Hi Everyone,
Here are some blogs from previous semesters to review:
A Global Topic with a Personal Approach ...
1. Jesse: Her blog was on Environmental Defense, and how she could alter not only her habits but educate those around her to create greater change.
Immigration blogs:
2. Jesus: His blog was from the perspective of an immigrant soldier.
3. Ben: His blog was from the perpective of a native-born American with concerns over illegal immigration.
4. Monique: Her blog was from the perspective of a native-born American with friends who were immigrants.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Examples of Summary, Synthesis, Analysis: The Matrix
Summary: “In the near future, a computer hacker named Neo (Keanu Reeves) discovers that all life on Earth may be nothing more than an elaborate facade created by a malevolent cyber-intelligence, for the purpose of placating us while our life essence is ‘farmed’ to fuel the Matrix’s campaign of domination in the ‘real’ world. He joins like-minded Rebel warriors Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and Trinity (Carrie Ann Moss) in their struggle to overthrow the Matrix” (Gittes, 2006).
Synthesis: Think about how the Matrix was filmed (there is a short on the DVD and on Youtube called “bullet time” in which the Wachowski brothers explain this new filming technology). Now consider how this bullet-time technology has been manipulated, in both music entertainment (with use in music videos) and parody (think the Scary Movie franchise). These entertainers synthesized “bullet time” by expanding it out to other genres. This keeps The Matrix in the news and shows how this particular technology evolves in mainstream media.
Ways for us to synthesize “bullet time” (see “Bullet Time …sort of” on youtube): Think of ways to combine ideas from multiple sources to further your position on any topic imaginable. Using multiple sources to come up with new ideas is the main goal of “synthesis.” Could we now write an article on how technology (specifically “bullet time”) has allowed for new conceptions of the use of special effects in entertainment, using as sources not only The Matrix but Scary Movie and music videos?
Analysis:
James L. Ford’s article “Buddhism, Christianity, and The Matrix: The Dialectic of Myth-Making in Contemporary Cinema” in The Journal of Religion and Film, Vol 4. #2, 2000., provides a nice analysis of the movie with a religious-mythology focus:
Here is the abstract of Ford's article:
References cited
Ford, J. L. (2000). Buddhism, Christianity, and The Matrix: The Dialectic of Myth-Making in Contemporary Cinema. Journal of Religion and Film, 4(2), 2000. <<http://www.unomaha.edu/jrf/thematrix.htm>>
Gittes, J. (2006). The Matrix—Plot Summary. Retrieved October 25, 2006, from http://imdb.com/title/tt0133093/plotsummary
Synthesis: Think about how the Matrix was filmed (there is a short on the DVD and on Youtube called “bullet time” in which the Wachowski brothers explain this new filming technology). Now consider how this bullet-time technology has been manipulated, in both music entertainment (with use in music videos) and parody (think the Scary Movie franchise). These entertainers synthesized “bullet time” by expanding it out to other genres. This keeps The Matrix in the news and shows how this particular technology evolves in mainstream media.
Ways for us to synthesize “bullet time” (see “Bullet Time …sort of” on youtube): Think of ways to combine ideas from multiple sources to further your position on any topic imaginable. Using multiple sources to come up with new ideas is the main goal of “synthesis.” Could we now write an article on how technology (specifically “bullet time”) has allowed for new conceptions of the use of special effects in entertainment, using as sources not only The Matrix but Scary Movie and music videos?
Analysis:
James L. Ford’s article “Buddhism, Christianity, and The Matrix: The Dialectic of Myth-Making in Contemporary Cinema” in The Journal of Religion and Film, Vol 4. #2, 2000., provides a nice analysis of the movie with a religious-mythology focus:
Here is the abstract of Ford's article:
This essay analyzes the recent film The Matrix from the perspective of modern-day myth-making. After a brief plot summary of the film, I note the well-documented parallels to the Christian messianic narrative of Jesus. I then go on to highlight the often overlooked parallels to the Buddhist existential analysis of the human condition. In particular, I note a remarkable resonance between The Matrix and the fourth century (C.E.) philosophical school of Buddhism known as Yogacara. By highlighting the syncretic or combinative nature of the film’s symbolic narrative, I submit The Matrix as a cinematic example of the dialectical process of myth-making by means of Peter Berger’s theory of socio-cultural construction.
References cited
Ford, J. L. (2000). Buddhism, Christianity, and The Matrix: The Dialectic of Myth-Making in Contemporary Cinema. Journal of Religion and Film, 4(2), 2000. <<http://www.unomaha.edu/jrf/thematrix.htm>>
Gittes, J. (2006). The Matrix—Plot Summary. Retrieved October 25, 2006, from http://imdb.com/title/tt0133093/plotsummary
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
My new topic: The Politics of Teaching
From the Perspective of a Teacher-Student
I had the hardest time this semester coming up with a relevant topic to blog about. I've done politics twice (and I feel burnt out enough to not try it a third time so soon). I've blogged about personal finance, about home improvement, even about my dissertation. I've been wracking my brain trying to come up with something that is timely, sometimes controversial, currently affects my life, and that is challenging to do. So I've come down to this topic: the politics of teaching.
This blog will cover the good and bad that comes with this career choice. I'd like to discuss topics that seem taboo in an educational environment: bad teachers, bad students, good administrators, bad rules (like NCLB), the politics of politics in education, crappy pay, unacceptable costs, lower standards, golden opportunities, amazing success stories, and dismal failures. It all happens, is happening around us as we speak. Since I'm a student too, this semester, this blog is being written by a student-teacher-student.
I never thought I'd be a teacher. I specifically switched majors in college to not teach: I initially studied cultural anthropology (it ended up as my minor, but I was only 3 hours away from double-majoring). I was that scared of teaching that I wouldn't go into the field. But then after not knowing what to do with myself after graduation, I went to graduate school for a degree in English literature to avoid life's responsibilities and to shamelessly (or shamefully, now as I see it) mooch off of my mom longer than I should have done. My mom asked me once, "Well, what will you do with an English degree?" I had no earthly idea. I wasn't the most responsible human being back in the day.
I ended up as a technical editor and managing editor of academic journals (in anthropology) for quite a few years until I wraped my head around the idea that I wanted to be in the classroom. At first, I adjuncted at three different colleges--good experience but seriously, the wages were obscene (when you count in grading, conferencing, and planning, are somewhere around $3 an hour). The first day I taught I thought I was going to pass out. They gave me that power. It was frightening to know that I had 24 students' grades in my hands. More than that: I had the opportunities to explore the power of writing with them, and the myriad arguments, epiphanies, dilemmas, and solutions this power comes with.
I tell you this introductory tale of my falling-into-teaching because I think that sometimes we need to face our fears. I don't know why I didn't want to teach back then, because upon reflection I always liked working with people and I always loved English. The first class I taught, back in 2000, was on a whim. One day, sitting in my office cubicle, staring at a wall, I thought, "Why not teach?" And it was that one whim that led me to where I am today. It's kind of frightening. What if I had thought instead, "I'm really craving a 7-Layer Burrito at Taco Bell?"
I had the hardest time this semester coming up with a relevant topic to blog about. I've done politics twice (and I feel burnt out enough to not try it a third time so soon). I've blogged about personal finance, about home improvement, even about my dissertation. I've been wracking my brain trying to come up with something that is timely, sometimes controversial, currently affects my life, and that is challenging to do. So I've come down to this topic: the politics of teaching.
This blog will cover the good and bad that comes with this career choice. I'd like to discuss topics that seem taboo in an educational environment: bad teachers, bad students, good administrators, bad rules (like NCLB), the politics of politics in education, crappy pay, unacceptable costs, lower standards, golden opportunities, amazing success stories, and dismal failures. It all happens, is happening around us as we speak. Since I'm a student too, this semester, this blog is being written by a student-teacher-student.
I never thought I'd be a teacher. I specifically switched majors in college to not teach: I initially studied cultural anthropology (it ended up as my minor, but I was only 3 hours away from double-majoring). I was that scared of teaching that I wouldn't go into the field. But then after not knowing what to do with myself after graduation, I went to graduate school for a degree in English literature to avoid life's responsibilities and to shamelessly (or shamefully, now as I see it) mooch off of my mom longer than I should have done. My mom asked me once, "Well, what will you do with an English degree?" I had no earthly idea. I wasn't the most responsible human being back in the day.
I ended up as a technical editor and managing editor of academic journals (in anthropology) for quite a few years until I wraped my head around the idea that I wanted to be in the classroom. At first, I adjuncted at three different colleges--good experience but seriously, the wages were obscene (when you count in grading, conferencing, and planning, are somewhere around $3 an hour). The first day I taught I thought I was going to pass out. They gave me that power. It was frightening to know that I had 24 students' grades in my hands. More than that: I had the opportunities to explore the power of writing with them, and the myriad arguments, epiphanies, dilemmas, and solutions this power comes with.
I tell you this introductory tale of my falling-into-teaching because I think that sometimes we need to face our fears. I don't know why I didn't want to teach back then, because upon reflection I always liked working with people and I always loved English. The first class I taught, back in 2000, was on a whim. One day, sitting in my office cubicle, staring at a wall, I thought, "Why not teach?" And it was that one whim that led me to where I am today. It's kind of frightening. What if I had thought instead, "I'm really craving a 7-Layer Burrito at Taco Bell?"
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