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.