Through a (Sarah) Rose-colored Lens

Final Project: Website for Student Teaching Courses

2009-12-17T13:43:00.000-08:00

For my final project, I chose to create a companion website for the courses I’ll be teaching at South High School in the spring. I thought this would be a great place for me to post digital copies of all of the assignments, homework, and rubrics as well as a place to post my contact information for parents, helpful websites for students, models of various projects and a place to post digital student work so they can share it with their classmates, friends and family.
My cooperating teacher does not use very much technology in her classroom, which is totally fine, I just thought this would be a great way to get students to think about school outside of school as well as a place to find documents if they misplace them or need extra help.
Students would not be required to use the website—I had a long discussion with my cooperating teacher about this and she thinks that given their age and the certain group I’ll be working with that requiring them to use the internet would give them more of an excuse to not do the work, than be a motivator. The website would therefore be a way to try to get students to keep the schedule on their minds and look for web links that would help them with certain projects and also a great way for parents to stay “in the know” in terms of what their students are doing.
I have posted two example assignments: the podcast for book clubs and the VideoANT project on The Crucible film. I think it is very important for students to have a model to look at while they are doing their projects and I think that if I am willing to do the work then they might be more inclined to do so themselves.
I also included a google calendar of important SHS dates and due dates for the major assignments in the course. This way students or parents can merge it with their own calendar if they want or they can just use it as a resource. I would likely add student activities like sporting events, choir or band concerts or other performances of students in my classes to encourage them to support each other outside of class.
On the “What to expect in H2” page, I have included Ms. Horswill’s (my cooperating teacher) syllabus as well as a PowerPoint that lays out the expectations for the course. Currently the ppt is based on Ms. H’s guidelines…this will likely be slightly changed as I further develop my plan for the spring semester.
I also added links to local libraries to encourage my students to read outside of class as well as for class!
I am very excited to use this website with my students in the spring as well as teach them how to create VideoANT, VoiceThread and podcast projects. It looks to be an exciting spring!
Here is a link to my site:
Ms. Rose and Humanities Too

Podcast Book Review: Absolutely, Positively Not by David LaRochelle

2009-12-10T16:38:00.000-08:00

This podcast was created for Literature for Adolescents, fall 2009.

Integrating Media/Film into Curriculum

2009-12-07T20:05:00.000-08:00

There are a number of excellent ways to integrate media into the language arts curriculum. A few films I might use would be:

The film Clueless to be paired with Jane Austen's Emma
The film 10 Things I Hate About You with Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew
I have always thought that the 1996 adaptation of Romeo + Juliet would be a great supplement to the classic, perhaps with selected scenes from Shakespeare in Love or the 1968 version. I might also show West Side Story to demonstrate the Shakespearean theme of forbidden love revisited.
I would show clips of the film version of Sherman Alexie’s Smoke Signals to go along with his partly autobiographical novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
If my students were learning about the Civil Rights Movement, I would definitely show Remember the Titans to go along with a text like Coming of Age in Mississippi
While studying 1984 or Brave New World, I would definitely show at least clips of V for Vendetta and perhaps even clips from the Michael Moore documentary Fahrenheit 9/11
Cast Away would be a great film to show while reading The Cay or Lord of the Flies
I would love to find some reason to show It's a Wonderful Life and Iron Jawed Angels in my class as well. It's a Wonderful Life would be a good period film to introduce the era, while Ironed Jawed Angels would be a great introduction to women’s roles in the early 20^th century.
I would love to use Comic Life, podcasts, and iMovies to give students the opportunity to do their own adaptations of various texts (particularly Shakespeare) and I would use VideoANT and VoiceThread when teaching students about media analysis whether it be of films, television shows or advertising.

Music Autobiography

2009-12-03T14:21:00.000-08:00

This is a very challenging post for me to write because I really enjoy a variety of music, but I am not particularly knowledgeable about elements of music and what makes a certain genre. This is has been and remains to be a point of embarrassment in my life...but I will do my best to describe myself using music.

Bands/Artists I enjoy:
Jason Mraz (also with Bushwalla)
Lily Allen
Beyonce
Dan Wilson
Jack Johnson
Regina Spektor
India.Arie
M.I.A
Sia
Justin Timberlake
Julia Nunes
Citizen Cope
Cake
Ani DiFranco

Main things I look for in music:

Lyrics: I like songs with a message, songs that make me think.
Dance-ability: I like songs that I can dance to, but only if I'm in a dancing mood...
Comical element:I really like songs with sarcastic or humorous lyrics. I think music is a great outlet for comedy.
Creativity and originality: I enjoy original lyrics by the artists themselves, people whose creativity and willingness to take risks has gotten them where they are today.
A story: I like soundtracks to musicals/broadway shows that tell a story through music.

Given my wide variety of interest in music, I had a really hard time picking one song. So, I have included two. "Free Life" by Dan Wilson and "It's Hard to be a Gangster" by Bushwalla & Jason Mraz.
"Free Life" demonstrates my love of lyrics and songs that make me think. I made a soundtrack/mix CD for a first year experience class I TA-ed in college and this was one of the songs that I included. The song is about how everyone is given a "free life" and it is up to them what they are going to do with it. I really like this song because although some might think it cheesy, I find it to be inspiring. It gives the listener ownership and makes them think about all of the possibilities that life brings.

"It's Hard to be a Gangster" demonstrates creativity, originality and comedy. Jason Mraz is one of my favorite artists and he has done a number of songs with his friend Bushwalla and this is one of their collaborations. It kind of makes fun of people who are trying to be something that they're not and it is done in a humorous way. This song makes me laugh every time I listen to it and to me, that is a sign of a good song!

Documentary in the Classroom

2009-11-19T18:43:00.000-08:00

I would integrate documentary into my classroom by having students do a group project on a documentary of their choice (following a classroom discussion and viewing of a few sample documentaries). They would watch a documentary (one from a list of suggestions by the teacher to give them ideas) together as a group of 4-5 students and then respond to the documentary by creating their own. They would interview one another about their reaction to the film and ask them about validity, basis, theme, style, tone, etc. Having them do a documentary response of their own would be a great performance assessment.

Documentary Analysis: Straightlaced

2009-11-18T18:13:00.000-08:00

For my documentary analysis, I attended the Minnesota premier of the documentary film, Straightlaced. Below is a preview of the film:

Purpose: The purpose of this film is to discuss “gender” as a social construction that affects everyone, but particularly developing teens. How do society and the media put pressure or relief on people based on their sex and supposed gender? What are teens worried about when it comes to gender? Do they feel safer inside of a box or out of it? How do teens define masculine and feminine? Do they feel there is a gender binary? The film aims to be extremely honest in its discussion of gender by truly allowing the issue and the people it affects to speak freely about it. The film also aims to demonstrate ways in which students feel pressured to conform to a certain “standard” of gender and that they are aware of this pressure and they are willing to talk about it.

Intended Audience: Anyone and everyone. Particularly those who work with young people and people who strongly believe in the gender binary, or those who don't!

Techniques Used: The entire film is composed of interviews with young people—high school students from across the country. There is very little direction and no interaction with the director on screen whatsoever. The technique used here is letting the images and voices speak for themselves. The students seemed to direct the flow of the film and what would be the emphasis. This honesty from them made this seem extremely genuine and open. Rather than a director or other adult speaking or summarizing the issue, the film is only interviews. The students are candid, honest and opinionated. The bias of the film seemed to be more liberal—allowing for a more spectrum-based definition of gender—but it was not particularly blatant, the students had their own opinions and each person was respectfully recognized for their opinion. The film felt extremely realistic—the students sound like others I have known—and they were willing to talk about themselves, which cannot easily be scripted.

Here is a link to the website for the organization that produced the film:

GroundSpark

The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich

2009-11-18T13:40:00.000-08:00

The following is a VoiceThread I did as a companion to a review of Louise Erdrich's The Birchbark House. This was completed as part of a Minnesota-based Native American project for EdHD 5005.

Analyzing News Media

2009-11-12T10:04:00.000-08:00

MSNBC Live Newscast Log

10:05:01 Terror suspect in court: news Boston (NEWS-COURT CASES-MURDER)

10: 05:10 Jury weights death penalty in murder of TV anchorman (NEWS-COURT CASES-MURDER)

10:05:24 Balloon boy family plead guilty (NEWS-COURT CASES)

10:06:02 severe storms: ocean city MD, “prolonged beating that we’re taking” “noreaster” (WEATHER)

10:09:05 mike Tyson: scuffle at LAX, fight with paparazzi (ENTERTAINMENT)

10:09:25 Commercials (ADS)

10:11:12 Obama meetings about afghan war options (NEWS-POLITICS)

Kabul Afghanistan direct report, corruption in the government

10:14:02 pilot tried to hit officers with plan! Drove car across runway (NEWS-COURT CASES)

10:15:31 alcohol tests catch 11 pilots each year (CONSUMER INFO)

10:15:40 chimpanzee attack survivor: charla nash, spoke to Oprah, lost lips, ears, nose in attack, doesn’t remember anything from the attack (PUBLIC INTEREST STORY)

10:17:45 Commercials (ADS)

10:22:02 Call of duty: video game controversy (ENTERTAINMENT/CONSUMER INFO)

10:22:23 George W. Bush to kick off public policy institute (NEWS-POLITICS)

10:22:50 Forbes 5 most powerful people:

5. Google founders 4. Federal Reserve Chairman 3. Russia’s president 2. China’s president, 1. Barack Obama (CONSUMER INFO)

10:23:57 Christmas tree at Rockefeller center delivered, lighting December 2, from backyard of 5^th grade teacher (CONSUMER INFO)(ENTERTAINMENT)

10:24:29 Commercials (ADS)

10:28:04 Fort Hood shooting, Hasan to be charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder, military system-potential death penalty, needs to be released from the hospital first, had repeated contact with radical Muslim cleric (NEWS-COURT CASES-MURDER)

10:31:20 10^th victim identified from Cleveland, serial killer (NEWS-COURT CASES-MURDER)

10:31:31 family accused in child sex abuse case (NEWS-COURT CASES)

10:32:07 States facing budget disasters, not only California (NEWS-POLITICS)

10:32:26 White House meets with abortion-rights advocates/”women’s rights groups” abortion debate could stall health care debate (NEWS-POLITICS)(HEALTH/CONSUMER INFO)

Reflection:

This newscast was incredibly fast paced. I had a hard time trying to follow the pace while simultaneously taking notes. One of the biggest things I noticed was how much they crammed into a small period of time—17 different issues/stories were covered in 30 minutes! Some of the content was not particularly uplifting, 4 of the stories regarded murder. There was one public interest story about the woman, Charla Nash who was attacked by a chimpanzee about 9 months ago. She appeared on Oprah yesterday, so the story was basically re-capping that interview. They showed only her answer to one question that was particularly emotional in regards to her daughter and they also showed the point at which Oprah leaned over and wiped something off of the woman’s face. This seemed to be an appeal at the heartstrings of the viewer and make him/her want to find out more information about this woman’s sad story. They mention that the White House met/is meeting with abortion-right’s activists. This was an interesting way to phrase this, because most people I know who believe in “abortion rights” call themselves “pro-choice” not “abortion activists.” The story about the famous Rockefeller Christmas tree was interesting because it framed it in a way that assumes everyone loves and celebrates Christmas and that it is the “American” way. They also mentioned that the tree came from a 5^th grade teacher’s back yard and “wouldn’t it be great for her students to talk about!” This could be interpreted in a variety of ways, but again I saw it as assuming a universal association with Christianity and it made me uncomfortable. Another thing I found particularly interesting was the portrayal of the individual who performed the shootings at Fort Hood. All of the photos were older, of him in his military uniform. Not pictures of him in the hospital or in prisoner garb. I felt this was a very interesting element of that story.

Media Texts I Use During a Given Week:

Television:

Websites:

Gmail
Google
Shelfari
Class websites/wikis
Facebook
Blogger
Dictionary.com
Amazon.com/Borders.com
Wells Fargo

Radio:

KNOW (91.1): Minnesota Public Radio
Cities97 (97.1): Clear Channel
KDWB (101.3): Clear Channel

Commerical Internet/Cable Access: Comcast

Reflection: How do you think this ownership influences the content of the media you are exposed to?

I know and simultaneously regret that I am influenced by Google on a daily basis. I use Google as my main search page, I use Gmail for my main form of communication, I use GoogleDocs for writing/sharing papers with students and colleagues, etc. The search results I get from Google are always my first choice and I oftentimes believe things that Google tells me, even if another search engine doesn’t. It affects what articles I read based on results, how I communicate with my friends and family and more. Facebook also affects the way I communicate and what I think is important. If Facebook recommends a friend for me or something I be “a fan of” I consider it seriously. I like to think that MRP is as un-biased as news shows come, but I am sure that I like listening to them because of their slightly left-leaning bias. Shelfari has helped me to see the more social elements of reading through online book clubs, discussions and sharing of my book shelf.

Teaching Critical Analysis of News

I think teaching critical analysis of news programming is extremely important. I think one way to get students to really think about the potential biases of news media would be to start with the extreme: The Onion. For this activity I would give my students some articles from The Onion, without telling them it was from a fake newspaper. I would then have them read the articles and talk about them: What was it about? Why do you think the newspaper included this story? If a student hadn’t figured it out yet, I would tell them where it came from and introduce the concept of news parody and why it exists. We could then talk about Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show vs. regular news television broadcasting. I would have students work with a partner and each watch the news for that night on a different station and take notes and then do a pair-sharing activity during class the next day that would lead to a class discussion.

A Tribute to Marginalia (iMovie)

2009-11-06T11:21:00.000-08:00

Here is an iMovie I created for EdHD 5007, but I thought I would add it to my media literacy blog so that I have all of my work together!

Advertising Analysis & Mock Ad

2009-11-04T13:47:00.000-08:00

Advertising Analysis

For my advertising analysis, I have analyzed the following commercial for Axe "Dark Temptation" Body Spray:

Intended Audience: Women

Value Assumptions: Women love chocolate and if men remind them of chocolate they will enjoy them in a similarly sensual manner. This assumes that all women like chocolate and that women like men to smell like food.

What is it trying to sell?: This ad is explicitly selling body spray, but implicitly selling sex.

Is it effective?:
I find this ad to be the equivalent of wearing black face. It is not effective because it is extremely offensive. In response to this advertisement I wrote a letter to Axe. I have included the letter and the response from the company below:
__________________________________________________________________
Axe,
This (DarkTemptation/Chocolate Man) advertising campaign is among the most offensive, racist I have ever seen. It is extremely derogatory towards black men, and other men of color, in that it reduces them to the status of food that can fulfill a craving or temptation. It also could be considered modern day blackface in that the beginning of the commercial a white man sprays on "Dark Temptation" and becomes, essentially, brown. I am now an ex-customer because I am so disappointed in your ability to avoid a clearly racist and bigoted advertisement merely to sell a product.
Please consider this in future advertisements and perhaps I will begin buying your products again.

Sarah Rose
--
Hi Sarah,

Thank you for taking the time to contact us about our advertising policy and practices. As one of the country's largest advertisers, we take seriously our responsibility to meet our consumers' needs while maintaining the highest standards of ethics in our business practices.

We would like to emphasize that the ad was intended to be nothing more than a nod to women's timeless love of chocolate. The idea behind the campaign is that the product will make AXE users as irresistible and tempting to women as chocolate itself.

When it comes to brand communications, we work hard to match our messages with the right audiences and mediums, using extensive insights from consumers.

Based on our research, we know that a wide range of people find the campaign amusing and appropriate. In addition to this, we carefully chose the programming during which AXE advertising appears and only selected those shows that viewers 18 and older are most likely to be watching.

Your feedback is a valuable part of the market research we conduct routinely about consumers' attitudes and preferences. You can be assured that your comments are appreciated and will be seriously considered.

Chris Green
Axe Consumer Services
SCÄ
--
This response from Axe proves that the advertisement has been effective for many audiences in the way that it ties sex and food and "empowers women." The fact that this advertisement plays off the ignorance of many consumers is very upsetting and offensive to me.
__________________________________________________________________

Spoof Advertisement

PURPOSE: This public-service announcement style ad mirrors other similar ads by GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network) in an attempt to demonstrate how hurtful the phrase "That's so gay" can be. Wanda Sykes has joined forces with GLSEN to promote this idea of "Think before you speak." I am not mocking the ads--in fact I find them to be quite humorous and candid--I am instead using the ad as a means of mocking the two teachers in the Anoka-Hennepin school district who were penalized after mocking a student they believed to be gay. I find it ironic that the people who are supposed to be responsible for creating a safe, welcoming environment for all were actually responsible for harassing a student.

I created this ad as a reminder to students and teachers about how harmful stereotypical and discriminatory remarks can be.

Here is an example of one of the PSA's produced by GLSEN in conjunction with Wanda Sykes:

And a print ad example:

Teaching Advertising

One activity I would employ for teaching students about advertising would be to watch a number of TV commercials as class without showing the product name. There are multiple commercials that don’t identify their product until the very end of the ad (like the new BlackBerry ad below).

I would ask the students to identify what the ad (or ads) is both explicitly and implicitly selling. They would then get into pairs and think of as many commercials as they can that are particularly memorable. Then they would share with the class and we would discuss why these commercials are particularly memorable: are they funny? Annoying? Cute? Dorky? Clever? This would lead into an assignment where the students would work in groups of 3-4 to create a short commercial for a new product using the elements that make a commercial memorable.

Teaching Genres: Four Corners!

2009-10-29T14:50:00.000-07:00

One way to introduce students to the idea of genres within film and television would be to play a four-corner activity. We would have the students stand in the center of the room. Then we would say the name of a popular TV show, i.e. “If you like Grey’s Anatomy’s stand in corner 1” “if you like The Simpsons, go stand in corner 2” ,“if you like family guy…corner 2,” “House…corner 1” etc. Once everyone had a corner to stand in, we would have them discuss:
-why they like the show(s) they picked
-what the shows have in common
-similar character(s)
-plot line
-setting
and then come up with a name for that genre (may or may not be the “name” it has been given by mass culture). We could repeat this activity for multiple genres.

Media Ethnography: Nerd Fighters

2009-10-22T10:12:00.000-07:00

Nerd Fighters is a term used to describe avid followers of the brother-duo John and Hank Green. Omnictionary defines Nerd Fighter as: “a person who is proud to be nerdy and intelligent, and who fights to decrease WorldSuck. Nerdfighters are not composed of cells and tissue, but instead made entirely of awesome…Nerdfighters are diverse in their hobbies, which can range from writing Nerdfighter songs to playing D&D. Nerdfighters have also been described as someone who is ‘Outgoing, intelligent and awesome enough to accept nerd as a compliment.’”

John is a young adult author who wrote An Abundance of Katherines, Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns. Hank is a singer-songwriter and the founder of the largest environmental technology blog. The brothers began communicating via weekly vlogs in 2007. Their vlogs can be seen at: http://www.youtube.com/user/vlogbrothers. Each of the vlogs has over 45,000 views.

They often perform together. I saw them perform at a book signing for Paper Towns in Boston, MA in 2008 and I wanted to learn more about this particular group of people. In order to do so, I went on the Nerd Fighter ning site and made some new friends. I found out about their manifesto, their reasons for being Nerd Fighters and so much more. I also spent time looking at the vlogs, blogs, video responses, posts and connected websites in order to gain a better idea of what makes these fans tick. The following is what I discovered.

In 2006 on one of his famous vlogs, John Green mentioned a video game called “Nerd Fighters” and spends the rest of the vlog discussing what a “nerd fighter” might look like.

The vlog in which "Nerd Fighters" is mentioned:

In this original video, a NF is described as a nerd who is fighting against “popular people” with calculators and trombones, etc. After this video was published, followers of the “brotherhood 2.0” (as the Green siblings call themselves) began self-titling themselves Nerd Fighters. According to their Ning (nerdfighters.ning.com) created by Hank Green, the site is “a place where nerds gather and play to increase awesome and decrease suck. What more is there?” The Ning site is the main place for NFs to communicate with one another, however there is also a Nerd Fighter Gazette (http://nfgazette.info/news.php), over 80 Facebook groups from all over the world (+ a fan page), a Twitter account, a LiveJournal, and a fanpop page (http://www.fanpop.com/spots/nerdfighters). The following is the transcript of an online interview I conducted on the Ning site with three different Nerd Fighters in a chat room. In an effort to respect their privacy I will be referring to them as NF 1, 2 and 3. I have also left the punctuation and spelling exactly as it was typed during the interview.

SR: How did you become a NF?

NF 1: Got into it with the books and watching the VLOGs

NF 2: Well to be honest with you and only a select few know this I first got introduced to nerdfighters when i was a troll on youtube. I trolled a couple vids and got hooked. It was mostly hank and his envrionmental green stuff that got really interested. and the whole internet culture too

NF 3: I am a NF because I am seeping with Awesome. Sheer Awesome radiates from my very skin.

SR: Why are you called Nerd Fighters?

NF 1: I thought it was because we're nerds and we fight for what's right.

NF 2: it's from a couple vids they made the first year. orginally john saw a video game named nerdfighters and then it evolved from there

SR: What is your favorite part about being a NF?

NF 1: connectedness.

NF 2: togetherness.

NF 3: Uh. . .the fact that we accept everybody, and that you don't have to like or dislike anything to be a Nerdfighter

SR: If you don’t mind my asking how old are you? Or how old do you think most NFs are?

NF 2: most people on the ning are 13-25

SR: How are NFs different from other groups you are a part of?

NF 1: I think their wide varitey in backgrounds and talents bring something special that other groups miss that are very homogenous.

NF 2: Nerdfighters differ in that they are very organized and motivated.

SR: Where are you from?

NF 2: BC, Canada

NF 3: Illinois, US

SR: Are you male or female?

NF 1: Male

NF 2: female

NF 3: Female

SR: Do you have any NF friends offline?

NF 1: no nf irl

NF 2: I don't have any IRL NF friends but have made some really good ones that i keep in contact through youtube, skype, and FB too beyond the ning

SR: Do you prefer John or Hank or do you like them equally?

NF 1: Johns writing is intriguing and captivating, while his brother completes the circle by being wildly entertaining

NF 3: John's writing is awesome, but Hank's music is inspiring

SR: What are some terms that you use that are specific to NFs?

NF 1: N.I.T.

Nerdfighter in training

NF 1: dftba

NF 2: DFTBA

NF 3: DFTBA

Don’t forget to be awesome

And jokes. like you would say something is “jokes”

SR: I noticed that you all write using correct punctuation and grammar rather than using numbers, acronyms or shortened words, is this for a specific reason?

NF 1: We are an oasis of correct grammar in a desert of bad punctuation.

NF 3: Because we speak properly

SR: NF 2, I noticed you have the title “ningmaster” after your user name. What does this mean?

NF 2: each ningmaster has a specific part of the site they are entrusted to work on, mine is the forums along with NF 4.

SR: How did you get that job?

NF 2: Ningmasters are appointed every 3 months. I applied and got choosen

NF 5 is the head ningmaster that john and hank choose and he chooses us underling ningmasters.

SR: What part of the blog are you in charge of?

NF 2: whats posted in the forums mainly, make sure there's nothing inapproritate posted or spam

From the ethnography it appears as though this group is a very coherent whole made up of young adults who are fans of the “brotherhood 2.0” and do not play favorites. The love that they can be anything and no one judges them. Most of them only interact with other NFs online and appear to spend a good amount of time watching vlogs, reading blogs and chatting with other NFs online. They are energized by the books and songs created by the brothers, but they are more drawn to the collective energy of the NFs and the shared ideals. Some of them haven’t even read the texts, but still enjoy online discussions with other NFs about the ways they plan to change the world.

John’s Blog: http://www.sparksflyup.com/

Hank’s Blog: http://www.ecogeek.org

Critical Analysis Activity: Postcolonialism

2009-10-16T14:09:00.000-07:00

In order to teach my students about Postcolonialism I would start with doing a free association activity using the following phrases:
"In 1492, Columbus___________"
"At Thanksgiving, the Pilgrims and __________ ate dinner together"
"Little boys play cowboys and ________"
What did Lewis and Clark do? (one sentence or less)
“If its not “criss-cross applesauce” its sitting _________ style”

Then I would show them this clip about “Reconsidering Columbus Day” and ask them to do a free writing activity responding to the video. I would then show them clips from the Disney movie Pocahantas and then assign groups different segments of the movie to annotate on VideoAnt using the Postcolonial lens. They would then share their annotations with the class and we would have another discussion regarding what they discovered (no pun intended).

Teaching Media Representation: Using VoiceThread

2009-10-16T13:49:00.000-07:00

I also think that using a program like VoiceThread or iMovie would be a great way to teach media representations in an English classroom. Following a lesson on media representations of different groups and a discussion of stereotyping, I would have the student do the following performance assessment: Work with a partner to make an advertisement for a product. Advertise the product to the best of your ability using rhetoric and language that you think will appeal to your audience. Here's the catch: do not use stereotypes. Then I would like you post a picture of your image/collage/advertisement on VoiceThread and discuss the process of making this ad on VoiceThread with your partner. Was this easy to do? Difficult? Why do you think so? Do you think your advertisement will be effective? Why or why not? I would hope that this assignment would elicit some conversations about archetypes versus stereotypes and the representative nature of most types of media.

VoiceThread: GLBT Representation in the Media

2009-10-15T11:14:00.001-07:00

Critical Analysis

2009-10-08T14:20:00.000-07:00

Critical Theory
“Old Spice: Scents for Gents” (2009)

Gender Lens:
This commercial talks about “being a man” with images of a white male doing various sports like skiing, lifting weights and golfing. There is also an image of the man wearing a suit, sitting a large leather chair, reading a book. The advertisement is for Old Spice deoderant, the purpose being to show the various different scents available. At first it seems as though the commercial is trying to tell you what it means to be “a man” and that it smells a certain way. But then if you listen carefully to the man’s voice, its seems as though he is mocking this idea of a “man.” He also keeps crashing into buildings, which adds an element of humor and makes you take his words less seriously. At the end of the commercial we see the man talking to what seems to be his wife. They are dressed in matching ‘preppy’ clothes and it he is all the sudden not really “manly” at all: he let his wife dress him. Overall, the commercial hilariously mocks the idea of the perfect man.

Marxist Lens:
This commercial is very obviously targeted at an upper middle class audience. The activities the man is taking part in: skiing, reading literature in an expensive leather chair, golfing, and spending leisure time at the beach, are limited to a very wealthy consumer contingent. The assumption that the customer can afford multiple varieties of deodorant is also making an assumption that they have a disposable income in which to buy expensive body care products.

iMovie

2009-10-05T10:07:00.001-07:00

Here is what I came up with during class...I would love to work on it more, so we'll see what I can come up with!

Teaching Film: Using Literary Theory as an Entry Point for Critical Film Analysis

2009-10-01T13:13:00.000-07:00

A great way to incorporate film into the English classroom would be to make connections between literary theory and critical lenses in literature and film. Perhaps following a unit on a specific critical lens, say the Marxist or now Social-Economic lens for sake of this example, you could show a film that elicited a (more surface level) critical viewing. The students could then use VideoANT to do a critical analysis of a scene from a selected movie or a movie of their choice through that specific lens. It would be a great way for them to apply literary theory to another type of media and internalize this concept and while simultaneously taking their understanding of film to a deeper level.

Film Clip

2009-09-24T16:51:00.000-07:00

This is from the mockumentary film, Drop Dead Gorgeous:

My VideoANT

2009-09-23T18:20:00.000-07:00

For all of you Arrested Development fans...and if you are not (yet), let me know when you'd like to borrow my DVDs.
A Tribute to a Tribute to George Michael

Analysis of "D-PAN: Deaf Performing Artists Network"

2009-09-17T10:29:00.000-07:00

I watched the D-PAN interpretation of John Mayer's song, "Waiting on the World to Change." This video shows a number of people signing in American Sign Language along to audio of the Mayer song. I really enjoyed this video because it had so many engaging and interesting elements. The author of this video is actually a combination of people signing with words and pictures interspersed throughout the song. The purpose of the message is to show that deaf people can and do experience things, like music, that hearing people don't think they can. It also aims to reveal the remaining social ills that affect the deaf community including but not limited to: police brutality, discrimination, ignorance, abuse, etc. The video is extremely well done and was likely edited numerous times before it was published. The technique of using visual and audio simulataneously attracted me because I understand (a large amount of) ASL and I could observe how the signers/interpreters were using ASL to communicate the meaning of the song in their own way. The video also uses pictures, and newspaper and video clips of deaf people throughout history to demonstrate the fact that they are indeed STILL "waiting on the world to change." This video comes from the point of view of a deaf person/deaf people but it is aimed at both deaf AND hearing people. The point of this website is to show that "it's everybody's music" (d-pan.com). This could be interpreted a variety of different ways depending on the audience. As an ASL student, I am immersed in Deaf culture more than most hearing people. I also understand the signs I see in the video. For someone who does not understand ASL, the video might not be as effective because they might only see it as visually stimulating, but not be able to get to the next level. However, it might be more powerful for the non-signer for the same reason. One thing that is omitted from the message is a "how to guide." There are no directions/suggestions for changing the dynamic of hearing and deaf cultural relations or creating a more accepting environment for deaf and hard of hearing people.

Introductory Vlog

2009-09-17T09:38:00.000-07:00