I think Avatar is a good example of Post Modernism. There are a lot of things in and about the movie that represent Post Modernism. First off, the movie was made almost all the way with a computer. The Avatars and the Avatar world is all completely computer animated, and it took the director a really long time to make it. This shows Post Modernism because Post Modernism is all about technology. Almost everything in Post Modernism has at least something to do with technology, so I thought this movie would be a great example of Post Modernism. Some technology that was used in the movie was one, just to make a movie in general takes technology, two, they had to come up with a whole different language for the Avatars called Na'Vi, three, all of the characters would technologically turned into Avatars instead of using make-up and other usual theater tricks. This movie represents the dawning of a new era of movie making. It is an ear filled with more technology and less old time theater stuff. I like all the technology in the movie.
The movie also represents Post Modernism because the hero, or the main character, Jake, becomes a Post Modernist hero by taking a bad situation and turning it into a better situation. He has to work through a lot of problems with the Avatars and the regular people there that are trying to get the Unobtainium. He is a hero because he turns a bad situation into a good one by working hard. He is not a perfect person, he has flaws, which is what Post Modernist heroes have, but it overcomes those flaws to do what needs to be done. It is a little sketchy that he falls in love with an Avatar though. I thought the movie was actually pretty dumb once you really thought about it. All of the graphics and special effects were awesome, but the actually story has be done before a few times I think. It is a lot of Dances With Wolves, but that is okay because in Post Modernism they change take ideas from the past and turn it into new ideas for the future. So the director took ideas from Dances With Wolves, but he made it more modern by making it in another planet and more technologically advanced.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
Modernism Project
Works Cited:
Brown, Lois. "McKay, Claude." Encyclopedia of the Harlem Literary Renaissance. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= EHLR0597&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 27, 2011).
McKay, Claude. "If We Must Die." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets. 2011. http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15250. Web. Apr. 2011.
Langley, John. "Introduction to Modernism." Lecture. Pleasant Plains High School, Pleasant Plains. Apr. 2010. Mr. Langley's Digital Classroom. Mr. Langley. Web. Apr. 2011.
Werlock, Abby H. P., ed. "Welty, Eudora." The Facts On File Companion to the American Novel. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CANov0928&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 27, 2011).
Welty, Eudora. "The Petrified Man". 1909-2001. http://www.mondowendell.com/petrify.htm. accessed April 20, 2011.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Journal #43: Jazz
The jazz song we had to listen to for this journal really only reminded me of a cool coffee shop in a cool sleek city. The time period for this coffee shop is maybe the 1950s or so. The city that the coffee shop is in is just some short of quiet little city, and this coffee shop is the only "hip" place in town. Everyone knows each other in this town, and they all come to the coffee shop to socialize.
The walls of the coffee shop are made of brick, and on the inside there are a lot of cool pictures of bands and musicians that have come to play at the coffee shop, and they have signed the pictures. The coffee shop has a counter with five bar stools in the right corner right when you walk in, and it has a small stage in the far left corner with two seated round tables around it. The tables are black, and the chairs are black with red seats. There are one person bathrooms in the back right corner of the room, and the lights are dimmed just a little bit in the shop. The walls on the inside of the shop are brick just like on the outside, and whenever someone walks in a small bell above the door jingles.
The man behind the counter of the coffee shop is a nice, somewhat plump man, who loves listening to all the musicians that come in. Everyone knows this man, and he is friends with everyone. His name is Burt. The coffee shop sells coffee (of course), but it also sells nice warm baked goods like muffins, small cakes, and cookies. It also has hot chocolate for any of the younger kids that may come in. Nothing costs more than a dollar in this small, honest coffee business, and the shop gets a lot of customers every day.
The musician that is playing the song that we had to listen to for this blog is a young musician who is trying to make a name in the music industry. This coffee shop is one of the first places that he has played, and the crowd loves him already.
The walls of the coffee shop are made of brick, and on the inside there are a lot of cool pictures of bands and musicians that have come to play at the coffee shop, and they have signed the pictures. The coffee shop has a counter with five bar stools in the right corner right when you walk in, and it has a small stage in the far left corner with two seated round tables around it. The tables are black, and the chairs are black with red seats. There are one person bathrooms in the back right corner of the room, and the lights are dimmed just a little bit in the shop. The walls on the inside of the shop are brick just like on the outside, and whenever someone walks in a small bell above the door jingles.
The man behind the counter of the coffee shop is a nice, somewhat plump man, who loves listening to all the musicians that come in. Everyone knows this man, and he is friends with everyone. His name is Burt. The coffee shop sells coffee (of course), but it also sells nice warm baked goods like muffins, small cakes, and cookies. It also has hot chocolate for any of the younger kids that may come in. Nothing costs more than a dollar in this small, honest coffee business, and the shop gets a lot of customers every day.
The musician that is playing the song that we had to listen to for this blog is a young musician who is trying to make a name in the music industry. This coffee shop is one of the first places that he has played, and the crowd loves him already.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Realism vs Modernism
Realism and Modernism are two different kinds of writing. In Realism, the author tries to depict the story as it really is. They choose certain details to make things seem real and like every day life. We have looked at many Realist authors and poets for homework. Some of these authors and poets include Mark Twain, Kate Chopin, and Rebecca Harding Davis.
As an author, Mark Twain is a great example of the Realism writing style. Some of Mark Twain's most famous novels, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn depict the lives of young boys and their adventures. Twain does a great job of depicting life by the Mississippi River which he loved so dearly. He has many great details to make the stories seem so real and easy to relate to, which is what a Realist writer does.
"Realism is the attempt to depict life as it actually exists, not as the author wants it to be in the present or the future, or imagines it was in the past. A realist carefully chooses details that illustrate this vision, unlike the naturalist who tries to include all possible details. The difference between realism and naturalism is compared often to that between a painting as opposed to a photograph, assuming that the photographer also does not choose which details to include in the frame of the picture. The difference between romanticism and realism was a philosophical difference over the purpose and function of literature, adherents of the former believing that it should idealize life by empathizing desirable features, those of the latter that it should be a faithful representative of facts as they appear to the senses" (Werlock).
Modernism, on the other hand, is more about what is happening now. The start of the Modernism period was around World War I. People started writing more about what was happening during that time period, and how it affected the people and themselves. They started to describe things and uncover places as they really were instead of leaving off small details.
"Modernism as a movement was shaped by discoveries in science and advancements in technology and various fields of thought that began to develop in the nineteenth century—including Sir James Frazer's writings on cultural anthropology and Sigmund Freud's work in psychology—that transformed the way human beings regarded themselves, their world, and their place in the world. William R. Everdale finds its origins "in an often profound rethinking of the whole mind set of the nineteenth century." Modern thought "gave up the stubborn old belief that things could be seen 'steadily and whole' from some privileged viewpoint at a particular moment" and embraced a "nonlogical, nonobjective, and essentially causeless mental universe." The catalytic event that created the modern world for many American writers was the catastrophe of World War I, a conflict that revealed the bankruptcy of many nineteenth-century ideals.
In discussions of literature the term modernism is frequently used carelessly and imprecisely. The word modern is sometimes used as an adjective to broadly suggest when a writer was writing or a work was written. If one is told that a poem or a novel is modern but not given its date of composition or publication, then it is safe to assume only that it was written sometime after the Great War and sometime before right now" (Anderson).
Works Cited:
Anderson, George Parker. "modernism." In Anderson, George P., Judith S. Baughman, Matthew J. Bruccoli, and Carl Rollyson, eds. Encyclopedia of American Literature, Revised Edition: Into the Modern: 1896–1945, Volume 3. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= EAmL1234&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 18, 2011).
Werlock, Abby H. P. "realism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= Gamshrtsty0575&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 18, 2011).
As an author, Mark Twain is a great example of the Realism writing style. Some of Mark Twain's most famous novels, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn depict the lives of young boys and their adventures. Twain does a great job of depicting life by the Mississippi River which he loved so dearly. He has many great details to make the stories seem so real and easy to relate to, which is what a Realist writer does.
"Realism is the attempt to depict life as it actually exists, not as the author wants it to be in the present or the future, or imagines it was in the past. A realist carefully chooses details that illustrate this vision, unlike the naturalist who tries to include all possible details. The difference between realism and naturalism is compared often to that between a painting as opposed to a photograph, assuming that the photographer also does not choose which details to include in the frame of the picture. The difference between romanticism and realism was a philosophical difference over the purpose and function of literature, adherents of the former believing that it should idealize life by empathizing desirable features, those of the latter that it should be a faithful representative of facts as they appear to the senses" (Werlock).
Modernism, on the other hand, is more about what is happening now. The start of the Modernism period was around World War I. People started writing more about what was happening during that time period, and how it affected the people and themselves. They started to describe things and uncover places as they really were instead of leaving off small details.
"Modernism as a movement was shaped by discoveries in science and advancements in technology and various fields of thought that began to develop in the nineteenth century—including Sir James Frazer's writings on cultural anthropology and Sigmund Freud's work in psychology—that transformed the way human beings regarded themselves, their world, and their place in the world. William R. Everdale finds its origins "in an often profound rethinking of the whole mind set of the nineteenth century." Modern thought "gave up the stubborn old belief that things could be seen 'steadily and whole' from some privileged viewpoint at a particular moment" and embraced a "nonlogical, nonobjective, and essentially causeless mental universe." The catalytic event that created the modern world for many American writers was the catastrophe of World War I, a conflict that revealed the bankruptcy of many nineteenth-century ideals.
In discussions of literature the term modernism is frequently used carelessly and imprecisely. The word modern is sometimes used as an adjective to broadly suggest when a writer was writing or a work was written. If one is told that a poem or a novel is modern but not given its date of composition or publication, then it is safe to assume only that it was written sometime after the Great War and sometime before right now" (Anderson).
Works Cited:
Anderson, George Parker. "modernism." In Anderson, George P., Judith S. Baughman, Matthew J. Bruccoli, and Carl Rollyson, eds. Encyclopedia of American Literature, Revised Edition: Into the Modern: 1896–1945, Volume 3. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= EAmL1234&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 18, 2011).
Werlock, Abby H. P. "realism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= Gamshrtsty0575&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 18, 2011).
Friday, April 1, 2011
Job Shadowing
My job shadowing experience was surprisingly awesome. I went to UIS to job shadow a music professor there. Our day started at 8:30 am, and I met the professor at his office. He showed me all the stuff he does to prepare for the day, which is basically to just check his email. We talked for a little bit about why I decided to job shadow a music professor, then we went to a class that he had at 9:00 am. He told me that I could bring my clarinet to play along in the class. It was pretty fun playing with his students, although they actually were not very good. A lot of his students were musicians who have not played in a while, so they were basically learning all over again. After the class we walked across the campus to a cafe to get a muffin and talk more about music education. The professor explained to me that at this particular college it is sometimes hard for him to have classes like the one that I attended because his students are at very different levels of playing ability. They do not have private lessons at UIS, and many different instruments are in the same class at the same time, so he has to make a lesson plan that will accommodate everyone. He says he has to push the less experienced musicians more to make them keep up with everyone else. One thing that I really liked about his class was that at the beginning of the class he had everyone pull a scale name from a hat, and then they had to play that scale in front of everyone and they were graded on it. I think it is important for people to know their scales, so I thought that was a good exercise.
Once we went to the cafe we talked a lot about how the man that I was job shadowing got to be where he was. He is from Louisiana, so he went to the University of Louisiana, and he received two majors: one in music and one in music education. He then went to the University of Arkansas to get his masters degree in music education. He landed a job as a high school music teacher, and one summer he applied to go to a music festival during the summer in Italy. (He is a tuba player by the way). He did not get to go that summer, but the next summer he was chosen to go. He got to go play in Italy for a whole summer which is one of the coolest things I have ever heard of. I totally want to do something like that. Then he found a flier from a world renowned tuba teacher to take a two week lesson from him for 600 euros. He decided he wanted to do that, so he got to go to Greece to study with this teacher. He then went back to the United States after becoming great friends with his music teacher. His music teacher then invited him to take lessons from him in Canada and then in England. He lived in England for a year until his music teacher decided to take a job in Japan. He then went back to the United States and got a job as the music professor at UIS.
Music professors have to have a doctorate in music, but he got this job because UIS is not really big on music I guess. He is getting his doctorate now at the University of Illinois.
After talking for awhile, he showed me the behind the scenes stuff of the UIS auditorium which is a really great auditorium. Then we went back to his office, and he showed me some music that he will be playing this summer at another music festival. He said another part of his job is to play music so that he can stay musical and help his students. He says he studies every piece of music before he plays it, and the piece that he is playing this summer is about three different piazzas in Italy, so we went of google and were able to look at each of the piazzas to see why the Italian composer wrote what he did about each one. It was pretty sweet.
From this job shadowing experience I think I would definitely consider being a music teacher. I like all the stuff that this music professor does, and I think being a regular music teacher would be great too. He gave me a lot of advice as to what to do in college and what majors would be good for what I am interested in. From this job shadowing experience I really think I have a better idea of what path I want to take in college. I definitely do want to do something with music, so this job shadowing definitely helped me to see that.
Once we went to the cafe we talked a lot about how the man that I was job shadowing got to be where he was. He is from Louisiana, so he went to the University of Louisiana, and he received two majors: one in music and one in music education. He then went to the University of Arkansas to get his masters degree in music education. He landed a job as a high school music teacher, and one summer he applied to go to a music festival during the summer in Italy. (He is a tuba player by the way). He did not get to go that summer, but the next summer he was chosen to go. He got to go play in Italy for a whole summer which is one of the coolest things I have ever heard of. I totally want to do something like that. Then he found a flier from a world renowned tuba teacher to take a two week lesson from him for 600 euros. He decided he wanted to do that, so he got to go to Greece to study with this teacher. He then went back to the United States after becoming great friends with his music teacher. His music teacher then invited him to take lessons from him in Canada and then in England. He lived in England for a year until his music teacher decided to take a job in Japan. He then went back to the United States and got a job as the music professor at UIS.
Music professors have to have a doctorate in music, but he got this job because UIS is not really big on music I guess. He is getting his doctorate now at the University of Illinois.
After talking for awhile, he showed me the behind the scenes stuff of the UIS auditorium which is a really great auditorium. Then we went back to his office, and he showed me some music that he will be playing this summer at another music festival. He said another part of his job is to play music so that he can stay musical and help his students. He says he studies every piece of music before he plays it, and the piece that he is playing this summer is about three different piazzas in Italy, so we went of google and were able to look at each of the piazzas to see why the Italian composer wrote what he did about each one. It was pretty sweet.
From this job shadowing experience I think I would definitely consider being a music teacher. I like all the stuff that this music professor does, and I think being a regular music teacher would be great too. He gave me a lot of advice as to what to do in college and what majors would be good for what I am interested in. From this job shadowing experience I really think I have a better idea of what path I want to take in college. I definitely do want to do something with music, so this job shadowing definitely helped me to see that.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Journal #42: Go Dickinson!
So if I lived in Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman's time period and I had to choose between the two to say which one I would like better it would be Emily Dickinson all the way. Walt Whitman is straight weird. I do not like him at all. I really dislike every idea he has. I think his "everyman" or whatever it is called is soooo dumb, and I really dislike how he tries to incorporate God in all of his poems. I just really dislike it. Every poem that we have read of his in class I have not liked, therefore, Emily Dickinson is a better choice for me.
All of Walt Whitman's poems are supposed to be so spiritual and absolutely inspiring. His poems do not inspire me at all. A lot of his poems make him sound like a self absorbed jerk. A lot of his poems seem very egotistical and narcissistic. He is so annoying. I really do not like him at all. I really really really really really really really do not.
Emily Dickinson is not much better than Walt Whitman, but she is not annoying and ego-centric like Whitman appears to be at times. A lot of her poems are more easy to read and understand. They do not have a billion meanings like most of Whitman's poems do. She tends to write with a more literal meaning which is more entertaining because then the reader does not have to try to think of what the writer is saying. I think that is what poetry should be like. Who wants to read something FOR ENTERTAINMENT and have to actually think about it? I guess people in that time period were more philosophical then we are today.
So far there is like one poem that I like of Emily Dickinson's. I do not remember what it is called, but it is about a girl who has a crush on a boy and she gets all fumbly with her speech and stuff and she cannot do anything right and then across the room the boy is the same way. I thought it was funny, and I actually understood it the first time I read it so that was awesome.
All of Walt Whitman's poems are supposed to be so spiritual and absolutely inspiring. His poems do not inspire me at all. A lot of his poems make him sound like a self absorbed jerk. A lot of his poems seem very egotistical and narcissistic. He is so annoying. I really do not like him at all. I really really really really really really really do not.
Emily Dickinson is not much better than Walt Whitman, but she is not annoying and ego-centric like Whitman appears to be at times. A lot of her poems are more easy to read and understand. They do not have a billion meanings like most of Whitman's poems do. She tends to write with a more literal meaning which is more entertaining because then the reader does not have to try to think of what the writer is saying. I think that is what poetry should be like. Who wants to read something FOR ENTERTAINMENT and have to actually think about it? I guess people in that time period were more philosophical then we are today.
So far there is like one poem that I like of Emily Dickinson's. I do not remember what it is called, but it is about a girl who has a crush on a boy and she gets all fumbly with her speech and stuff and she cannot do anything right and then across the room the boy is the same way. I thought it was funny, and I actually understood it the first time I read it so that was awesome.
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