Kathryn

Propaganda Project Analysis
 * May 12, 2014**

In the propaganda project, students in groups of four or five were given a mayoral candidate to campaign for. They were allowed to use any resource and any method of propaganda (poster, flyer, newspaper ad, commercial, etc.) to promote their candidate. Halfway through, a scandal was revealed, thus forcing the propagandists to find a way to deal with it, just like in real life. At the end of the project, representatives of the candidate gave a speech for their candidate, and an election was held.Glittering generalities, name calling, transfer, alliterations, allusions, and plain folk techniques were used to campaign.

The most challenging part of this project was working with other people. Group projects are never easy to successfully accomplish, but when one is not given a rubric until the last day, it makes it exceedingly difficult to know what is required. Specifics are not necessary, but knowing that three items are due is very helpful to planning out who does what. This is how the project could be improved: give the propagandists a rough rubric, not detailing exactly what is due, but making students aware that they will need to turn in three items and have a speech. The actual work itself was fairly easy, but trying to incorporate everyone's ideas (when they are good ones) was difficult for me.

The skills I learned in this project, like various techniques used in propaganda, have potential to help me in this class by making me aware of how people use methods of persuasion. These skills will help me in future high school classes on posters, essays, and other projects. Having a knowledge of how to get people to support you will give me an advantage in both the classroom and the "real world." If I'm trying to promote a software program, show why one would want to donate to an animal shelter, homeless shelter, or cancer research fund, convince someone that my thinking is correct, or advertise a new product, these skills will come in handy. Furthermore, it gave me a taste of what working with other people will be like. This project has been very beneficial to me.

Free Write
 * March 16, 2014**

I don't know how it happens. At the start of every week, I think to myself, "If I can just make it through this week, I'll be okay." Every week looks long and hard and stressful and full of things needing to be done. It's overwhelming, looking ahead at everything. And sometimes, it's not that much, but my brain distorts it to be a lot bigger than it actually is. Imagine looking at an insect under a microscope. With those bulging eyes, scaly body, multiple spindly legs, and flapping wings, it's the stuff of nightmares. Then it moves, you freak out, and then realize it's a centimeter-long fly, nothing to worry about. That's how Sunday's are for me. Continuing on, during the week, I wake up, think "not again," and somehow coax myself to get up. I go to school and go through the day's activities thinking about either how much stuff I have to do, and how long it is until bedtime. But suddenly, it's Saturday, and the week has passed, somehow I got through it all. I can barely remember the past week, but it seems like it happened a lifetime ago. Saturday is generally spent thinking about all the stuff I have to do, but not really doing anything about it. That part is left for Sunday, when the cycle begins again. Every week, the same thing happens. Every week, I marvel how I finally got to Saturday, and then panic that the week is starting again. You would think that I would have learned by now, and I suppose I have. At the same time, however, I can't help my feelings, and I can't help wondering how I got through and how I will get through everything around me.

Week Three Journal: The movies we see today have all sorts of heroes in them. There are the comic book heroes, those who regardless of their personality, sacrifice everything to save the ones they love, but then miraculously end up with everything; there are the soap opera heroes, the ones who have conflict after conflict, then seem to almost get their dreams, but eventually tragically fall; and there are the sitcom heroes who go about their lives the best they can, making us laugh. We worship these characters, and in doing so, we also worship the actors and actresses who portray them. While some stars are decent people, others most definitely are not.
 * February 28, 2014**

Miley Cyrus believes that she is an empowering feminist. She claims that she wants to be herself, and that the fame associated isn't necessary, but everything she does leads me to believe that she loves all the attention. In my experience, people who want to be themselves generally express their personality by the clothes they wear, not the lack thereof. As Miley sells her body to the media and the world, she is telling women that it's okay to run around naked, it's okay to wear skimpy clothes and exploit your body, it's okay to not have respect for yourself. Your body is the only thing that you completely own, but people can take it away from you when you allow them to. This is a paradoxical system: if you exploit your body, you lose your self-respect, but you can only exploit your body if you don't have self-respect in the first place. When Miley dances around, with millions of girls, teenagers, and women watching her, they get the impression that you don't need to respect yourself in order to succeed in the limelight. Unfortunately, this is true; women in pop culture are expected to not care about what they show; it's not right, but apparently it's okay.

Sinead O'Connor's letter to Miley Cyrus was right on the money. She told Miley that "you have enough talent that you don't need to let the music business make a prostitute of you." This is a compelling statement that should be true; however, it does not seem to be the case. If this were true, then perhaps people might be less risqué in their songs and music videos. Perhaps they'd be just as risqué, but it wouldn't be because that was the only way for them to succeed. Sinead seems to have gone through what Miley is dealing with now, and Miley should listen. People should like her because they hear the beauty in her words and voice. That is what society should be looking for. But what do we find instead? We find people not upholding any "ideal character traits" because the only thing valued seems to be how sexy and suggestive someone is. Look around at commercials: everything is advertised as "sexy." Through advertisers more and more frequently using this word to show off what they're selling, they are telling the world that to succeed is to be sexy. Instead of this, we should prize inner beauty and a strong sense of morals. People like firefighters, police men, and soldiers should be our heroes, not young girls dancing in front of millions of people. If this were the case, our society would be less raunchy and more beautiful through and through.

http://www.capitalfm.com/artists/miley-cyrus/news/feminist-cosmopolitan-magazine-interview/ http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/oct/03/sinead-o-connor-open-letter-miley-cyrus http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/jennifer-lawrence-miley-cyrus-type-behavior-disgusting-reason-young-sex-sells-article-1.1513988

Week Two Journal:
 * February 21, 2014**

The first article about the sexist Avengers t-shirts was kind of a shock to me. I personally love the Avengers, but it makes me sad to see the Marvel franchise being so blatantly sexist. The juniors' shirt saying "I need a hero" clearly shows that society thinks women need someone to lean on. And that's true, but men need someone to lean on as well. Both genders rely on the other, but both are equally strong. The second article about skimpy clothing being worn by younger and younger girls is an issue that I'm seeing more and more. I like to look nice, but there's a clear line between what's appropriate and what's not. My younger sister and I are on the same page with this, but as I look at her friends, they all try to dress like the teenagers and movie stars they see, which is not exactly a stellar example for thirteen-year-olds. Furthermore, as a Christian, I believe that your body is a temple to God, so you should treat that temple with respect and not defile it by smoking, drinking, or wearing skimpy clothing. Both of these articles address very prevalent issues in our society.

From these articles, we can tell that sexy, dependent women are the ideal in today's society. Men seem to want beautiful women who need them desperately, but that stereotype is not exactly prevalent. However, as girls see these sexist shirts, they begin to believe that they //should// be dependent on men, and so they never see themselves as strong independent human beings. Women are still fighting for complete equality with men, and they address that most in the workplace, fighting for equal salaries as their male counterparts. Perhaps, if they really want to make a change, they should focus on clothing lines for young girls and teenagers. There is appropriate, but still pretty, clothing out there, but the majority of the available clothes are skimpy. If this were to change, perhaps women would have a better chance at gaining respect in the eyes of men if they didn't dress like strippers.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/11/sexist-avengers-t-shirts-_n_3063942.html?utm_hp_ref=tw http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/12/fashion/clothing-straddles-the-line-between-sweet-and-skimpy.html?adxnnl=1&pagewanted=all&adxnnlx=1392987026-FG6WDrECrWoD9gz6lonkZg

Week One Journal: Is it crucial to be critical of the words we say and the words we hear? If so, why? And if not, why not?
 * February 7, 2014**

People like to talk. They like to swear, gossip, lie, and all other sorts of things. Within groups, when someone starts gossiping about what that awkward girl was wearing today, normally everyone else will go along with it. But is that what they really think? I doubt it; they just don't want to speak out against it. Those words can hurt, even though no one may act like they do. This is just in small groups, though. What about the rest of the world?

Pop culture especially should be watching their mouths. In interviews, if something slips out, but the speaker apologizes, fine. No big deal, just a mistake. But in songs and movies, the lyrics and scripts are all planned, looked over, revised, and then looked over again. There is no excuse for purposely using a hurtful word. In movies, this should be considered because if too much useless profanity is used, giving it an R rating, many families will not go see it. This has happened to my family for several movies, including Identity Thief, The Heat, and many others.

Songs are the same way- if I don't like the lyrics of a song, then I won't listen to it, and I won't buy it. No matter what the artist's intent was, they still used language or references they shouldn't have. For those who don't care, thinking, "He/she's the one who said it, not me," then think about this: what you put in is what you put out. If you constantly listen to trash talk, all you're putting in is trash. Eventually, when you aren't watching your tongue, something you never meant to say will come out. Furthermore, you are associated with what you do, who your friends are, what you listen to, and many other things. If you would like to be associated with irresponsible artists, that's your choice, but you can do better.

Those in the limelight should know that they are being watched, not just by the cameras. When teenagers see their favorite star being disrespectful to a plethora of different groups of people, they'll believe it's okay for them to be disrespectful, too. Personally, I do not want to live in a world where no one respects anyone, where the thinking is "if you're not like me, then you're not worthy of me." The past is the past, and if you've messed up, so be it. But you can change! You don't have to flick off every person who accidently bumps into you. You don't have to call someone else names just to make you feel better about yourself. Brother Ali has learned and embraced this lesson. He has admitted his mistakes, apologized for them, and then moved on to better things. He should be respected for his recent actions.

If you care about someone, you won't insult them just because it's the cool thing to do. This applies to the human race as well. If you care about your fellow human being, don't insult him/her. Don't let yourself get carried away in thinking that if you use profanity and slang and references, your friends will like you. You are your words, so let your words be a joy to hear, instead of nuisance to society.
 * =  || "Brother Ali: The Intersection of Homophobia and Hip Hop: Where Tyler Met Frank". Brother Ali, __The Huffington Post__. 7 Sep. 2012. ||