Last Blog

Overall, I enjoyed English 151.  The topic of the class was interesting and added some fun to the class.  It was fun hearing everybody's different opinions of the apocalypse.  Blade Runner was not my favorite book, but it was interesting because of it's topic.  We could have easily just read a typical school book, but instead we read Blade Runner and I thought that was kind of cool.  Also, I think it was a good reading choice for this particular class.  I also learned a lot about different writing styles and when to use each type. I think my writing has improved over the course of this class.  We had to write so many papers of all different types and I think that really helped me. I never had experience writing some of the papers that we did in this class and I think it will be very helpful in the future.  One thing that I really enjoyed about English 151 was the class size.  It was easy to have class discussions and everybody felt comfortable.  All in all, I enjoyed this class and I learned a lot.  I think many of the things I learned will come in handy for future classes.

Free Writing

Horror Movie

This weekend I watched the first Paranormal Activity.  I had never seen it before but I had heard so much about it.  The movie is about a young couple who moves into a new house.  Micah, the boyfriend, buys a new camera and is obsessed with taping their lives.  Everything is going fine until the girlfriend, Katie, starts hearing noises around the house.  Micah does not believe anything she says, however Katie keeps on hearing and seeing strange things. Micah sets up the camera in front of their bed to tape while they are sleeping.  When they watch over the tape the next day, they notice that Katie is doing strange things during her sleep like waking up and standing over Micah for hours.  Eventually, Micah starts to get a little freaked out by the whole thing.  He notices Katie isn't acting like herself, but chooses to sort of ignore it.  Stranger and stranger things start happening, and Katie is getting weirder and weirder.  It turns out that Katie has been possessed by a demon living in the house.  At the end of the movie, Katie kills Micah.

My Apocalypse

Earth is not the same after the apocalypse.  It's not the earth I once knew with vibrant and lively nature everywhere I turned.  No, this is no longer my everyday scenery.  The flowers are gone and the trees are no longer green.  Everything is either technical or no existent.  I believe my apocalypse I closer to Phillip K. Dick's version because it has similar characteristics.  Nature is not an everyday sight.  Everything has been taken over by technology, and the simple things are no longer valued.  Phillip K. Dick's apocalypse seems sort of cold and empty, and that is how I pictured my apocalypse.

Comparing Blade Runner Scenes

In the first scene, the lighting is very dramatic.  In the background, the sun is the main focus.  It is very bright and orange.  The sky around it, however, is rather dark.  The sun lights the room in which Deckard and Rachel are talking.  The room is dark other than the orange lighting from the sun.  It adds a futuristic feel to the whole scene.  The costumes are pretty ordinary.  Rachel is wearing a black dress, Deckard is wearing jeans with layered jackets, and Tyrell is wearing is wearing a white suit with a bow tie.  These costumes portray the characters just like I would imagine them in the book.  In my opinion, each outfit fits that character and their personality.  The dialogue is pretty much precise to the book.  It is very straightforward, yet engaging.  The dialogue is way to portray that characters personality.  For example, Rachel is very formal and emotionless and Deckard is somewhat nonchalant.  

In the second scene, the music was very soft.  It was faint, but impactful because it makes the audience feel sad for Roy.  The tune is simple.  It's not sad, but it's also not joyful.  It makes the audience feel emotion because it fits what Roy is talking about so well.  Roy is giving a speech and the music is the background.  It's a sad scene, but also redemptive.  The music makes the audience and Deckard feel empathy for Roy.  The dialogue is very impactful.  Roy is very deep and explaining everything that Deckard never understood.  It made Deckard look at androids in a completely different light.  Deckard looked sad and remorseful.  I do not think that Deckard is crying in this scene, however it is hard to tell because of the rain.

Future For Deckard

Deckard and Rachel flee Deckard's apartment and plan to leave earth.   Rachel is being hunted by bounty hunters, and Deckard cannot let them find her.  He is love with Rachel and will do anything to keep her from danger.  Deckard and Rachel devise a plan to leave earth and leave no evidence behind.  Deckard has no one to take care of in his life except Rachel so he has no problem leaving his former life.   Rachel also has no one whom she is attached to because Tyrell is dead.  Tyrell pretty much owned her and no that he is no longer alive she is free.  Deckard and Rachel only have each other.  The other bounty hunters are on the search for Rachel.

Annotated Bib. Proposal

My question is "How does technology effect interpersonal communication?"  Research on this topic has been going pretty well.  I have found various articles about my question, but not many books.  I have found information about technology and how it effects the way people communicate face-to-face.  Some sources have different views and opinions on the topic.  The first solution to this question is that technology negatively effects interpersonal communication because people don't talk face-to-face as often.  The second solution is that technology actually helps build interpersonal communication skills because it provides people with new ways of talking to others and getting in contact.  

Summary Response and Image Analysis Essays

Writing a summary/response essay is a fairly easy process.  The summary is simply is a paraphrase of all the main ideas of an essay.  It cites the author and title, along with the thesis and supporting ideas.  It should be about 150-250 words, and take up no more than one-third the length of the work being summarized.  The response is a critique of the author's essay. It states ideas that you agree and disagree with and identifies the essay's strengths and weaknesses.  Unlike the summary, the response is based on personal opinions.  A good response is persuasive; therefore it states facts, examples and personal experiences.  

An image analysis paper involves comparing and contrasting angles of vision and techniques.  You look at what is and isn't included in the product.  It is a somewhat more complex process.  The purpose is to carefully and throughly analyze various images or writings.

For me, writing the summary/response was much easier.  It was very straightforward and simple.  We had something concrete in which to take information from.  The structure was easy to follow and to understand.  Also, the topic was fairly easy to write about because it was so concrete.  You either agree with cloning or you don't.  I felt prepared to write this paper because I had written so many papers similar to this in high school.  The image analysis paper was a little more complicated.  There was a lot of information to include.  It was tough at first to figure out what to write about because there were so many choices.  This paper was also harder for me to write because the topic was so broad.  I also did not necessarily enjoy movie so it was more difficult me to be focus.  All in all, I found it easier to write the summary/response paper over the image analysis essay.

Blogging was somewhat effective.  At times, it helped me organize my thoughts and figure out what to write about.  Also, I learned more about instructions and helpful tips to write papers.

Peer review was helpful.  I found it beneficial to see what my fellow classmates thought about my paper.  It allowed me to read other people's papers and find out what they think about my paper.

Objectified

3 interesting points that I had never thought of before:

1. The design of little, everyday objects that we use in everyday life.  Such as chairs, toothbrushes, tables, etc.
2. The different aesthetics that designers have.  Each designer has a different view of how they want to create an object.  There are so many designers in the world, and it is crazy to think about how many diverse ideas are floating around the brains of these designers.
3. The creative process that goes into developing a new object.  It is a long and complicated process that usually demands a group of people to finish on time.  This method is very meticulous and detailed, but very efficient.

A Boy and His Dog

On Monday, I saw the movie A Boy and His Dog.  It is about a boy and his dog trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world.  The two can communicate in a unique way; the dog talks as if it were a human and the boy can understand him.  The boy, Vic, is basically on a mission for food and sex, and the dog, Blood, helps him find these things.  Blood has some sort of sonar that tells him when a female is in the area, and his nose can sniff out food from far away.  In this post-apocalyptic world, the earth resembles a large desert.  It is barren and dry.  There are very few people and they all travel in groups.  It seems as if each group is out to get another one.  As Vick and Blood are wandering the desert, they run into a young woman.  She seduces Vic and convinces him to come with her to an underground society.  However, little does Vic know, the woman, Quilla, is the daughter of one of the leaders of the society.  In this society, the citizens have become unable to reproduce because they have been underground for so long.  They use Vic for impregnation purposes, and then plan to be rid of him.  However, Quilla has a change of heart and saves Vic.  They escape the society and return to the above world.  Blood is close to death when they return and Vic realizes he needs food.  In the end, Vic and Blood decide to eat Quilla.

I thought this movie was extremely weird, from start to finish.  The plot was very confusing and twisted.  In the beginning of the film, it seemed as if the story was going to be simple and easy to follow, however as it went on, it became very weird.  Vic is pretty much on a mission for sex.  He is so aggressive with his actions that he seems like a rapist in some scenes.  For example, the first time he see's Quilla, he attacks her and tries to force himself on her.  I thought the whole focus on sex was very odd.  I would think there would be more important things to worry about in the post-apocalyptic world, but apparently not.  Also, I was confused about the whole underground society.  It all happened very fast.  I was very perplexed at the whole situation.  I didn't understand the reasoning behind the marriages and impregnation.  The ending was possibly one of the most confusing parts of the movie.  Vic and Blood decide to kill Quilla and eat her.  This idea of cannibalism was randomly introduced at the end of the film.  All in all, I did not like this movie.  It was extremely weird and confusing.

Scene from Blade Runner

One scene that I don't like is the final fight between Deckard and Roy.  There are many reasons why I do not like this scene.  First off, I thought it was really drawn out.  I don't think it needed to be that long.  Also, the whole situation with Roy was ver confusing.  He kind of just went crazy out of nowhere.  He was running around shirtless screaming and making weird sounds.  I guess I just didn't understand why he was doing that.  Eventually, Roy breaks two of Deckard's fingers.  However, Deckard still manages to hang off ledges and scale buildings.  I think the director over-exagerated Deckard's strength.  It would be impossible for him to do any of those things with 3 broken fingers.  Deckard jumps from building to building, while Roy is still chasing him.  I thought the end of this scene was the most confusing part.  Roy saves Deckard from falling of the building.  It was out of nowhere.  Roy had been trying to kill Deckard the whole time like a crazy person, until this scene.  I thought it was a really fast change of heart that the director didn't explain.  All in all, I thought this scene was really long, confusing, and unbelievable. 

"Do Androids Dream?" Climax

I really liked the climax of this book.  I thought it was very interesting and surprising.  The climax really brought everything together and connected the different stories of the novel.  For me, it cleared up some confusions I had had throughout the book.  It also revealed secrets that were kept under wraps throughout the chapters.  The climax definitely met my expectations.  It was exciting and intriguing.  I was throughly entertained and it kept me interested.  The whole situation with Rachel and Rick definitely added some drama to the story.  Their relationship was very complicated and it definitely came to a halt in the climax. In my opinion, the true nature of many characters was revealed.  It was the final confrontation between androids and humans.  Rick killed Pris and Rachel killed Rick's goat.  It was sort of a back and forth battle.  In additions, I think the whole situation with Mercer was very interesting.  Throughout the novel, it is questioned whether Mercer is real or made-up.  In the climax, it is revealed that he is indeed fake.  I think that really added a lot of suspense to the final chapters.

"Do Androids Dream" Interesting Scene

I found the scene with Luba Luft to be very interesting.  Rick and Phil go back to the opera house to find Luba Luft.  When they get there, someone tells them the rehearsal has ended and that Luba had left.  They find out that she is at the museum.  Eventually, Rick and Phil find Luba and they confront her.  Luba is very hesitant and realizes quickly that these men are bounty hunters.  However, she does not resist them very much.  Luba does not want to make a scene in front of everybody in the museum.  While Rick and Phil are leading Luba outside, she starts talking about how impressed she is by humans and their sympathy.  She mentions that ever since she has been on earth, her life as consisted of imitating humans. Luba then says something about Phil being an android and he loses it.  Phil wants to kill Luba, but Rick stops him.  He tells Phil that they must run a test before they retire her, however Phil does not listen and he shoots Luba.  I found this part interesting because it shows the difference between Phil and Rick.  Phil is ruthless and feels no remorse, while Rick feel empathy for Luba.  Rick did not want to kill her. He didn't think there was a point to doing that.  Phil enjoys killing androids, while Rick only does it because it is a means to an end.  Rick thought Luba was a superb singer and he didn't understand how she would ever be a threat  to society.  Pretty much, Phil and Rick are two completely different people who happen to be in the same business.  Rick questions himself, while Phil just kills without any emotions.
Why was it such a big deal that Rick spent twenty-five dollars to buy a book for Luba Luft?

A & B: Revising

In chapter 11 of "Allyn and Bacon", I learned many interesting things about composing and revising work.  The goal of a writer is to make their ideas clear to the readers, and to do this they must revise their work many times.  I found the part about the differences between expert writers and novice writers very intriguing.  I never realized how many times an expert writer has to revise his or her work in order for it to be suitable for the public.  I also agree with everything that it says in the book.  Novice writers tend to write one draft and that is it, while expert writers compose many drafts.  I also found the advantages of writing multiple drafts interesting.   For one, multiple drafts help writers overcome the limits of short-term memory. I thought that was intriguing and also very true.  Writing more than one draft really implants the information in your head and it is easier to pick out the problems one by one.  Before I read this chapter, I had never heard of the words "writerly" and "readerly."  The author mentions that when someone is peer editing another paper, he or she should make "readerly" comments.  These comments are easier for the other person to understand, and make you a better peer reviewer.

Blade Runner (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep)

In this novel, I find the emphasis on animals to be very strange.  In the first chapter, Rick Deckard is distressed about the death of his sheep, and so he decide to buy an electric sheep.  Everybody in the apartment building owns an animal that lives on the roof.  I was very confused by this focus on animals.  However, throughout the following chapters, the animal obsession is discussed more and the reader starts to realize why these people are so infatuated with animals.  Sheep, horses, ostriches and dogs are some of the animals that are mentioned.  They are a sort of status symbol, and the larger they are the better.  Rick goes to a pet store and wants to buy an ostrich displayed in the window.  The conversation between Rick and the animal salesmen makes it seem like there is some sort of secret market for the buying and selling of animals.  Trading animals is briefly discussed and Rick makes a sketchy phone call.  I am interested to find out more about this emphasis on animals.  I am still a little confused by the whole thing, but I'm sure that as I read on it will be further explained.

Interesting Concepts from A&B

In Allyn and Bacon, I found many things to be very interesting and informative.  It states that we should see writing as critical thinking.  Also, it states that the skills we learn through this book will be directly transferrable to our other college courses.  I think that is very helpful and comforting.  I was also very intrigued by the idea of open and closed writing forms.  I had never heard of that before I read this book and I found it very interesting.  Good writing can vary from open to closed forms depending on how you want your audience to react.  I really liked the quote, "good writers write for a purpose to an audience with a genre,"  I think that is true and also very relevant. The section about messages also interested me a lot.  It stated that messages persuade through their angle of vision and through appeals to logos, ethos, and pathos.  I discovered the difference between ethos, logos and pathos, which I had rarely heard of before this book.  A quote that I was really intrigued by was, "humans are beings that by nature respond to symbols."(Burke).  I found that interesting because it is so true, but many people do not really think about it very much, I certainly didn't think about at all when writing previously.  Also, A&B talked a lot about thesis statements and their importance to a paper.  I will definitely use the advice when I am writing a paper in the future because the author put it in such simple words that it makes it very easy to understand.  I think that what I have learned so far in A&B will come in very handy when I am writing papers for this and future college courses.

first blog entry

This class is English 151.  The theme is the apocalypse.  I am writing this blog as a part of my class to better understand the idea of apocalypse and the themes that surround it.  I am exposed to a lot of technology in my everyday life.  Computers, phones and Ipods are the most common for me.  Many things revolve around technology and daily life would not be the same without it.  The computer is very helpful in everyday life, and it has many benefits.  In the past, I have written many papers.  I had to write many research papers in high school, along with one annotated bibliography.  I enjoy writing papers about topics I enjoy. I have also been exposed to many different genres of books.  Some of which I enjoyed, and some I did not.  I don't have one favorite book, but I enjoy Jodi Piccoult's and Nicolas Spark's writing.