"Breathing dreams like air..."

1. How would you describe the “American Dream?”

The American Dream is an idealistic belief in a life which perfectly upholds the values the United States is believed to have. The common person defines the dream as having 2.5 kids and a house with a white, picket fence. This person would see kids who group up normally and fit in without problems, then going to college and doing well for themselves while the parents coast on a typical retirement kick.

2. What is your definition of wealth?

My definition of wealth is that wealth is an accumulation of ideas or items considered to be of value. 

3. What are Americans’ attitudes toward wealth and poverty?

In America, the citizens are more likely to reward the person who is wealthy for whatever he or she has done to obtain his or her status, while the same citizens want to punish people who must have done something wrong in order to be impoverished. It is hypocritical. In the same breath, these are the people who praise underdogs and love rags-to-riches stories. The common beliefs are that a person status and wealth are reflected by character rather than luck or even birth. Since everyone believes that even has an equal chance, it is not a long reach for the people to believe if someone is poor, then it is of his or her own doing rather than chance.

4. What is your attitude toward wealth and poverty?

I believe wealth is a corrupting factor, at least in America. The wealthy perpetuate a system of bigotry against those who do not mirror their own kind. The impoverished are then left in mass branded as invalids. The current system feeds into itself. The one we have only grows despite the common belief that even has an equal chance in America. If everyone is equal, then parents would not move to choose schools based upon location and demographics. The divide between the two in America is almost perfectly archetypal. Dangerously close to the Roman elite with "panem et circenses" and Bourgeoisie "let them eat cake". 

Nothing Really Mattress

#1:As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.

-"uneasy" leads one to feel almost ill or sick
-"awoke" is more sophisticated than "woke"
-"transformed" sounds more scientific than, say, "change"

#2:Gregory Samsa woke from uneasy dreams one morning to find himself changed into a giant bug.

-"woke" and "changed" are both more plain and common 
-"to find" is used instead of "he found" which makes the discovery less personal

#3:When Gregor Samsa awoke from troubled dreams one morning he found he had been transformed in his bed into an enormous bug.

-"troubled" makes the dreams sound as if it's them who have the problem rather than Gregor

-"his bed" is mentioned making it more descriptive and personal

#4:One morning, upon awakening from agitated dreams, Gregor Samsa found himself, in his bed, transformed into a monstrous vermin.

-the prepositional phrase "in his bed" is separated by commas clouding the sentence and removing the flow the other sentences have

-"monstrous" makes the bug, or "vermin", seem much more horrid as in "bug" being replaced by "vermin"

How does the word choice, syntax, punctuation, and imagery shift in each affect meaning? 

Word choice change the meaning relating to the connotations. Connotation is what the reader brings into the picture. The implied meaning that isn't written. Syntax is what paints the word picture in your head. The order that the words are in places the emphasis in different parts and can even affect how the connotation is being read. Punctuation allows for the syntax to stay, but still change the emphasis. Punctuation can also affect the mood and the whole way the sentence is supposed to be interpreted. Imagery shift has a main effect on the setting and scene that's occurring. It ties in what isn't there and helps the reader to finish the scene in their head. 

Is one more effective than another?Why? 

The most effective one is word choice because connotations are everything. Connotations can even take over the denotation of the word.

What does this exercise bring up about the difficulty of reading translated texts? 

It illustrates how translating a text steals the soul out of the work. The translator must take great liberties and can never truly express the meaning because of the word choice. The author wrote it in that language for a reason.

How do different translations effect the tone of the sentence? 

The connotations of the different words in the different translations can completely change how the reader reads or interprets the narrator. A gigantic insect is gross in some people's minds and not in others, but if you want to cement the grossness of the insect, calling it a "monstrous vermin" seals the deal. It even conjures up images of dirty mice. 

FREEBIE SECOND SEMESTER

Double Indemnity

Heroes of Double Indemnity

Google defines hero as "a person, typically a man, who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities" and/or "a submarine sandwich".

Since Double Indemnity has a serious lack of sandwiches, the first definition is the working definition for this post. 

No one is a hero forever. At different parts in life, people make mistakes and do great acts of kindness. The film is no anomaly to this. A hero, by definition, must be "admired" or "idealized". Whether the person is fit for admiration, lies in the eye of the beholder.

Walter Neff is a hero to his boss towards the beginning of the movie. The boss compliments and praises Walter when suggesting that he be promoted. The average person would not call a simple insurance salesman a hero, but by this definition and his boss' display, Walter is a hero. His "outstanding achievements" and "noble qualities'' to his specific job are why his boss offered him the promotion in the first place. During this scene, Walter is a hero to the boss no matter what the audience or other characters choose to believe.  

Walter is also a hero to his love interest, Phyllis Dietrichson. While plotting the murder and committing the murder, he represents a man "idealized for courage" to Phyllis. Even though she is the true mastermind using him, there is a place in her where she acknowledges his courage to go through with it. Walter does not resemble the popular idea of a hero by murdering Phyllis' husband, but he is still a hero in someone's eyes. 

A hero is not a person who is admired by most, nor is it some fantastical person who represents the absolute good of mankind. Nobleness, achievements, and courage live in a gray zone that each person must decide which is which for his or her own self.  When Double Indemnity is called a "movie without a hero", the person is taking great liberties in saying his or her way of thinking and defining a hero is the true, absolute way. Arguments could be furthered in saying that some people value the certain traits that Walter and Phyllis upheld, but for the sake of argument, the common definition most agreed on was used.

IBmakingart

This is a collection of photographs taken by Santiago Sierra who was born in 1966 in Spain. The title is 89 Huicholes and it was created in 2009. The photographs stretch the majority of the wall. Individually, they are about 1 sq. foot.

The people depicted are the Huicholes who are an indigenous people from Mexico. Despite the recent creation of the artwork, the people shown still live lives which are more simple than what the average Westerners is used to. The people are photographed with their backs facing away from the camera. Santiago wished to document the people by taking their pictures, but they believe that if their photos are taken, then their souls will be captured.

The artist chose to have every photo be in black and white. This creates a unifying effect. No one person stands out over another. It connects the piece as one group of people rather than a large number of individuals. If it were in color, then the eye would be drawn to one person over another based on the clothes worn. This means that in order to study further the individuals, one must observe the people at random without bias. This strengthens the artist's goal in documenting the Huicholes. It provides a comprehensive collection of random Huicholes.

The work is showing the culture and, to a point, the religious beliefs of the Huicholes. The clothing worn teaches about their lives. The clothing is that of farmers. It captures their way of life while still protecting and representing their religious values when not showing their faces. I believe that the artist took and collected the photos so that he could save the Huicholes' way of life pictorially. The use of equalizing black and white and wide array of subjects create an index. The artist made a collection of people to be studied and appreciated. The curator chose to include this work because it contains a history of indigenous Mexicans. It tied in with the history and appreciation of Latin American culture. This work will continue to be useful because it is a documentation of a people. Future generations may use this to understand better who the Huicholes were.

Blog Post N° 4

Posted 15 Sept., 2014 on "http://jour20313.wordpress.com/2010/09/15/the-most-interesting-man-in-the-world/"  by a user "awalk6"

Denotative: Upon first glance, the advertisement plugs the beer brand Dos Equis at the bottom. The straight-forward goal is to have the viewer be familiarized to the brand. The second part that stands out is that the "being boring" is a "choice" implying that by not choosing this brand it is a conscious choice to be boring.

Connotative: In the ad, the deadly sin lust is portrayed. The hedonistic and lascivious behavior depicted is perpetuated by the provocatively dressed women and by the plenty of beer. A woman is on either side of the man. Both of the women are staring lustfully towards the man. Everyone is dressed opulently implying a state of indulgent wealth. The audience is the average, straight male. The fact that women are sexual objects to a wealthy, distant man leads one to believe the ad is playing on the fragile, straight-man ego. The stereotype that straight men have a strong desire to be desired and to feel important is furthered by such words as "most interesting man in the world" and "boring is a choice". This ad relies on the follies of them. It wishes to persuade the viewer into wanting to become interesting and desired like the man shown. If he drinks this beer, then he, too, will be the envy of women and men alike. The dark colors and formal attire bring the audience into a world of sophistication. This also enforces the stereotype of straight males that they constantly desire to be wealthy and of importance. Without these assumptions, the ad fails. The media style used by this ad leads straight males into a feeling of inadequacy is they do not too have women fawning over them while they are driving in their fast, new cars. The implications of advertising like this teach them that in order to be an important man that they must too be wealthy and have women.

Question 2

The central idea of this passage was introducing and defining the characters Mr. Brocklehurst and Jane. Each character is presented differently. The message that the author wishes to give about Mr. Brocklehurst is that he is the one causing the problems. He is evil by being a hypocritical boss. He chastised the girls for wearing nice and flashy clothes, yet it could be argued that he is guilty of the same crime. He then forces religious standards upon the girls that he doesn't follow. Jane, who is new, is made an example of by being punished over a simple offense. The author describes Jane to be against his hypocritical rule.

The passage that exemplifies this is, "A careless girl!" said Mr. Brocklehurst, and immediately after--"It is the new pupil, I perceive." And before I could draw breath, "I must not forget I have a word to say respecting her." Then aloud: how loud it seemed to me! "Let the child who broke her slate come forward!" It depicts Mr. Brocklehurst as a cruel and hateful man by his patronizing word choice. His diction shows that he feels he is superior in that he must be the ultimate authority and what he perceives and knows must be true. This also introduces Jane's rebellious nature by her breaking the slate.