying must be done to make sugar. Having four different modes is useful because they each have a different audience that they are more directed too. This allows me to reach a broader audience then if I just choose one mode.

Toni Morrison Interview

Toni Morrison is a Noble Prize winning American author. Some of her most popular novels include Love, Beloved, The Bluest Eye and the Song of Solomon. She also is a professor and editor. In her interview with Charlie Rose she talks about when she went from an editor to an author and how it was a scary but exhilarating experience. She had two children to support and no stable job and had to take a chance with her writing. She also talks about how glad she is that made that choice. Morrison also talks about how working as an editor before becoming a writer helped her as a writer. She also realized how much writer’s hate their work being critiqued because they fall in love with what they write and don't want to change it. Writers must learn to be more willing to keep changing things because each time they change something it gets stronger. The saying “love is blind” works for a writer’s work too. Just because they love a character or a part of their story doesn’t mean it is well written or that it doesn’t need further revision.

I thought it was very interesting when Charlie rose asks Toni Morrison what she would say at her last lecture. When he suggest that she would talk about being African American women or a writer she replies that she would not want to talk about either, but instead “how hard it is to become and remain human.” This comes through in her writing because she explores this subject within her characters with how they relate to the world and relationships.

The Simpsons as a Critique of Consumer Culture

This article is about the popular T.V show The Simpsons and how it started as short cartoons that were aired by the television network FOX. The Simpsons portray a typical middle class American family with three kids and a dog. This article talks a lot about how the characters in The Simpsons do not have full multi faceted personalities and represent more ideas. An example is how Lisa is the idea of rationality. The Simpsons is a “sarcastic critique of…American life” each episode is about a different issue of the American lifestyle.

I always thought something was strange about the characters from the Simpsons and that their characters were never fully developed. I really agree with the article when it says that the characters represent more of an idea then a personality. I thought it was interesting how Marge represents the modern house wife. She is never fully appreciated by Homer or her kids no matter how much she does for them. This article also makes fun of the role of television and commercials in the American lifestyle. The commercials and advertisements make people think that they need and cannot live without what is being advertised.

Knowledge Nugget

To teach how women used to be treated if they were considered "crazy"
Book: One Thousand White Women: A Journal by May Dodd, by Jim Fergus

To teach how being pessimistic or optimistic changes total outlooks and events in ones life.
The song The Impossible by Joe Nicholes talks about how anything can happen if your optimistic. This book is the opposite where it shows a pessimistic view of life and in result negative things happen.

To teach that love is not always what people imagine it to be.

The Approach/The Ordeal

The first part of this reading starts off with the “Approach To The Inmost Cave”. This starts after the hero has gotten used to the special world. It is right before their ordeal or final test. Sometimes this part of the story can be where a courtship happens. This is also where the hero prepares himself for the ordeal by finding or strengthening ties with allies, weapons or any knowledge they need. Other obstacles may be faced and the hero will usually meet with the Threshold Guardian before he can go any further. The second chapter is the Ordeal. This is where the hero goes through a life changing event that changes him usually for the better. In many stories a lot of the heroes go through a near death experience. The Ordeal is not the Climax of the story. At this point the villain will either be injured and escape or he will be killed. If he is killed that means the hero will have to face another enemy later on in the story.

The “Approach To The Inmost Cave” is a very important part of any story because it builds up background and suspense for the ordeal. Many important events happen in this part of a story. How the hero deals with the Approach can say a lot about his personality and strengths. The Ordeal is the most important part of a story because it is usually the main purpose of the story. If the hero never goes through any personal changes in a story, the story is usually not as powerful. The Ordeal is the perfect opportunity for the hero to go through his transformation. I liked how at the end of the chapter of The Ordeal, Vogler uses an example from the Wizard of Oz. It really helps make me understand how The Ordeal is used in a real movie.

Are there any movies that don’t use an approach and go directly into The Ordeal? How does this change the story?

Explain the difference between the Ordeal and the Climax of a story?

What is an example of an Ordeal in a movie or book?

Tests, Allies and Enemies

After the hero enters the special world he faces tests and meets allies and enemies. There should be a strong contrast between the ordinary world and the special world so that the audience will notice the change. Once the hero is in the special world he will be tested. In some stories he will go through ordeals or challenges preparing her for future more important ordeals. The hero will also start making either enemies or allies. “The Rival” is a kind of enemy that is always in competition with the hero of some kind.

I thought the sidekick was a very interesting character. The sidekick usually serves as the hero’s really good friend who follows and helps him throughout his adventures and challenges. The relationship between these two characters can help create a stronger personality for the hero. The audience can see how the hero interacts with other characters helping them relate to the hero. I also thought using a team instead of using one hero was very interesting. In many movies such as the Fantastic Four there is more than one hero. This helps keep the plot fresh and interesting because there are more than one hero to watch and more of a chance for things to go wrong.