Comments about film-Beyond Beats and Rhymes

I really liked how in the film the narrator went right to the hip hop artists and asked them their opinions of what they thought was going on in hip hop. I found it interesting that some of them did not want to answer his questions and walked away when he was interviewing them. I also think that the film showed that these artists are in it to make money and they will do whatever anyone tells them to as long as the cash is flowing in for them.

Choice Assignment #1 Juno Analysis-Teen Pregnancy- What a breeze......

Juno is a film about an outspoken sixteen year old girl, named Juno that accidentally becomes pregnant. When she finds out that she is pregnant she tells the father of the baby that she will take care of the situation, meaning she is going to have an abortion. She goes to the abortion clinic and sees her classmate who is protesting outside the clinic. Her classmate says that Juno's baby had fingernails and this sticks with Juno as she enters the clinic. While waiting in the clinic Juno decides that she is going to keep the baby. Juno and her friend look for families that want to adopt and they find one that seems perfect. When Juno casually tells her parents she is pregnant and that she is going to give the baby up for adoption, her father says that he will go with her to meet with the adoptive parents. Juno meets with the couple that is going to adopt her baby and from that point she visits them from time to time and becomes somewhat close to the adoptive father. Throughout the film, Juno still goes to school while she is pregnant and appears to be leading a normal life as much as she can. Her parents are understanding and her friends do not leave her. She keeps in contact with the baby's father and deals with the normal ups and downs of pregnancy.
There was something about this film that I felt was not depicted as it is in our culture today and that was Juno's pregnancy seeming like such an easy, simple process that any teenager today could handle. From the moment she found out that she was pregnant it was a casual thing to call up her friend and tell her she was pregnant, making jokes and not seeming like she was scared or nervous as most teenagers would be. When she told the baby's father that she was pregnant it was no big deal, she just sat in front of his house and told him she would take care of the situation. Even when she went to the abortion clinic, she went by herself and did not bring anyone for support or to comfort her. As Juno told her father and stepmother that she was pregnant they were so accepting of it. They did not get upset with her or make her feel like she had ruined her life, as in today's society most parents would do. Instead they were very helpful throughout the whole film, between taking her to doctor's appointments and visiting the adoptive parents. The film made it seem like if you are a teenager and get pregnant you will not have any problems. Your family will be there to support you and they will be accepting of it and you will have no difficulty. However, our culture today teaches us something different than what the film teaches us. Our culture views teen pregnancy as an awful mistake that happens when parents are not keeping a watchful eye on their children. Also it teaches us that teen mothers are unfit and that they will never be able to handle raising a child, because they are in a sense, still children themselves. The film also teaches us that once you have the baby and give it up for adoption, there may be a few tears, but your life will go back to normal as if nothing happened. You will go back to your teenage life of no responsibility and the baby's father will stay with you. This is in contrast to our culture today in which the baby's father wants nothing to do with the mother and does not want to have to deal with the responsibility of his actions. I feel that Juno did not show any type of emotions in relation to her pregnancy except for when she cried after she gave birth. Her only emotions throughout the film were that of someone who is going to have a baby, give it up for adoption and then it will be over with. Teenagers that are watching this film may be getting the message that pregnancy is no big deal and if Juno can get through it so easily, then you can too. It is not showing us the pain and emotional distress that society puts on teen pregnancy. It does not show how your peers while humiliate you and adults will look down on you as making the biggest mistake of your life. To me, the film does not capture all of the aspects of teen pregnancy in today's culture. It is sending the message that teen pregnancy is a breeze or a walk in the park.
A connection to a course text is that of Thomas Hine's piece titled "The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager". In one part of the piece, Hine discusses a girl that gave birth to her son on prom night in the bathroom and then tied him up in a plastic bag, put him in the trash and walked out to continue her night at the prom. Hine's describes the girl saying, " She proved herself physically capable of bearing child, but not mentally, emotionally, or morally mature enough to handle it. She had, in a word, shown herself to be a teenager." In my opinion this relates to how Juno was depicted in the film. She was physically able to bear a child, but she lacked the maturity to handle the situation. She did not take the situation seriously and remained in her normal emotionally state. Her emotions were not that of concern or distress. Also in his piece, Hine says that, "The teen years have become defined not as an interlude but rather as something central to life, a period of preparation and self-definition, a period of indulgence and unfocused energy." Juno, being in her teen years, is at this stage in her life and is not concerned at all about the future. She does not think about how her actions today will affect her in the future. She is living for the here and now.
Another connection to a course text is that of Linda Christensen. In her piece, "Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us", she discusses how the media has an affect on how we view ourselves and others. She has her students critique movies and cartoons and one of her students' discusses how the media can shape your opinions. She says, " It can be overwhelming and discouraging to find out my whole self image has been formed mostly by others or underneath my worries about what I look like are years of being exposed to TV images of girls and their set roles given to them by TV and the media. It's painful to deal with. The idea of not being completely responsible for how I feel about things today is scary." The media has a significant influence on how teenagers view themselves and others and the film Juno is an example of a film that tells teenagers, that being pregnant is not that bad of a situation and if it happens to you it will not be difficult. Your parents will understand and your friends will be there for you. It is sending a message that you have nothing to worry about being a teenager that is pregnant.
All in all I feel that Juno is sending a message to teenagers that pregnancy is something that is not difficult and once you have the baby your life will go back to normal and you will have nothing to worry about. It is in contrast with today's culture and it's views that teen pregnancy is an awful mistake and your life is ruined if you get pregnant when you are a teenager. You are not emotionally ready for the responsibility and demands of being a parent.

Taking Points #4-Tricia Rose-A Style that Nobody can Deal With

Some things I understand- While reading this piece by Tricia Rose I found it very difficult to follow what she was saying. However, I think that her main point is said in this quote, "In the postindustrial urban context of dwindling low-income housing, a trickle of meaningless jobs for young people, mounting police brutality and increasingly demonic depictions of young inner-city residents, hip hop style is black urban renewal." (pg.413) I believe that Rose is saying that the hip hop is a form of renewal or a new beginning for the people that have struggled. They have had to deal with poverty and having a negative image, but hip hop is a release for them. She also says that, " Hip hop replicates and reimagines the experiences of urban life and symbolically appropriates urban space through sampling, attitude, dance, style and sound effects." (pg. 402) Hip hop reflects what it is like to live in an urban setting. Everything from their clothes and attitude is a reflection of where they came from. Another quote that I feel reflects Rose's point is, " Hip hop gives voice to the tensions and contradictions in the public urban landscape during a period of substantial transformation in New York, and attempts to seize the shifting urban terrain, to make it work on behalf of the dispossessed." (pg. 402) Rose is saying that hip hop is a way for urban youth to express their beliefes and emotions in a way that would reach many people.
Some things I don't understand: I found this piece somewhat difficult to follow because there were vocabulary words I did not understand such as: truncated, Afro-disaporic, autonomously, sartorial, exacerbated, discursive.There is a quote on the first page that I could not understand, "Hip hop is an Afro-diasporic cultural form which attempts to negoiate the experiences of marginalization, brutually truncated opportunity and oppression within the cultural imperatives of African-American and Caribbean history, identity and community."
Connections to other texts or course themes: I thought that this piece was similar to the Christensen piece in that urban culture has steroetypes that they have meaningless jobs and live in poverty and teenagers also have stereotypes or believe certain things because that is what the media puts out there for them to believe. Teenagers and people of the the urban culture are similar in the fact that they have to struggle with the stereotypes of who they are and what they stand for.
Questions/Comments/Points to Share in Class: There is a quote on page 411 that I found interesting and it says, "Let us imagine these hip hop principles as a blueprint for social resistance and affirmation: create sustaining narratives, accumulate them, layer, embellish and transform them. But also be prepared for rupture, find pleasure in it, in fact, plan on social rupture. When these ruptures occur, use them in creative ways whihc will prepare you for a future in which survival will demand a sudden shift in ground tactics." (pg. 411)

Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants-Marc Prensky

Some things I understand- I believe the main point the author is trying to make in the reading is that today's students are more technologically advanced than their teachers. The teachers of today need to change or else they will not reach their students. Prensky calls students of today "Digital Natives" because, they are, "... Native speakers of the digital language of computers, video games and the Internet". (Prensky 1) He also says that today's K through college students represent the first generation that has grown up with new technology. Prensky says that, "Those of us who were not born into the digital world but have, at some point in our lives, become fascinated by and adopted many or most aspects of the new technology... are called Digital Immigrants." (Prensky 1-2) He believes that the biggest problem in education today is, "Our Digital Immigrant instructors, who speak an outdated language, are struggling to teach a population that speaks an entirely new language." (Prensky 2) Another point he makes is that teachers need to reconsider their methology and content. With methology he believes that teachers need to communicate in the language and style of their students. He also says that there are two types of content: legacy and future. Legacy us reading, writing, arithmetic, logical thinking, etc. Future content is digitaland technological and educators need to think about how to teach both Legacy and Future content in the language of the Digital Natives.
Some things I don't understand: There was not point in the reading where I got stuck or did not understand something.
Connections to other texts or course themes: This reading is somewhat similar to the Christensen reading saying that what young people see on tv and the internet have an influence on who they are as people.
Questions/Comments/Points to Share in Class: One question I have is what if Digital Immigrants are so far behind in terms of their technology skills that they cannot catch up to the skills of their students or other adults? How can they then reach their students?

Talking Points #2 Linda Christensen-Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us

Some things I Understand- I believe the main points of Christensen's piece was for the reader to question the secret education or secret messages that cartoons and television deliever to youth. She discusses how her two objectives are to, " First I want my students to critique portrayls of heirarchy and inequality in children's movies and cartoons. Then i want to enlist them to imagine a better world, characterized by relationships of respect and equality." (Christensen 127) Christensen is trying to make her students aware that they themselves have been shaped by the ideas and beliefs that the media portrays to them. One of her students commented on this saying, " It can be overwhelming and discouraging to find out my whole self image has been formed mostly by others or underneath my worries about what I look like are years of being exposed to TV images of girls and their set roles given to them by TV and the media. The idea of not being completely responsible for how I feel about things today is scary." (Christensen 129) Christensen also talks about stereotypes in cartoons such as the absence of female characters in older cartoons and if women did appear, they would look like Playboy centerfolds. She also discusses a story called Cindy Ellie, which she says, "Celebrates the beauty, culture, and language of African Americans. It also puts forth the possibility of cross-race alliances for social change". (Christensen 132) Then she talks about Cinderella and this story saying, " Both of these tales leave young women with two myths: Happiness means getting a man, and transformation from wretched conditions can be acheived through consumption-in their case, through new clothes and a new hairstyle". (Christensen 133)
Some Things I don't Understand- I was confused at the beginning of the piece when Christensen was talking about herself and then began discussing society and students I found it confusing how she was talking about herself briefly and then went right into giving her opinion.
Connections to other texts of course themes-This reading can relate to when we were discussing the ads for feminine products and how the media shapes women's opinions and ideas about things. The media influences not only how we view ourselves, but also shapes our ideas about others.
Questions/Comments/Points to Share in Class- I have watched Disney movies many times and never realized the hidden messages and ideas that are being depicted to young children. These images that seem so innocent and harmless, can have a lasting negative effect on how we view others.

Talking Post #1-The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager-Thomas Hine

Some things I understand-I believe that the author's main ideas in this piece is that the way that society views the concept of "teenagers" throughout history has changed. Hine discusses how when looking back in history, "It shows us that the shape of people's lives has varied tremendously over time." (pg.5) The idea of teenagers today is different from how we viewed teenagers in the past. He says that,"Teenager is a social invention, one that took shape during the first half of the twentieth century in response to a society very different from our own."(pg. 4) He also says that,"The teenager was an invention of the Machine Age. We live in a different world now, and we must reconsider how we think about the lives of the young. (pg.4) The point he is trying to make is to show how the youth in this country have gone through many different experiences and that the word "teenager" has had and will have different meanings throughout time. A quote that i found interesting on pg.24 says, " Young people today seem to be in a world of their own. They go to school with their age mates. They are with them on the job. They hang out with them and they buy products and seek out entertainment designed just for them. The existence of this teenage culture, which seems wholly impervious to adult influence, is one of the most contentious aspects of the teenage mystique." I believe what Hine is trying to say that teenagers together seem to form their own culture with one another from just simply being around eachother all of the time.
Some Things I don't Understand-I was a little confused when Hine began talking about the fall of the teenager on page 8. He says, "Still another notion of the "fall" is implicit in he fears and complaints that adults have about young people-especially now that teen-bashing is such a popular bipartisan activity. Being a teenager is less and less what Erik Erikson proposed-a moratorium period in which to find your identity." The vocabualry word moratorium in that quote confused me and I also became confused when Hine began to talk about Erik Erikson. Also on page 8 when Hine began talking about Adam and Eve, i became confused as to what they had to do with the fall of the teenager.
Connections to other texts or course themes- This reading can relate to the brainstorming activity we did about teeangers on the board. The different words and phrases that were put on the board can relate to the ideas Hine discusses in the reading such as work, rebellion, unemployment, experimentation and dependant.
Questions/Comments/Points to Share in Class- I found the quote on page 14 to be interesting when Hine is telling about the girl who gave birth to a baby at the prom. He says, "She proved herself physically capapble of bearing a child, but not mentally, emotionally, or morally mature enough to handle it. She had, in a word, shown herself to be a teenager." What is does Hine mean when he says that she has "shown herself to be a teenager" ?

My first post-When I was 13

When i was thirteen I was very involved with playing sports such and basketball and softball. I played on my middle school basketball team and can remember having a lot of fun with my friends on the team. I played softball for a town league and enjoyed that a lot too. I can remember being very social and always going to the mall or movies with my friends. Another thing I can remember is being a HUGE Nsync fan and buying their CD's and watching them whenever they were on tv. I was very happy and had a lot of fun when I was thirteen. It was probably one of the best times of my life.