11/15/12

"Soma"

        In "Soma" by The Strokes, the author, or singer in this case, is singing about how conforming to the rest of society is not always easy. He writes from the perspective of someone who is on the outside looking in. He writes, "And I am stop, and go in your eyes." Stop is representing him and go is representing society. They are opposites. He explains his struggle again by writing, "And I am stop, oh darling, let me go." He knows what society wants him to be. But since he also knows that he can't be that, he wants society to stop trying to change him.

1. Topic sentence that tells the theme of the song

2. Explains the perspective of the song, which can make it more understandable

3. Provides an example of the struggle that the theme addresses

4. Explains the example quote

5. Explains the example quote more

6. Provides another example addressing another part of the theme

7. Explains the previous quote

8. Explains the previous quote and provides a resolution for the issue

10/25/12 Journal

"Loss of Innocence"
Innocence can be the lack of knowledge or lack of experiece of bad things.
You can lose something that isn't tangeable through thoughts, emotions, or actions.
Theme:
Loss of innocence
1. The girl is naked
2. There are darker colors in the foreground and right sides. Normally innocence is portrayed with lighter, purer colors.
3. The woman on the right is trying to cover the naked girl up.

10/2/12 Journal

"Young Life"
1. The man and the woman are together
       They are holding each other
2. The deer is dead
       It is laying on top of the truck

9/27/12 Journal

"Blackbird"
Single Effect:
If you're being put down, don't give up hope; keep going.

"Take these broken wings and learn to fly"
"Take these sunken eyes and learn to see"
"You were only waiting for this moment to arise"

9/25/12 Journal

"Shame"
       The subject of the Avett Brothers' song "Shame" is the shame that the narrator feels for losing the one he loves. The tone of this piece is very regretful. In the lyrics he writes things like, "Day after day, more of the same", "That's filled with guilt and overwhelming", and, "I'd like to see those things undo." These words all have a sort of negative connotation, which shows that the narrator is feeling regretful.

9/19/12 Journal

1. The purpose of this film was to demonstrate that deaf people aren't any different thatn regular people, and they should be treated just the same.

2. I think it was effective because the audience didn't know that the girl was deaf until the very end. She was treated normally, so they think that she is just a normal person.

3. At the end, I felt happy when the guy didn't think differently of her just because she was deaf.

9/14/12 Journal

Single effect: Don't let a good opportunity pass you by.

1. The signs at the end tell Ben to talk to the girl.
2. Shot angles show that Ben keeps glancing at the girl regretfully
3. Ben looks sad everytime he talks about the fact that he is leaving.

9/5/12 Journal

S- The narrator takes pride that his desk is always there for him.
N- The singer of the song (Harry Nilsson).
A- People who listen to this song.
P- He might be talking about reliability. The desk is always there for him.

1. It made the song make more sense to me. I understood the purpose of his lyrics a lot better.

2. "It's a pleasure to see it's waiting there for me."
    "But it's always there"
    "But it's perfectly alright with me"

9/4/12 "The Pinch of Poverty" Journal

S- The piece looks like it has to deal with those in poverty. The colors that represent poverty are all dark and gloomy. But the flowers are all brightly colored, along with the blanket that is wrapped around the infant. These brighter colors may represent the idea that there are good things in the world that can stand out.
N- The narrator/artist may recognize the darkness of poverty, but he may also be able to recognize that there are some good things in life, such as flowers and children.
A- This piece may be meant for people who can relate to the hardships of poverty and understand the good things in life.
P- The artist might want us to think on a deeper level about how things are not always what they may seem. Yes, the family may have a hard life, but they might also have things that they are grateful for.
Artistic Techniques:
1. Uses dark colors to make the mood gloomy and sad
2. He uses the peoples' facial expressions to evoke sympathy.

8/17/12 Journal

facts
1. The stool seats are green
2. The boy's shirt is yellow
3. The man working is smoking
claims
1. The police officer is scolding the boy
2. The food at the diner is good
3. The man working at the counter is mean

"Sign Language" Short Film 9/21/12

Single Effect: Don't let an opportunity pass you by
1. The signs at the end of the video tell Ben to talk to the girl.
2. Shot angles- Ben keeps glancing at the girl regretfully.
3. Whenever Ben talks about leaving his job, his facial expression is sad and regretful.

8/20

1. Culture is how a society works and what makes it unique.
2. The places, people, and resources surrounding them.
3. I think that it is taught as you grow older. You could grow up in any culture and live by that because that is what you were raised with.

8/17

Facts:
1. The stool seats are green.
2. The boy's shirt is yellow.
3. The man working is smoking.
Claims:
1. The police officer is scolding the boy.
2. The food at the diner is good.
3. The man working at the counter is mean.
Analytical Claim:
The police officer and diner employee aren't taking the boy seriously. They think it is all innocent.

The Pearl- 2

Juana seems to be the only one who believes that the pearl is evil. And that forshadows that it will bring misfortunes later on. Juana seems like a very wise woman, so if anyone would notice the evil in the pearl, it would be her. And she is right. Someone breaks into their house to try to steal the pearl. That is when the audience really believes that the pearl is evil and will cause more harm later on in the story.

I thought that all the misfortunes caused by the pearl were to be expected. The forshadowing in this story made it very easy to predict that there would be more bad things that would happen to Kino, Juana, and Coyotito. The author's plotline seemed pretty basic to me.

The Pearl- 1

I thought it was interesting that the doctor was so stuck up. It was kind of cruel that he just said no to helping a very sick baby. He just comes across as a really self-centered person. He acts like he's too good to be helping Kino and his wife, Juana. It's kind of sad knowing that there's not much that they can do if the doctor won't help them.

I noticed that the author first describes the pearl as having a "ghostly gleam". This is basically forshadowing that this pearl with be significant in the story. It's pointing out something that sets it apart from the rest.

Pygmalion- 2

I think it's interesting how Higgins treats his job. He almost treats it as a game. Eliza is like an experiment of his. Especially when he brings her to meet people and observes how they react to her. They definately don't think that she is a poor flower girl with terrible speech. I also think it's funny how he reacts when he actually has to socialize with people. It's a bit awkward. He's just so used to observing it, and he's not really a people person to begin with.

I think that the ending of the play was a little sudden. All of the problems just seemed to fix themselves very fast. But maybe it just felt that way because it was a play and it's not written like a novel. There's not much description about what's going on aroung them.

Pygmalion- 1

I like how we really don't learn the identities of most of the characters until later on in the play. We don't learn Eliza's name for a little while, and we don't learn the identities of the mother and daughter until later on in the story as well. I also think it is strange how rude Professor Higgins is. He is just plain rude to almost everyone, except for Pickering (usually). But I guess it makes him a more interesting character because of that. It makes him more unpredictable, which is amusing.

I thought it was an interesting choice by George Bernard Shaw to write out Eliza's speech in the beginning exactly how she was pronouncing it. It was sort of a pain to read, but I guess he does that to emphasize just how bad her speech and grammer was. You can definately tell the difference by later on in the play.